Tokyu Corporation, East Japan Railway Co., Ltd. and Tokyo Metro recently announced that they have revised a part of the Shibuya Station Development Plan to include a 47-story, 230-meter indoor and outdoor rooftop observation facility in the East Building of Shibuya station. The observation facilities are slated to be completed in fiscal 2019, in time to welcome tourists for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. We previously posted an article on the re-development plans for Shibuya as a whole.
According to the developers, the inclusion of observation decks in the re-development of Shibuya station is meant to further realize the Tokyo metropolitan government’s city planning vision for Shibuya, which focuses on three concepts: to make Shibuya into 1. a hub for IT companies 2. a center for leading-edge fashion houses and shops and 3. an ex-pat-friendly residential area.
The 230-meter above-ground observation space promises to offer unobstructed views of the Shinjuku skyscraper district, Roppongi Hills and even Mt. Fuji, as well as a birds eye view of Shibuya Crossing below. For reference, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government buildings are 243 meters, Tokyo Tower rises 333 above ground, and the Tokyo Sky Tree, the tallest structure in Japan is 495 meters tall.
In addition to the observation facilities, the East Building of Shibuya station will consist of 73,000 square meters of high-end office space, 30,000 square meters of shops, space to promote the “creative content” industry, and disaster evacuation facilities. The completed project will have a total area of 276,000 square meters (47-stories above ground and 7-stories below ground).
Sources: Tokyu Corporation, July 2, 2015 press release (Japanese), Tokyo metropolitan government
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