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Urban attractions transform retail facilities in Japan
by Jody Godoy
 In the neon glare of urban Japan, the question for entertainment and shopping facilities is how to stand out from the crowd. For several, attractions are the answer. Conveniently located and highly visible, these rides turn their locations into regional icons and keep business rolling with their aesthetic appeal. Here are three examples of urban attractions in Japan’s major cities that conveniently double as leisure visitor sites.
HEP Five’s Ferris Wheel in a Building
Some of the best examples are found in Osaka, Japan’s second-largest city. Before shopping or attending a concert at the 11- floor Hankyu Entertainment Park (HEP) Five, visitors can take in the business district’s ultra-modern skyline from a Ferris wheel that towers above the building.
Ferris wheels are a surprisingly common sight around Japan, from small amusement parks in the Nagano countryside to shopping centers in the southern island of Kyushu. But the ride at HEP Five takes visitors for more than the usual spin.
HEP Five’s is the world’s first Ferris wheel to be designed into the architecture of a building. Riders enter the airconditioned gondolas from the seventh floor and rise through an open space in the building’s center to 106 meters (525 feet) above the city streets. The red gondolas are visible from inside the building thanks to the six-floor open atrium below where a life-sized sculpture of a red whale is whimsically suspended. Escalators ascend across one another in a dizzying spiral, and the entire space becomes as lively as the city itself, a place the residents of metropolitan Osaka had been hoping for.
“We conducted a survey asking people what they would most like to see in this area, and a majority of respondents answered that they wanted a park or an amusement park,” says Yohei Inoue of the Hankyu Hanshin Building Management Corporation.
Rising from the midst of the metropolis, the red Ferris wheel is an unmistakable landmark and meeting place. The power of this kind of exposure is evident: The facility boasted around 17 million annual visitors as of 2007, less than a decade after its opening. This is good news for the businesses inside, which include more than 170 fashion boutiques and dining establishments, as well as an arcade and a performance venue.
The wheel-in-building concept was developed by Takenaka Corporation, which later worked with Mitsubishi to construct the “Singapore Flyer” observation wheel (the world’s largest before Beijing’s 2009 unveiling of the “Great Wheel”). HEP Five’s innovative design earned Hankyu Hanshin and Takenaka recognition at the International Design and Development Awards program sponsored by the International Council of Shopping Centers. www.hepfive.jp
Namba HIPS’ Drop Ride in a Building
South of HEP Five, in the entertainment district, another leisure facility propelled itself to landmark status with an eyecatching urban attraction. At the Namba HIPS building, a thrill ride called “Yabafo” free-falls through an hourglassshaped cutout in the façade, offering a view of Midosuji Avenue and the Namba area before a breathtaking 47-meter (154-foot) drop.
Hirakawa Shoji Co. Ltd., an Osaka-based company that runs resorts, golf courses, and other leisure facilities nationwide, owns and manages the building. The company knew this particular location presented the opportunity to make a splash.
Midosuji Avenue is Osaka’s main street, a site of international commerce and culture. In the Shinsaibashi district, where HIPS is located, Midosuji becomes a chic tree-lined boulevard with several blocks of brand-name stores like Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Dolce and Gabana. The company worked with the well-known architectural firm Shin Takamatsu to add to the value of the famous street with cutting-edge architecture.
The resulting design is reminiscent of both an exclamation mark and an hourglass, representing the city’s excitement and simple elegance the company hopes will impact the people who pass it daily. www.namba-hips.com
Tokyo Dome City: Attractions Aplenty
Perhaps the country’s most centrally located amusement facility, Tokyo Dome City takes full advantage of its status. A parachute drop and a free-fall ride, as well as two coasters and the world’s first center-less Ferris wheel, give guests “a view you can only get from a location this central,” says Hiroshi Okuda of Tokyo Dome’s public relations division.
The multifaceted entertainment area surrounding the Tokyo Dome baseball stadium offers a panoply of leisure possibilities to its approximately 35 million annual visitors. The approximately 83,000-square-meter (893,000-square-foot) site incorporates shops and restaurants, a fitness club, a sauna, and a health and beauty spa, as well as venues designed for boxing matches, conventions, concerts, and family-oriented performances.
The site went through several partial transformations over the years, a model in how to use prime real estate wisely. LaQua, which opened in 2003, combines shopping, dining, and spa facilities with a coaster that wraps around the building and zooms through a hole in the façade. MeetsPort is the newest building addition, opened in 2008. Shops, restaurants, and an open garden are situated above a 3,000-seat underground events hall.
The three newest attractions, a walkthrough based on the popular animated series “Lupin the Third,” a 3-D indoor ride called “Tokyo Panic Cruise,” and Japan’s second MagiQuest location, were also established in place of older attractions.
Guests take advantage of this mix in various ways, by “riding the attractions before a baseball game, relaxing at the spa after a game, or letting their children enjoy the attractions while they shop,” says Okuda. The company encourages baseball fans to enjoy the other facilities by offering discounts to ticket holders.
Because of busy school and work schedules, most people in Japan save trips to major amusement parks for national holidays. Tokyo Dome City, however, has the advantage of being in the back yard of the metropolis’ more than 12 million residents. “Because of the centrality of the location, we can hold events not only on weekends and holidays but events targeting visitors who come after school or work,” notes Okuda.
To this end the company offers individual ride tickets and discounted evening passes as well as all-day passes. It also holds Ladies’ Day on Wednesdays when restaurants, shops, and attractions offer discounts and perks aimed at women.
Knowing guests on the go have little time to wait in line, the park posts current wait times on its web site and initiated a mobile ride reservation system accessible via cell phone. Keeping pace with city dwellers keeps Tokyo Dome City swinging all year round. www.tokyo-dome.co.jp
(Note: Namba HIPS’ freefall attraction was temporarily closed at the time of writing.)
Jody Godoy is a Tokyo-based freelance writer specializing in culture, entertainment, and the arts. www.jodygodoy.com
Fruit of the Concrete Jungle
 Julian Worrall, assistant professor of architecture and urban studies at Waseda University, sees the trend of urban attractions as part of a Japanese tendency toward architectural idiosyncrasies.
“These projects could be said to reflect a particular condition of Japanese cities—that is the way they frequently generate buildings bearing strange conjunctions of functions or forms. A driving school could appear on the roof of a supermarket; a building could be pierced by an expressway; or a bus parking garage could double as public housing,” says Worrall.
Cultural norms are also a factor. “The formality of Japanese communication and socialization patterns contributes to the market” for urban attractions, he says, noting that attractions in Japan have particular appeal for couples who seek to add structured entertainment to their night out.
“The most important factor [in the success of urban attractions] is the effective public transport systems in big Japanese cities, in particular the trains and subways,” observes Worrall. “This facilitates access of large numbers of people to shopping and entertainment areas without the need to provide enormous parking areas, which are unaffordable to build on expensive inner city land.” |
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