TOKYO -- The waterfront area of Chuo Ward in Japan's capital is crowded with office buildings and condo towers. Near the mouth of the Sumida River is a large plot of land left vacant since the closure of the famed former Tsukiji Market. In December, the land was shown to the public for the first time since.

"Land this large in Tokyo is rare. We are making the most of the waterfront and greenery to turn this into a city that people from all over the world will want to visit," an official said to guided visitors.

A new stadium is central to a planned redevelopment project for the area. Its blueprints include the flexibility to host sports, concerts and theatrical events such as by changing the positioning of the seats.

Shopping centers, hotels, condominiums and facilities to cultivate world-class dining are to be constructed, and the area will also be home to a port for the next-generation mode of transportation, the "flying car." Construction is scheduled to start in fiscal 2025, with a portion opening in fiscal 2029 and the main part, including the stadium, expected to open in the early 2030s.

The former site of the market is about 19 hectares, or the size of four Tokyo Domes. Just about a kilometer from the fashionable Ginza shopping district, the site is considered one of the last great pieces of land in the city.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which owns the land, decided in 2024 on a consortium of 11 builders led by Mitsui Fudosan Co. for its redevelopment.

Culinary reputation as 'the world's Tsukiji'

Opening in 1935, Tsukiji Market was called "Tokyo's kitchen." From then until the market was relocated to Koto Ward's Toyosu district in 2018, it was the largest wholesale market in the country, where seafood items, vegetables and fruits were sold. Considering how the local community developed around it, area residents have high hopes for the redevelopment project.

Tsukiji Outer Market remains next to the development site, with around 400 vendors selling fresh seafood, fruits and vegetables and cookware alongside eateries. In the mornings it is visited by business-oriented patrons, while the crowds buzzing later in the day include shoppers and foreign visitors. Yoshitsugu Kitada, the 66-year-old chair of the "Tsukiji shoku no machizukuri kyogikai" (Council on Tsukiji food town-planning) nonprofit, noted with pride, "The market has moved to Toyosu, but Tsukiji is still famous around the world for its high-quality ingredients."

Under the banner of "liveliness with development of food culture," developers are set to make a facility for food research alongside the gourmet restaurants visitors will enjoy. Kitada expressed his hopes, saying, "The redevelopment area and outer market will synergistically become livelier."

Plans to connect the sea and sky

Key to the vision of Tokyo's waterfront area in the future is a planned subway link from the city center. Under the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's plan, the line will connect Tokyo Station with the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition center in nearly the shortest possible distance. The 6.1-kilometer line will have seven stops, tentatively called Tokyo, Shin-Ginza, Shin-Tsukiji, Kachidoki, Harumi, Toyosu Market and Ariake-Tokyo Big Sight stations. Plans are moving ahead with completion expected by 2040.

The line will mainly be run by Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit Inc., which currently operates the Rinkai Line. There is also a plan for East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) to operate mutual through services on the Rinkai Line with the Haneda Airport Access Line, which will connect to Haneda Airport. If this plan is realized, access to the airport from the waterfront areas will be improved.

Meiji University Professor Emeritus Hiroo Ichikawa, who has been involved in the metro government's planning, pointed out that redevelopment in the 2030s will center on the waterfront area, and said, "Tsukiji can be called the hub of it all. If the waterfront area connects with the gateway to the skies, it will attract all the more attention and development."

(Japanese original by Taisuke Shimabukuro, Tokyo City News Department)