The Meijiya Building stands on a corner of Sakaisuji Hommachi, a street lined with high-rise buildings and a highway. Completed in 1924, it is a meticulously designed Neo-Renaissance building designed by the Sone Nakajo Architects. Originally, the first floor housed Meijiya Store, Japan's first imported food and liquor specialty store, founded in Yokohama in 1885. The fourth and fifth floors were used for rental offices, and the sixth and seventh floors housed the sophisticated Western restaurant Chuotei, bustling with customers looking for Western groceries. Unusually for a building of the time, the building was designed with lighting, ventilation, and disaster prevention in mind, earning it a reputation for its ease of use. Another story is that the Great Kanto Earthquake struck about one month after construction began, prompting the team involved to quickly replace the steel used with steel from the American company Bethlehem, which boasts higher strength. In 2006, a Lawson convenience store opened on the first floor, replacing Meijiya.