Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 56 (p6-p13)

Introduction

Tokyo’s Otemachi-Marunouchi-Yurakucho area is a major business centre for some of Japan’s top companies as well as global corporations. Tokyo Station at the heart of the area is a key base for Japan’s railways with about 3900 train arrivals and departures serving 1.7 million passengers each day. The avenue from the station plaza along Gyoko Dori to the Imperial Palace is the symbolic gateway to Japan and its capital.
JR East is working with stakeholders, such as the national and Tokyo Metropolitan governments, to revitalize the area around Tokyo Station by creating an urban space befitting the face of the capital and Japan.

Overview

The Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building opened in 1914 was designed by Dr Kingo Tatsuno (1854–1919), a founding father of modern Japanese architecture. Its stately, grand form was a symbol of Japan’s modernization at the time, and it is still one of the nation’s architectural treasures. However, the current building is greatly changed from the original design due to stop-gap restoration of the third floor destroyed by an air raid in 1945.
To mark the building’s 100th anniversary and celebrate its role in Japan’s period of high economic growth and the JNR privatization, JR East is restoring the Marunouchi Station Building to its original design as the face of Tokyo and as a symbol of urban redevelopment. The restored station building is scheduled to open at the end of FY2011.
Two high-rise towers have already opened on the opposite‘　Yaesu side’ of Tokyo Station; the second phase includes the central low-rise North Tower Phase II, and the station plaza upgrade.
The area around Tokyo Station is now in the midst of a transformation into Tokyo Station City, including the restored Marunouchi Station Building and Yaesu side redevelopment.

Tokyo Station City Development Concept

The Tokyo Station City name was coined to evoke the image of ‘a unique station in the world,’ merging history, tradition, culture, learning, business, and advancement as an urban space in a station that has hitherto simply been a point on the route to somewhere else. The concept is ‘the station transforming the city and the city becoming the station.’
The environment surrounding railway stations worldwide has changed greatly with globalization and the advancement of women in working society. In the midst of these changes, JR East is aiming to create new lifestyles using Tokyo Station as the following faces of Japan:
• Face symbolizing history—Restore the Marunouchi Station Building to its original glory as a government designated important cultural property and a central
presence with personality and class.
• Face symbolizing future—Create GranTokyo, an international business centre symbolizing innovation and advancement as a gateway for the Yaesu-side future.
• Venue disseminating information—Consolidate and disseminate a variety of information using SapiaTower at the Nihonbashi gate as a place for investigation,
research, development, and education.
• Ekinaka stage linking town—Create the GranSta mall with shops, concierge services, cloakrooms, and other services as a large space between the ticket gates connecting the Marunouchi and Yaesu sides.

Overviews of GranTokyo North/South Towers (Yaesu-side)

The Yaesu-side development rezoned separate land plots owned by Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd., Kajima Yaesu Kaihatsu Co., Ltd, Nippon Oil Corporation (now JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation) into one zone based on the Special Capacity Ratio Zone system and relocated unused capacity of the Marunouchi Station Building to allow construction of the North Tower Phase I and South Tower with compartmentalized ownership completed in late 2007. A large roof called GranRoof is now being constructed between the two north and south wings, covering the new station building, pedestrian deck, and part of the station plaza. This 27-m high and 234-m long structure will form a new face as an international hub for business and commerce based on the concepts of innovation and advancement.

GranTokyo North Tower (Phase I)
The 205-m high GranTokyo North Tower Phase I office building at the Yaesu-side north exit has 43 floors above ground and four underground. It has ground level and underground passages connecting to the station. The first floor underground to floor 13 above ground houses the Daimaru department store, and floors 17 to 42 are leased. A two-level open ceiling sky lobby is planned for the 17th floor connected to the first floor entrance by shuttle elevator, allowing multiple head office functions. Floor 42 is reserved for tenants of that floor, and has a wooden deck terrace with outside access. Current tenants include a major securities firm.
The Daimaru department store was moved from the Tetsudo Kaikan Building to the mid-level floors and openedon 6 November 2007. It has evolved into a department store for adults with one of the largest cosmetics floors in Tokyo and a confectionery floor that is home to famous shops. The Phase II opening in 2012 will increase the floor space, forming a commercial scale meeting customers’ diverse needs.