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We want to make Shinagawa the front door to Tokyo. It could be a landmark development for us. Of course our final plans will depend on whether we can win permission for an easing of building regulatio

11 Comments

Takashi Goto, president of Seibu Holdings Inc, which wants to redevelop an area with four hotels in Tokyo’s Shinagawa district to tap demand from surging overseas tourists arrivals and the opening of Japan’s first high-speed magnetic- levitation train line. (Bloomberg)

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The front door to Tokyo will always be Tokyo station area.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@gokai_wo_maneku,

The front door to Tokyo will always be Tokyo station area.

I agree with you as a general matter. However, with the continued expansion of Haneda and the number of international flights coming into it, Shinagawa actually is a really good location for hotels geared at foreign visitors. Easy access to the airport, easy access to the Shinkansen, hotels generally cheaper than those near Tokyo Station, etc. So, maybe this guy is being overly optimistic with that statement, but I don't think he is wrong as it relates to the opportunity to make Shinagawa more than it currently is.

@JeffLee,

I hate having to go to Shinagawa. Usually it's no choice but to ride the Yamanote line,which is agonizingly slow and congested.

Completely agree with you on this point. I wish there was a subway line that cut north-south straight through the heart of Tokyo north to Shinagawa. Maybe from Ikebukuro through Waseda, Yotsuya, Nogizaka, Hiroo, Shirokane-Takenawa to Shinagawa. Or something like that. Never going to happen now, but...

1 ( +2 / -1 )

There's something very chuutohanpa about Shinagawa, with the station suggesting much more than the sum of the immediate vicinity's parts.

As pointed out, though, it's nigh unbeatable from an integrated transport perspective, so go for it, Seibu. The Prince was getting a bit shabby, anyway.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I hate having to go to Shinagawa. Usually it's no choice but to ride the Yamanote line,which is agonizingly slow and congested.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Last time I was in Tokyo I stayed in Shinagawa. Flew into Haneda from Shikoku and then out of Narita 2 days later.

Direct train links to both airports made it a decent enough option.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Have they considered sea rising with global warming, or will they just build and say oops?

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How many people know that Shinagawa Station isn't actually in Shinagawa, it's in Minato-ku. Same as Meguro Station isn't in Meguro, it's in Shinagawa-ku.

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Shinagawa Station is an absolute shambles. And don't even get me started on the location of the Immigration Bureau! All aboard the prison bus!

Doorway to Tokyo... Yeah, right!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

There's something very chuutohanpa about Shinagawa, with the station suggesting much more than the sum of the immediate vicinity's parts.

Agreed. It's a funny old place. All the development that's happened in that area the last 30 years or so gives you the impression that it's a large happening place, when in reality it's mostly office space and amenities catering to those offices. The station is a hot mess too. Like someone else mentioned, I also get lost if I have to use Shinagawa despite having lived here 13 years. It's very hard to find the actual exit sometimes. Sometimes I find that I've gone through a ticket gate into another platform area. The signage there is painfully inadequate. With it's proximity to Haneda, I hope they give Shinagawa station a massive refit before the Olympics. I can imagine quite a few tourists getting bogged down in that place.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

All the skyscrapers and other development in that area (and on the artificial islands in the bay) is blocking the winds, exacerbating the heat island effect, and making Tokyo hotter than ever in the summers. I've never understood the seemingly endless focus on that area when there are plenty of other places -- even outside Tokyo! -- which are more attractive.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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