The renovated four-story building, which served as the premier's office as well as his living quarters until March 2002, will be opened for preview to former prime ministers, parliamentarians and reporters on April 11-12, Hosoda said in a press conference.

Reconstruction of the house, which was built in 1927 in the style made popular by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, began in April 2002, after the premier's current glass-walled office was completed.

The renewed residence has been installed with household co-generation systems using fuel cells -- the first such system to be commercially available -- plus solar and wind generators as supplementary power sources, the Cabinet Office said.

The building features original historic decor such as two sets of four horned owls perched on the roof, and a group of cycads, or Japanese sago palms, adorn the front courtyard, a Cabinet Office official said.

A 1-centimeter hole, reputedly from a bullet fired during the historic incident on Feb. 26, 1936 in which rebellious military officers stormed the premier's residence, also marks the outer wall, the official said.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who temporarily moved to a state-owned residence in Shinagawa Ward in August 2002, is expected to return to the quarters in Tokyo's Nagatacho political district by the summer, government officials said.

With a total floor space of 7,000 square meters, the new residence is located some 100 meters southeast of the office's main entrance within the 49,000-square-meter premises across from the Diet building.

The 20,000-ton structure was towed some 50 meters to the south of its original place, making it the heaviest building to be towed in Japan, according to the Cabinet Office.

2005 Kyodo News (C) Established 1945