One of the prime examples of early western architecture was the "Rokumeikan", a large two-story building in Tokyo, completed in 1883, which was to become a controversial symbol of Westernisation in the Meiji period. Commissioned for the housing of foreign guests by the Foreign Minister Inoue Kaoru, it was designed by , a prominent foreign government advisors in Meiji Japan ("o-yatoi gaikokujin"). The "Ryōunkaku" was Japan's first western-style skyscraper, constructed in 1890 in Asakusa. However traditional architecture was still employed for new buildings, such as the "Kyūden" of Tokyo Imperial Palace, albeit with token western elements such as a spouting water fountain in the gardens.