By YUSUKE NAGANO/ Staff Writer
January 22, 2020 at 07:00 JST
An artist’s rendition of the entrance to the Shijo Koji marketplace building (Provided by Mitsui Fudosan Co.)
For a limited time only, a section of Tokyo's Toyosu fish market will be transformed into a “jokamachi” (castle town) themed on “Edomae” (old Tokyo style).
The temporary attraction opens Jan. 24 at the market in the capital’s Koto Ward, according to Mitsui Fudosan Co., the facility's primary contractor.
The Tokyo metropolitan government named the market Edomae Jokamachi in the hopes that a tie-in with castle town culture would create a lively food scene and bustling atmosphere at the site.
Edomae Jokamachi will house 21 business establishments including restaurants featuring food ingredients from the fish market and shops.
But the market's lease on life will be limited to only about three years until the planned Senkyaku Banrai shopping and entertainment complex, complete with an onsen hot springs facility, a hotel and restaurants, opens in or around spring 2023.
The company started construction work in July 2019 of the one-story market, which has a total floor space of 730 square meters, according to Mitsui Fudosan.
Edomae Jokamachi will feature three zones: the Toyosu Jokamachi food hall building, where visitors can eat grilled seafood, sushi and other dishes using ingredients directly brought from the fish market; the multipurpose Edomae Hiroba square to provide a venue for markets for farm-fresh products and other events; and the Shijo Koji marketplace building where visitors can buy dried fish, tuna products, other ingredients and souvenirs.
Tokyo initially had plans to unveil the Senkyaku Banrai complex in line with the opening of the Toyosu wholesale market in October 2018.
But when Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike proposed building a food-related theme park on the former site of the Tsukiji fish market, the operator opposed the concept.
After negotiations to open Senkyaku Banrai stalled, its debut was delayed until spring 2023.
As a stopgap, the metropolitan government solicited operators to manage a temporary attraction facility until it can secure a date for the Senkyaku Banrai complex to open.
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