Takanawa Gateway City Complex in Tokyo to Partially Open; New Complex to Serve as Hub for Those in Industry, Academia

By Rui Suzuki / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

2:03 JST, March 27, 2025

East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) is set to partially open Takanawa Gateway City, a building complex around Takanawa Gateway Station on its Yamanote Line in Minato Ward, Tokyo, on Thursday.

The redevelopment project cost ¥600 billion, and JR East plans to make the new area, together with Shinagawa Station, the new gateway to Tokyo’s city center. Shinagawa Station will serve as a terminal station of the Chuo Linear Shinkansen line of the maglev bullet trains.

The new building complex will also serve as a hub for those in industry and academia, as well as a base for international exchanges.

Takanawa Gateway City was built on 9.5 hectares, which was previously a train depot. The total floor space of the five new buildings is 845,000 square meters. In terms of floor space, it is one of the largest for a redevelopment project in Japan.

Of the five buildings, two buildings, which will house offices and commercial facilities, will open Thursday. The other three buildings are scheduled to be completed by spring 2026.

Research facilities for startups, event spaces and robots for cleaning and mail distribution, among other things, were shown at a preview event on Tuesday.

In addition to Takanawa Gateway City, railway companies plan to redevelop the area around Takanawa Gateway and Shinagawa stations even further.

Tokyo Metro Co. plans to extend its Namboku Line to Shinagawa Station in the mid-2030s.

Construction to accommodate a maglev linear Shinkansen train is also underway at Shinagawa Station.

As the area is convenient to reach Haneda Airport, Keikyu Corp. and Seibu Holdings Inc. are also planning their own redevelopment projects.

Toyota Motor Corp. is planning to set up its new Tokyo head office in the Shinagawa area.