Conder designed numerous public buildings in Tokyo, including the Rokumeikan, which became a controversial symbol of Westernisation in the Meiji period.

[12] The Imperial College of Engineering started teaching in October 1873 by British instructors led by a principal Henry Dyer, who was looking for an architect-professor in the Department of Architecture.

[13] Charles Alfred Chastel de Boinville had been an architect of Japan's Public Works since 1873 and built the main building of the College.

[15] Most graduates played essential roles in the development of modern Japan's architecture, including Tatsuno Kingo, Katayama Tōkuma, Sone Tatsuzō and Satachi Shichijirō.

[19] This style was limitedly accepted by Tatsuno Kingo for his design of the Kokugi-Kan (National Sumo Wrestling Hall),[20] and Conder was very disappointed that most of his students did not understand his intention.

Conder was charged with transforming the Marunouchi area into a London-style business district by the Ministry of Industry on a five-year contract.

[24] Conder developed a keen interest in Japanese arts and after a long period of petitioning, was finally accepted to study painting with the artist Kawanabe Kyōsai.

Notable buildings surviving today are the residence of Iwasaki Yanosuke, founder of the Mitsubishi group in Yushima (1896, now the Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Garden) and the Mitsui Club in Mita, Tokyo (1913).