Location spotlight: Marunouchi and Yaesu sides of Tokyo Station
The Tokyo Station area is the current hot spot in Tokyo, bubbling with a construction rush on the redevelopment site. Marunouchi and Yaesu, located on the front and back sides of the station, will see a number of modern high-rise office buildings opening one after another this year and in the following several years.
These new buildings will be equipped with much improved business functions, driving the Tokyo Station area to evolve into a more sophisticated business center with enhanced value-added services.
Two Twin Towers to Appear near Tokyo Station
In Marunouchi, already a first-class business district, several old buildings are now being rebuilt to be reborn as the most advanced skyscrapers in Tokyo, complete with state-of-the-art IT and other infrastructures.
On the large site to the north-west of Tokyo Station, consisting of the long-vacant former Japan National Railways Headquarters site and surrounding areas, a gigantic office district, Marunouchi OAZO, opened in September 2004. Marunouchi OAZO is made up of four high-rise buildings, which accommodate an extensive, high quality array of new business functions. These include Maruzen, boasting one of the largest book inventories in Japan, and the Tokyo Marunouchi Hotel, now being renovated into a new design. OAZO will also have atriums and open spaces. As its name "Oazo," meaning "oasis" in Esperanto, suggests, this district offers another feature, that of a place of relaxation and refreshment.
An additional re-development project, the "New Marunouchi Building," is progressing adjacent to Marunouchi Building. This building will surpass Marunouchi Building in height and scale, according to the project plan. When completed, people will see the impressive twin towers rising before their eyes as soon as they step out of the station. This project will be followed by many other re-development projects. To mention just a few examples, the new Mitsubishi Corporation Headquarters is being re-built on the same site as the old one, sandwiched between Marunouchi Building and the Imperial Palace, and a new "Tokyo Building" is being re-developed to the south of the Tokyo Central Post Office.
On the Yaesu side, dynamic redevelopment activities are underway. Tetsudo Kaikan, which houses Daimaru Department Store on the north side of Tokyo Station, will be demolished, as will Kokusai Kaikan. These buildings will re-open as 200-meter high skyscraper twin towers, facing each other across Tokyo Station on the north and south sides. The highest floors of each tower will accept business tenants for office use, with Daimaru Department Stores occupying the lower floors in the north tower. The two towers will be linked by an airy pedestrian deck. In 2011, when the entire project will be completed, Yaesu, whose image is now rather somber and stifling, will take on a completely different streetscape.
Improved Advantages as a Business District
It is still fresh in our memories that, when Marunouchi Building opened in September 2002, numerous people visited day after day, making the building a new sightseeing spot in Tokyo. This underlined the overwhelming access advantage of Tokyo Station and its ability to attract a great number of people to the area. This area was inherently blessed with a convenient business environment, with many bank branches, post offices and commercial facilities operating throughout the area.
As a number of excellent cafes, top fashion boutiques and business services have opened successively in the past few years., this area has become even more advantageous as a business district. It will indeed be an exciting experience to watch how this area will evolve when the current redevelopment boom is over.
Location Spotlight