There is a building in Asakusa that the entire city of Tokyo agrees looks like a giant golden piece of excrement. The locals call it kin no unko -- the golden turd -- and the black-walled structure beneath it unko-biru, the poo building. These are not insults. They are terms of endearment for one of Tokyo's most beloved and photographed landmarks: the Asahi Beer Hall, designed by the French designer Philippe Starck and completed in 1989. The golden sculpture perched on its roof, officially named the Flamme d'Or, was meant to represent the burning heart of Asahi beer, a frothy head rising from a glass. What Starck intended as fire, Tokyo received as something more earthbound -- and loved it all the more for the misunderstanding.
Philippe Starck was already one of the world's most famous industrial designers when Asahi Breweries commissioned him to create their new headquarters complex on the east bank of the Sumida River. The project would include a golden tower shaped like a beer glass filled with amber ale, and beside it, a lower building -- the Beer Hall -- capped with an enormous sculptural flame. The Flamme d'Or is 44 meters long and weighs 360 tonnes. It was fabricated by shipbuilders using submarine construction techniques, the golden shell assembled from steel plates and hoisted to the rooftop. Despite its massive weight, the sculpture is hollow inside. Starck envisioned it as a torch flame representing Asahi's passion and ambition as the company entered a new century. The building beneath it, clad in black granite and shaped like an inverted trapezoid, was designed to evoke a torch pedestal.
The Beer Hall does not stand alone. Beside it rises the Asahi Beer Tower, a rectangular high-rise sheathed in golden glass panels designed to resemble a glass of beer. The top floors, lighter in color, represent the foam. Together, the two buildings form a visual pun: a full pint and its exuberant froth. The complex sits at the foot of the Azumabashi bridge, directly across the Sumida River from the Sensoji temple district of Asakusa. The contrast is deliberate and startling -- ancient temple rooftops and traditional streets on one bank, and on the other, a black granite trapezoid wearing a golden blob that catches sunlight and sends it scattering across the water. On clear days, the Tokyo Skytree rises behind the Beer Hall, adding a third vertical accent to what has become one of the most photographed skylines in the city.
Almost from the moment the Flamme d'Or was installed, Tokyoites decided it looked like something other than a flame. The golden turd nickname spread instantly and stuck permanently. What makes the story remarkable is how completely Asahi and the city embraced it. The Beer Hall became one of Tokyo's defining landmarks, a meeting point, a tourist attraction, a fixture on postcards and Instagram feeds. Japanese culture has a long tradition of kin no unko -- golden poop charms sold at festivals as good luck tokens, the logic being that the Japanese word for poop, unko, sounds similar to the word for luck, un. The Flamme d'Or slotted neatly into that tradition. It is not embarrassing. It is auspicious. Visitors pose for photos with it framed against the Skytree; children point and laugh; guidebooks list it with a wink. The building that Starck designed as a serious artistic statement became something better -- a piece of public joy.
The Beer Hall's interior houses restaurants and event spaces where visitors can sample Asahi's products with views of the Sumida River. The building sits just a three-minute walk from Asakusa Station, making it an easy detour for anyone visiting the Sensoji temple complex or strolling the Nakamise shopping street. The Beer Hall and its flame are best viewed from the west bank of the Sumida, where the full profile of the complex -- golden tower, black base, golden sculpture -- can be taken in at once. At night, illumination turns the Flamme d'Or into a glowing ember against the dark sky, and the golden tower beside it shimmers with reflected light from the river. Whatever one sees in the shape on the roof -- flame, froth, or something less dignified -- the Asahi Beer Hall is proof that great architecture does not always need to be taken seriously to be taken to heart.
Located at 35.710N, 139.800E on the east bank of the Sumida River in Sumida ward, Tokyo. The golden Flamme d'Or sculpture is highly visible from the air as a glinting golden object atop a black building, particularly in direct sunlight. The Sumida River provides a clear visual corridor; the Beer Hall sits at the western edge of the Azumabashi bridge. Tokyo Skytree stands approximately 1 kilometer to the northeast and serves as the dominant landmark. Tokyo Haneda International Airport (RJTT) is approximately 10 nautical miles to the south. Narita International Airport (RJAA) is roughly 35 nautical miles east. Best viewed from 2,000-4,000 feet AGL when the sun angle catches the golden surface.