In Tokyo, where space is at a premium, local authorities decided to house a publicly run elementary school in a tower block that rises 45 stories above ground and boasts a luxury hotel and offices as well as brand name shops. All that’s missing is an outdoor play area.

A local ward official called it an “unprecedented project nationwide.”

The 240-meter Tokyo Midtown Yaesu building was completed in August in front of Tokyo Station’s Yaesu South Exit.

The complex is expected to house offices and 60 or so stores when it fully opens in spring 2023. The highest floors will be taken over by a foreign-affiliated hotel operator making its debut in Japan with pricey accommodation.

Tokyo Midtown Yaesu is the third such facility to be built under the Midtown brand, following its counterparts in the capital’s Roppongi and Hibiya districts.

Those two buildings are seen as urban zone landmarks characterized by a museum and a hotel as well as famous brand-name shops and offices.

Tokyo Midtown Yaesu will accommodate Bulgari Hotel Tokyo, combined with a luxury spa facility, on its top 40th to 45th floors. Daikin Industries Ltd. and Mitsui Chemicals Inc. are scheduled to relocate their offices to Tokyo Midtown Yaesu.

Six hundred mid- and long-distance buses arrive in and depart from the underground Bus Terminal Tokyo Yaesu on its precincts daily, and the number will rise to more than 1,500 under plans to make the facility one of Japan’s largest bus terminals.

In September, Chuo Ward-run Joto Elementary School relocated to the high-rise, which is emerging as a symbol of renewal in the area in front of Tokyo Station. Its 170 pupils take lessons on the first to fourth floors in the southeastern portion of the structure.

Part of the site was formerly occupied by the school. When a large-scale redevelopment program was suggested, the school operator was unable to find an alternative suitable site in central Tokyo.

A deal was reached whereby the school would move into the high-rise in return for providing its grounds for the project.

Initially, the children were forced to take classes at another school while the site was cleared for rebuilding. They are now back in their hometown Yaesu district for the first time in five years.

The architects were unable to provide soil-covered athletics grounds inside the high-rise. Instead, a rubber-coated field for physical activities, marked by a track 70 meters in circumference, is accessible on the fourth floor.

There is also a gymnasium on the second story. The athletics field is unique as it is outfitted with a retractable ceiling. At the flip of a switch, it takes three minutes for the ceiling to fully open.

Through the opened ceiling, students can see the gass-walled top part of the building reflecting sunlight.

Children go to their classes through a dedicated entrance on the first floor. However, classrooms are not entirely separated from other areas in the complex.

“No trespassing” signs are placed on stairways that can be reached by other tenants, and double-walled doors and double-glazing are adopted for the music room to muffle the sounds inside.

The developer, Mitsui Fudosan Co., said Joto Elementary School is the first such publicly run educational institution to operate in one of its high-rise buildings.

Washstands for children are designed in the same way as those on other floors, but their heights were lowered for easier use.

Takashi Okachi, director of the ward education board’s school facilities section, expressed hopes that the local environment--where employees working in their offices in an adjacent building can be seen through the school’s windows--will “provide a sort of career-oriented training.”

Cooperating with businesses within Tokyo Midtown Yaesu, the school operator is weighing special programs, such as holding classes jointly with officials from those enterprises and organizing tours of their offices for the children.

“Our location offers a rare chance for the children to learn about robots using artificial intelligence and manners associated with the hospitality industry since the Bulgari Hotel Tokyo is part of the complex,” said Hideo Kokubo, the school principal.

“We are holding talks with parents and guardians about the various possibilities,” Kokubo added. “Our unique location offers the children quick access to the world of adults. It is my hope that this will result in barriers between education and work being lowered.”

Parents also have high expectations, according to Kokubo, and fully agree that the children’s exposure to “adults working up close will be beneficial.”

Buoyed apparently by its rare educational environment, Joto Elementary School is proving popular among other publicly run establishments.

As Joto Elementary School is a “specially designated” institute under the jurisdiction of ward authorities, a limited number of pupils living in other schooling districts of the municipality can study there if selected by lottery.

This fiscal year, 184 children applied to the special quota of 14.

“The Yaesu area is home to many global corporations, which will surely stimulate the children’s interest,” said a 38-year-old mother seeking to get her child enrolled in Joto Elementary School next fiscal year.

Chuo Ward has been undergoing a development boom and now boasts many extremely tall apartment buildings in coastal zones.

The presence of far more children means the educational needs in certain areas can dramatically change very quickly. As a result, the specially designated school system was introduced in 2009 so children can attend schools of their choice beyond local boundaries.

In 2008, enrollment at Joto Elementary School was down to 50 or so pupils. The figure has more than tripled since then. Some children arrive by school bus.

Joto Elementary School plans to accept 60 first-graders in two classes next fiscal year. The operator anticipates spending six years to raise the class number to two in all grades in this “super central area” of the capital.