Zenjiro Yasuda was the founder of the Yasuda Zaibatsu. During his 80 years of life, he was so thrifty that he was called a champion of hard work and thrift. Since the announcement of Count Shimpei Goto’s “800 million yen plan,” Yasuda was deeply moved by the count’s enthusiasm and progressiveness, and showed great interest in the plan.

As a result, he courageously decided to donate an unprecedented 3.5 million yen (starting salary for civil servants at that time was about 70 yen) as a fundraising for setting up a research organization. In 1921, the revered senior Zenjiro Yasuda passed away from a deadly knife attack, but his son, Zenjiro Yasuda II, followed in his footsteps and donated 3.5 million yen and nearly 15,000 square meters of his main residence in Honjo Yokoami-cho, City of Tokyo in the following year.

Following the will of the forefather, the below conditions were set.
1 – The research institute shall construct a hall with an attached public hall using the donated funds, as well as a public hall in the main residence.

2 – The location of the hall shall be the northeast corner of Hibiya Park.

3 – When the hall is completed, the public hall portion of the building shall be placed under the management of the City of Tokyo, and the revenues shall belong to the City.

4 – The building and garden of the main residence in the main site shall be preserved, a public hall shall be constructed on the site with donated funds, and the public hall and garden shall be donated to the city after the research institute enters into an agreement with the city.

The research institute, the City of Tokyo, and Mr. Yasuda then proceeded to coordinate their efforts, and in 1922, the research institute became an incorporated foundation, with Count Shimpei Goto appointed as its chairman. It was not until the following year, 1923, that an application was submitted for the construction of the long-awaited Hibiya Public Hall, and the project began to materialize.