Toyosu Market in Koto Ward, Tokyo, which has taken over the role of historic Tsukiji Market in Chuo Ward, marked its first anniversary Friday.
Hotels and commercial facilities near the new market will be built in the near future to attract visitors, with the aim of turning the area into a bustling new tourism hub for Tokyo.
"The number of tourists visiting the market is increasing and a good image of Toyosu became established in this first year," said Tsutomu Koyasu, 72, an adviser to a federation of town associations of Koto Ward and a longtime resident in the ward.
The area around the market is reclaimed land on which there used to be a factory operated by Tokyo Gas Co., according to Koyasu. There were few buildings, including the company's exhibition facility, and the volume of foot traffic was low until the market opened.
The Tokyo metropolitan government initially planned to open a complex with restaurants, a large public bath and a hotel -- named the Senkyaku Banrai complex -- to coincide with the opening of Toyosu Market.
However, negotiations with a business operator who was to run the complex became tangled, partly due to confusion in the metropolitan government on whether to actually relocate the market. The opening of the complex was thus delayed until spring 2023.
Therefore, the metropolitan government began to make efforts to attract visitors until the complex opens through promotional events and utilizing a temporary facility. Since January, the metropolitan government has held about 20 events to sell food with ingredients from the market, attracting about 142,000 people by August.
A group of companies including Mitsui Fudosan Co. will open a facility that houses a food court and other attractions for three years from January 2020. About 20 tenants from mainly intermediate wholesalers in the market are expected to open shops in the facility with the aim of promoting Toyosu food culture with about 110 shops that are already open inside the market.
Development led by the private sector also will progress. Daiwa House Industry Co. built a complex, called D Tower Toyosu, on the opposite side of the market's Fruit and Vegetables Building at the end of September. A hypoxic training facility will open in November, and a hotel with 330 rooms will open in December.
Shimizu Corp. will build another complex with a hotel and offices in front of the market in 2021. "It is close to the center of Tokyo and its location surrounded by the waterfront is attractive," said a company official in charge. "We hope to lead the development of Toyosu by meeting the demands of inbound tourists who are expected to increase."
Within the complex, a traffic plaza that will function as a station for the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) connecting central Tokyo and the waterfront area with an articulated bus, will be established. As there are only two public transportation systems connecting the market and central Tokyo -- the Yurikamome Line and Toei buses -- it is hoped that traffic convenience will be improved with the BRT services.
A senior official of the metropolitan government said: "In addition to development projects by the private sector, the opening of the BRT station will be able to create a flow of people to Toyosu. We want Toyosu to be a bustling tourist spot at the same level as areas such as Odaiba."
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