business

Largest ever shopping complex in Ginza to open next spring

7 Comments
By Alexandra Hongo

A new massive retail complex featuring an impressive lineup of international stores, offices and cultural facilities, will open in Ginza's 6-chome area next spring, operators Mori Building Co and partners announced at a press conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.

The new facility (see scale model in photo below), which will have its grand opening on April 20, 2017, is called "Ginza Six" (GSix) and will occupy 47,000 square meters — the largest of its kind to date in the Ginza area. The complex will be built on the location of the former Matsuzakaya store — Ginza's first ever department store — and its adjacent block, facing the stylish Chuo-dori avenue, the symbol of the area.

The 15-story facility is part of a major Ginza redevelopment project being carried out in cooperation among retail giants Mori Building Co, L Real Estate, J. Front Retailing Co and  Sumitomo Corporation.

Speaking at the press conference, Mori Building President and CEO Shingo Tsuji explained that the complex's name "Ginza Six" has a special meaning, referring not only to its location at the district's symbolic 6-chome, but also in hope that it will serve as an "establishment where products and services will satisfy customers' all five senses at a six-star service level."

With a slogan "Life at Its Best," Ginza Six will host a total of 241 stores, including 122 flagship facilities and renowned international and domestic brands, including Fendi, Kenzo, Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen and Yves Saint Laurent. It will also be the home of rental offices spreading along seven floors; 24 restaurants and cafes, a bookstore, a banquet hall, a tourist information center, a Noh theater and a massive rooftop garden stretching nearly 4,000 square meters. Eleven of the stores will make their debut in Japan at Ginza Six, while 34 will be the largest in Japan and four the largest in the world.

The facility's Kanze Noh Theater is a 480-seat large cultural hall, serving as a base for the Kanze school, the largest in Japan's Noh theater tradition. The theater will also serve as a temporary accommodation for stranded commuters in case of a natural disasters. Various modern art works, including the opening exhibit by the avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama, will also be displayed at the complex's Central Atrium under the supervision of Fumio Nanjo, the director of Mori Art Museum.

Calling the new facility "an unconventional challenge," J.Front Retailing Co President Ryoichi Yamamoto explained that Ginza Six will be very different from the status quo of Japan's department stores, inviting customers to look forward to its opening.

"Japan should no longer rely on what it has built in the past," Yamamoto said. "We have to go along unbeaten tracks and that is why we agreed on building a store that Ginza has never seen before."

© Japan Today

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7 Comments
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I try to avoid malls, but if I ever find myself in one I can almost hear the strains of 'The Gonk' which was used at the end of 'Dawn of the dead'. Sing along now shoppers , da dum dum dum, da dum dum dum, da dum dum diddle-idle dum dum dum.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Walked around this huge complex the other day. Can't wait for it to open. Especially the restaurants. Should add even more excitement to the Ginza ... especially with all those other new stores that have been opening there at a regular pace.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Hope the site wasn't previously owned by a gas company.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Attention Chinese shoppers, blue light sale in Ginza 6 chome...

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

More pap and waste for the unthinking masses.....

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Getting a bit tired of these malls in central Tokyo. Very predictable - the usual high-end brand shops for the vainest and materialistic people ever, with nothing for the ordinary Joe.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Mall life at its best.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

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