Development in and around JR Shinagawa Station (Minato-ku, Tokyo) is accelerating. Redevelopment is progressing in response to the opening of the Shinagawa-Nagoya Linear Chuo Shinkansen, which is expected to occur in the 2030s, and the extension of the Tokyo Metro. Thanks in part to its easy access to Haneda Airport, the city is becoming increasingly popular as Japan’s gateway to Japan, and is the first stop for visitors from overseas, and companies are increasingly relocating their headquarters here.
JR East held a press conference in Tokyo on the 30th and announced that the opening of Takanawa Gateway City (approx. 9.5 hectares), a redevelopment area west of Takanawa Gateway Station (Minato Ward) north of Shinagawa Station, will be completed in March next year. It was announced that it would be held on the 27th.
Next spring, two buildings in front of the station containing offices and commercial facilities will open in advance. High-rise residential buildings and cultural facilities will open in the spring of 2026. A support base for startups will be set up in the office building, and the entire city will also be used as a place for social experiments, such as utilizing various data.
President Yoichi Kiichi expressed his enthusiasm, saying, “This will be a gateway to welcome people from Japan and other parts of the world.We want it to be a testing ground for creating a spiritually enriching lifestyle for the next 100 years.”
JR East also plans to proceed with the construction of a sidewalk from Takanawa Gateway Station to Shinagawa Station. Directly above Shinagawa Station, in collaboration with Keikyu Corporation, we are proceeding with redevelopment including the construction of a high-rise building. Additionally, in January this year, 13 companies, including Nippon Steel Kowa Real Estate and Mitsubishi Estate, announced that they would redevelop 13.5 hectares of land around Keikyu Kita-Shinagawa Station (Shinagawa Ward), located south of Shinagawa Station.
The series of investments stems from the region’s potential. Since 1934, JR Tokai’s Linear Chuo Shinkansen has been in operation between Shinagawa and Nagoya. Additionally, Tokyo Metro plans to extend the Namboku Line from Shirokane-Takanawa to Shinagawa in the 1930s, making it easier to get to central Tokyo such as Roppongi from Shinagawa.
Toyota’s “New Tokyo Headquarters”
Under these circumstances, many companies are relocating their headquarters to the Shinagawa area. KDDI plans to move its headquarters to Takanawa Gateway City in spring 2025. Toyota Motor Corporation is working with Keikyu to redevelop the west exit area of Shinagawa Station, and the new Tokyo headquarters will occupy the building that will be completed in fiscal 2029.
According to a study by the Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Research Institute, the number of major corporate headquarters located in the five central wards of Tokyo increased from 10,404 to 13,345 between 2010 and 2024. In 2024, the area of “Marunouchi/Otemachi, Kasumigaseki/Uchisaiwaicho” in Chiyoda Ward was at the top with 1,395 companies, but the “Kaigan/Shibaura/Shinagawa Station Konan Exit” area in Minato Ward was particularly strong, up from 478 companies in 2010. In 2024, the number increased to 849 companies, the highest growth rate at 75%. There is a possibility that the pace will accelerate in the future as redevelopment progresses. (Junji Oda)
Source: Japanese