“Tokyo Review 054” Shibuya area-8
Tokyu Department Store which contains the Ginza Line Shibuya Station
Tokyu Toyoko Line, which entered Shibuya in 1927, curved sharply across the JR Yamanote Line and entered the east exit side. The station was located on a narrow land between the Shibuya River and the JR Yamanote Line. Many people might remember that the station was had a continuous saddle roof.
In 1934, the Toyoko Department Store opened in front of the Toyoko Line Shibuya Station. The 7-story building having a total floor area of 11,468 square meters was one of the pioneering department stores with “Kikuya Department Store” (the predecessor of the Seibu Department Store Ikebukuro store) in Ikebukuro. The Toyoko Department Store seems to have gained popularity among residents along the background of the population growth in western Tokyo, and this later became the Tokyu Department Store Toyoko Store East Wing 1.
The Tokyu Toyoko Store continued to expand. On the east side of the JR Yamanote Line, the East Wing 2 was constructed at the lower part of Shibuya Subway Station in 1937. In 1951, the 5th to 7th floors of the upper part of the subway were expanded as the East Wing 3. From 1951 to 1953, the aerial cable car “Hibari” operated for children-only excursions going from the roof of the East Wing to the roof of the Tamaden Building (current West Wing).
Furthermore, on the west side of the Yamanote Line, a 12-story west building was built in 1954, and at the same time, a central building (only the 5th to 7th floors) connecting the east and west was built. An 8-story South Building that connects to the premises was expanded. The department stores are located on the 1st to 9th floors of the west building, but as mentioned earlier, the Ginza Line is included, so it has a “hollow” floor structure with no sales floor on the 3rd and 4th floors.
Shibuya Mark City also includes Shibuya Station on the Keio Inogashira Line, and there are similar cases in Tokyo and other cities in Japan, but there are no other department stores with such complex floor configurations. In the background, I feel the enthusiasm of Keita Goto, a railroad man who prioritizes convenience for transfer of railway passengers over the space composition of commercial facilities.
In March 2020, the Tokyu Department Store Toyoko Store will end their 86 years of history, and will be reborn in 2027 as the phase 2 of Shibuya Scramble Square. The new Shibuya Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line will open on January 4 as a bright station with an arched roof on the north side of Shibuya Scramble Square, just above Meiji Dori Avenue. The station that has modestly been hidden in the building will finally come out under the sunshine.
