Massive redevelopment projects are accelerating around Tokyo’s sprawling Shinagawa Station with the planned opening of the ultrafast maglev Chuo Shinkansen Line that will connect Tokyo and other regions.

The area will soon boast a huge pedestrian deck and high-rise business complex housing an international conference hall and numerous other facilities as the neighborhood in Minato Ward is expected to serve as a new key “gateway to the capital.”

The Shinagawa Station project, along with the development of neighboring Takanawa Gateway Station, aims to create a next-generation center to roll out the red carpet for visitors from all over the world.

TOYOTA’S INVOLVEMENT

Just in front of the Takanawa Exit of Shinagawa Station, through which tens of thousands of commuters and others pass each day, a 29-story, tarp-covered complex called Shinagawa Goos is in the process of being torn down.

The predecessor of the building, Hotel Pacific Tokyo, was opened in 1971 by rail operator Keikyu Corp.

Over the course of half a century, the building was affectionately viewed as a symbol of convenience right in front of Shinagawa Station. However, Shinagawa Goos shut down for good in spring last year due to its age and redevelopment initiatives.

Covering an area of 25,000 square meters, the former site of Shinagawa Goos is set to accommodate a 160-meter-tall high-rise that will boast offices and a hotel as well as an international conference hall and other facilities.

Projected development costs are estimated at more than 100 billion yen ($740 million). Keikyu will lead the initiative with Toyota Motor Corp. serving as a partner.

A 300-meter-long pedestrian deck is envisaged across National Road No. 15 to connect the building with the Shinagawa Station complex.

The 20,000-square-meter deck will have an open space and what is being touted as a next-generation traffic base for two-wheel, standing-type electric scooters and self-driving buses to ferry people around, according to the transport ministry’s Tokyo national road office.

The bulk of the project work is scheduled for completion between fiscal 2026 and fiscal 2027 in time for the projected start of operations of the Shinagawa-Nagoya route along the maglev Chuo Shinkansen Line.

“We will be making the area an international exchange center in the hope of creating a global gateway to welcome visitors from all over the world as well as from Japan,” said a Keikyu representative.

DEVELOPMENT OF NEIGHBORING STATION

Plans calls for the deck to reach Takanawa Gateway Station located 1 kilometer north of Shinagawa Station.

In the meantime, East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) is forging ahead with an extensive development around Takanawa Gateway Station.

The prime location, easily accessible from Haneda Airport, will be transformed by five tall buildings boasting international conference hall facilities, pricey apartments for foreign nationals and an international school.

Projected costs were put at 580 billion yen. The commercial complex is due to open in fiscal 2025.

A rail yard previously occupied the 95,000-square-meter site. The development is said to be the largest of its kind since the 1987 privatization of the Japanese National Railways to establish Japan Railway companies to service different regions of Japan.

Yuji Fukasawa, president of JR East, said the company is looking to reap profits via non-transit services, as its transportation revenue is predicted to drop dramatically due to a shrinking population, coupled with a ridership decline due to the COVID19 pandemic.

“Until now we focused on providing support for the lives of local communities mainly through rail services, but from now on we will take on challenges to create a futuristic life vision for our customers,” Fukasawa said.

As a first step toward that goal, Fukasawa said the development zone around Takanawa Gateway Station will help nurture new businesses, citing mobility systems for tourists and online medical diagnoses.

HISTORIC FIND POSING CHALLENGE

For the time being, though, an archaeological dig is holding up development work following the discovery of crumbling ruins of the Takanawa Embankment for a railway dating to the Meiji Era (1868-1912). The site was unearthed in 2019.

JR East in spring 2021 decided to partially heed mounting calls by a sectional committee of the central government’s Council for Cultural Affairs and private experts to preserve the site. As a compromise, the company decided that a 120-meter portion of the 800-meter embankment will be conserved in its current site.

However, specialists in Japan and overseas are continuing to insist that the entire structure be left untouched.

Earlier this year, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), an advisory panel to UNESCO, cautioned against dismantling the structure without developing a broad understanding of the site’s significance. That, it said, would be “regrettable.”

“We are holding discussions with experts and the relevant local governments over how to preserve historically important traces and whether doing so can go hand in hand with town development in the special economic zone,” Fukasawa said.

At the same time, Fukasawa said he has no intention of reviewing plans to conserve only a part of the embankment in developing the historic site.