Shibuya Cross Tower

A 32-story, 131-metre office tower completed in March 1975 as Toho Seimei Building — Shibuya's first building to exceed 100 metres. The white-and-brown vertically striped facade remains a steady landmark beside Miyamasuzaka, watched over decades of the district's transformation.

Use

Office tower

Area

Shibuya City

Completed

1975

Floors

32 above ground, 3 below

Height

131 m

Developer

Toho Mutual Life Insurance Company

Architect

Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei

Shibuya’s First Skyscraper

Long before Scramble Square broke the skyline and Hikarie transformed the south side of Shibuya Station, a 32-story tower was already standing near Miyamasuzaka. Completed in March 1975 as the Toho Seimei Building, Shibuya Cross Tower stands approximately 131 metres tall — at the time of its completion, the first building in Shibuya to exceed 100 metres and one of the early sites in Tokyo to receive Special District designation. Its design, by Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei with construction by Kajima Corporation, features a characteristic white-and-brown vertical striped facade that remains easy to spot from the station’s east exits.

The tower has changed hands and names over the decades. When Toho Mutual Life Insurance Company — the original developer — collapsed in 1999, the building was renamed GT Tower and later assumed its current name, Shibuya Cross Tower. The tower’s lower floors contain retail and dining, with offices occupying the upper levels. Through all the renamings, the structure itself has remained exactly where it was in 1975: a fixed point as Shibuya grew and transformed around it.

Summary

Shibuya Cross Tower was completed in March 1975 with 32 floors and a height of approximately 131 metres. Originally built for Toho Mutual Life Insurance, it marked the arrival of the skyscraper era in Shibuya before the district’s more recent round of high-rise development. Walking up from Miyamasuzaka, you can look back toward the station and see that original tower still anchoring the view — a reminder of how much has changed around it, and how little the building itself has had to.

Related: Shibuya Scramble Square / Shibuya Hikarie

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