Gaia Series 4: Tokyo Midtown Yaesu - The Gateway To Japan
Tokyo Midtown Yaesu, a new mixed-use facility near Tokyo Station, is the focus of this week's episode, as we look back at its beginnings and what went on behind the scenes during its construction.
This week, we cast the spotlight on a new landmark near Tokyo Station, called Tokyo Midtown Yaesu. Opened in March 2023, it is a mixed-used facility featuring restaurants, stores, offices, a huge underground bus terminal, a hotel and even an elementary school. It was developed by Mitsui Fudosan and boasts 45 floors above the ground and four basement floors. The company is also behind Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi and Tokyo Midtown Hibiya. Mitsui Fudosan decided to build the third Midtown complex in front of Tokyo Station in the Yaesu district, with the aim of creating an urban centre, not just a building. Yaesu was chosen because of its prime location - with the train station nearby and several highway bus stops in the area - and high footfall.
We will go back in time to six months before its opening to examine what went on behind the scenes and talk to the key people behind this development. We first met Takahiro Yasuda from Mitsui Fudosan; he is responsible for the commercial space in Midtown Yaesu. One of his first ideas was to create a space on the second floor, where people can gather or just relax while waiting for their friends. He decided to name it Yaesu Public or Yae-Pub for short.
Shaved ice is a well-known dessert in Japan so Mr Yasuda came up with the “Shaved Ice Collection Baton" project, where shaved ice shops will be changed regularly at Yae-Pub.
He thus made a trip to Obuse Town, Nagano Prefecture to negotiate a deal with Obusedo, which has been around for 100 years. It is a famous confectionery shop which sells Meiji-era style Japanese sweets made from chestnut. Its shaved ice with chestnuts is very popular. Mr Yasuda convinces the 17th-generation owner Tsugio Ichimura to sell its shaved ice at Midtown Yaesu. Mr Yasuda also visits Yanaka, Taito City, Tokyo to negotiate a deal with Koji Morinishi, the owner of Himitsu-do, another shaved ice shop. This popular shop has more than 300 flavours to offer. He requests the owner to create a new flavour just for Yaesu’s grand opening.
Mr Yasuda also drops by a shop in Kyoto that has been around for more than 300 years. Called Hosoo, it specialises in traditional Kyoto Nishijin woven textiles. Masataka Hosoo is the CEO of this company, which has been passed down through 12 generations. He saw the potential of Nishijin textiles - used in the belts of kimonos - being used as a fabric. It has now garnered attention at home and abroad, being used by top fashion labels and in high-end furniture. Mr Yasuda persuades Mr Hosoo to open a store on the ground floor of Midtown Yaesu.
Besides commercial areas, Midtown Yaesu has lots of office space, occupying levels 7 to 38. Shuhei Yamaguchi from the Building Project Department was in charge of the office spaces at Midtown Yaesu. The floor space of a single floor is approximately 4,000 square metres. So the company had to work hard to sell office spaces and achieve full occupancy. Some of the tenants it managed the secure include IT company JBCC, Sumitomo Life, Mitsui Chemicals and Daikin.
The grand opening of Midtown Yaesu on 10 March 2023 attracted around 500 people. Mr Yasuda and Mr Hosoo were present, among others. At that point, there were 12 Japanese stores on the ground floor, while the Yae-Pub space on the second floor was a hit. As for the Shaved Ice Collection Baton, the first store to be featured was Himitsu-do and the exclusive item that owner Mr Morinishi created was Yae-zakura. It has many layers to it like the petals of a real Yae-zakura, so customers can enjoy a range of flavours. It even includes salted cherry blossom petals. During the chestnut season, Obusedo will take over the space and sell its popular chestnut shave ice.
The restaurant area of Midtown Yaesu has a huge variety of bars and restaurants, including a famous standing bar from Osaka, a traditional eel restaurant from Nagoya, a standing sushi bar from Hokkaido and a popular niboshi ramen shop which has been listed in the Michelin guide. At Yae-Pub, many of the bars and restaurants are pop-up shops which keep changing. At a corner of Yae-Pub is a shop designed to look like a backstreet bar. It is a members-only bar which serves rare sake from every region of Japan.
Tips:
1) Tokyo Midtown Yaesu’s Yae-Pub area is an ideal place to gather and relax with friends
2) Fans of popular Japanese dessert shaved ice should check out the “Shaved Ice Collection Baton" area
