In the post-earthquake renovation of the Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Main Store Building, changes were made in the floor and space usage plans to eliminate the financial burden of improving earthquake resistance and disaster prevention. The building plan for the Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Main Store Building is reexamined depending on the compatibility between disaster prevention and profitability meant for the construction of large urban departmental stores. The methods selected in the Mitsukoshi case had a considerable influence on the way in which departmental stores were built in subsequent years.

 The content analyzed in the article can be summarized into the following five points:
 1)Minimization of open-ceiling space and enlargement of floor space by extending and reconstructing the upper floors.
 2)As the method of removing footwear upon entering the building was abandoned, there was (1) diversification of entrance and exit locations, (2) consolidation of reception space, and (3) enhancement of show windows.
 3) As the method of removing footwear upon entering the building was abandoned, liberalization of in-store flow lines, and the securing of flexibility for the sales space.
 4) Enhancement of customer facilities and refinement of floor-by-floor functional configurations.

 During the renovation work that followed the Great Kantō Earthquake, although the size of the store itself remained unchanged, significant changes were made to the building plan. This trial-and-error process, which sought to balance profitability with earthquake resistance and disaster prevention when proceeding for the renovation, can be reevaluated as a case having a significant influence on how departmental stores were to be built as departmental stores in Japan became popularized, large-scale and high-rise.

 Till date, evaluation on the novelty and value of the Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Main Store Building has been focused on the time of its establishment in 1914, when full-scale departmental store architecture was built in the departmental store industry as a pioneer. However, one may suggest that significance lies in the fact that the prototype for building plans with management methods of modern departmental stores targeting the general public was formed instead of those used in kimono stores in Japan. Such formation made significant progress as a landmark when the renovation work following the Great Kantō Earthquake was completed in 1927.

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