Photo/Illutration An artist’s rendition of the stadium to be built on the old Tsukiji fish market site in Tokyo’s Chuo Ward (Provided by Mitsui Fudosan Co.)

The site of Tokyo’s famed Tsukiji fish market, a vacant plot since it was demolished a few years back, is to be redeveloped into a bustling waterfront district featuring a 50,000-seat stadium and a cluster of high-rise buildings, along with a life sciences hub.

Under a master plan released Aug. 22 by a consortium of contractors, nine buildings will be erected, including a 210-meter-tall skyscraper.

The 19-hectare plot owned by the Tokyo metropolitan government was turned into a temporary parking lot for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Consortium officials pledged to preserve any buried cultural artifacts and sort out possible soil pollution problems before embarking on the main construction work in fiscal 2028.

The master blueprint envisages a large-scale venue for events and exchanges, working with the Tsukiji Outer Market next door to promote culinary culture, and creating a base for life sciences that would bring together cutting-edge technologies.

The motif of a traditional Japanese fan will be evoked in the design of the indoor stadium’s roof to embody hopes for harmony, growth and prosperity, officials said.

In April last year, the metropolitan government picked the group of 11 businesses, led by Mitsui Fudosan Co., Toyota Fudosan Co. and The Yomiuri Shimbun Group, as the contractor of the redevelopment project. 

The Asahi Shimbun Co., which has its head office building next to the site, is also involved in the redevelopment project in the capacity of a cooperating company.

The complexes to be built will open for business as they are completed, starting in the first half of the 2030s. Total projected costs were put at 900 billion yen ($6 billion).

Plans went back and forth over what to do with the site, given its prime location next to the ritzy Ginza district.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike in 2016 delayed the planned date for relocating the market to the Toyosu district because of soil pollution at the new site, which was formerly occupied by Tokyo Gas Co. The market was eventually relocated to Toyosu in 2018.

Koike initially said she wanted a food theme park built. A proposal released later, in 2019, instead featured an international conference hall and other facilities.

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