Tokyu Kabukicho Tower

A 48-storey, 225-metre skyscraper completed in January 2023 in the heart of Kabukicho, Shinjuku. Containing a live music hall, theatre, cinema and two hotels but no office floors, it translates the entertainment character of the district into a vertical tower.

Use

Office tower

Area

Shinjuku City

Completed

2023

Floors

48 above ground, 5 below

Height

225 m

Total floor area

approx. 87,400 m²

Developer

Tokyu Corporation / Tokyu Recreation

Architect

Kume Sekkei / Tokyu Architects & Engineers JV (facade design: Yuko Nagayama & Associates)

Entertainment Stacked Skyward in Kabukicho

In Kabukicho 1-chome, Shinjuku, a skyscraper unlike most others in Tokyo opened in April 2023. Tokyu Kabukicho Tower stands 48 storeys above ground and five below, reaching approximately 225 metres — and contains no office floors at all. The structural design was handled by a joint venture of Kume Sekkei and Tokyu Architects & Engineers, while the building’s facade was conceived by architect Yuko Nagayama. Glass louvres wrap the exterior, catching the neon of Kabukicho at night and throwing it back in shifting patterns as visitors pass beneath.

The lower and middle floors are given entirely to entertainment. Live music venue Zepp Shinjuku occupies one section; theatre THEATER MILANO-Za takes another; and 109 Cinemas Premium Shinjuku brings a high-specification cinema experience to the complex. Dining and retail fill the gaps. The total floor area reaches approximately 87,400 square metres across a footprint of just around 4,600 square metres — every square metre of site area pushed into the sky.

Two Hotels Sharing One Tower

Above the entertainment floors, two hotels with different character are stacked in the same building. Floors 18 to 38 hold HOTEL GROOVE SHINJUKU, positioned as an entertainment hotel in dialogue with the venues below. Floors 39 to 47 contain BELLUSTAR TOKYO, a luxury hotel at the tower’s summit. Housing two hotels of different grades within a single structure — and connecting both to a base of entertainment uses below — makes the whole tower function as a vertically self-contained entertainment district.

Construction was handled by a Shimizu Corporation and Tokyu Construction joint venture. The building was completed on 11 January 2023.

Summary

Tokyu Kabukicho Tower was completed in January 2023: 48 storeys, approximately 225 metres tall, with a total floor area of around 87,400 square metres. Its office-free programme — a live hall, a theatre, a cinema and two hotels stacked above a commercial base — is a direct translation of Kabukicho’s identity as Tokyo’s densest entertainment district into built form.

From the tower it is a short walk west to Shinjuku Park Tower and Cocoon Tower, the high-rise landmarks of West Shinjuku. A slightly longer walk south leads to Tokyo Opera City Tower in Hatsudai, an earlier complex where cultural venues anchor a very different kind of skyscraper. For accommodation in and around Shinjuku, Rakuten Travel is a helpful starting point.