“Tokyo Review 036” Shinjuku area-12
Southbound enlargement-Takashimaya Times Square and Shinjuku Southern Terrace
Shinjuku Station South Exit is an exit originally created on the over bridge for the Koshu-Kaido Avenue flying over the JR’s railway tracks. Keio Electric Railway’s Shinjuku Station which is currently located in the west exit used to be situated near the JR South Exit during 1915 to 1945. The development around the Shinjuku Station had started from the area around the east exit, followed by the west side, and then deployed to the area around the South Exit.
In 1991, the so-called “New South Exit” had opened at the opposite side of the South Exit facing Koshu-Kaido Avenue. In October 1996, the “Takashimaya Times Square” had been completed in the adjacent site. This large-scale commercial development was implemented by a new company which the JNR Clearing Corporation founded, making use of the former “Shinjuku Freight Station”. The main tenant of the development, Takashimaya Shinjuku Store, has a sales area of 53,946 square meters. Although, Takashimaya cannot reach the scale of the Isetan Shinjuku Store which has a sales area of 64,296 square meters combining with the annex for men’s’ goods, it is still large enough for a single department store. The site is long in the north-south direction, and it’s closer to Yoyogi Station than from Shinjuku Station, especially when you go to Tokyu Hands at the southern end.
In March, 1998, the Shinjuku Southern Terrace had opened. It is a promenade with several commercial facilities situated on an artificial ground constructed utilizing the apace above railway tracks of Odakyu Lines. It has a length of 350 meters, leading us to a commercial building named Odakyu Southern Tower. It is characterized by the fact that restaurants and other facilities are lined up along a relatively wide passage, and special illuminations and other events are also carried out utilizing the open space. The Takashimaya Times Square is also connected by a footbridge named “East Deck” above JR’s railway tracks, which had changed the pedestrian circulation. These will be the foundation for further development around the South Exit.
