Tokyu Plaza Ginza

Completed in 2016, this 11-story commercial complex at Sukiyabashi Crossing brings Edo kiriko cut-glass craftsmanship into the 21st century. Its faceted diamond-glass façade transforms Ginza's busiest intersection into a shimmering jewel box at night.

Use

Office tower

Area

Chuo City

Completed

2016

Floors

11 above ground, 5 below

Height

66 m

Architect

Nikken Sekkei

Edo Kiriko in Steel and Glass

Tokyu Plaza Ginza stands at 5-2-1 Ginza, Chuo City, Tokyo, at the Sukiyabashi Crossing directly connected to Tokyo Metro Ginza Station. Completed in March 2016, the building rises 11 stories above ground with five basement floors, reaching 66 m. Nikken Sekkei designed the complex, which Tokyu Real Estate developed on land formerly occupied by a Tokyo Electric Power substation.

The façade wraps the building in a continuous skin of diamond-shaped glass panels modeled on Edo kiriko, a traditional cut-glass craft practiced in Tokyo since the Edo period. Each panel sits at a slightly different angle, so the façade reads differently depending on viewing position, time of day, and weather. By midday it mirrors the street life and sky; after dark, interior LED lighting turns the building into what the designers described as a jewel box.

Renovating Ginza’s Gateway

Sukiyabashi Crossing sits at the intersection of Harumi-dori and Sotobori-dori, midway between Yurakucho and Ginza stations. The area serves as a gateway where Hibiya, Marunouchi, and Ginza meet — making it one of the highest-footfall spots in central Tokyo. Tokyu Plaza Ginza occupies the plot that previous generations of Tokyoites associated with the old Sony Building a block away and the Seibu department store predecessor on the same lot.

Retail floors extend from basement level 2 to the 11th floor. The rooftop terrace, branded “KIRARI TO GINZA,” offers a green terrace space open to the sky. Underground, the concourse connects at basement level 3 to the Ginza station platform passage, meaning visitors can enter without stepping outside even in rain. The tenant mix targets both domestic shoppers and international tourists, with branded boutiques and restaurants spread across floors that each carry their own conceptual theme.

The project won a 2017 Good Design Award. Standing at Sukiyabashi Crossing and looking up at the faceted façade, the building reads as an explicit conversation between Tokyo’s artisanal heritage and the city’s ambition for contemporary architecture.

Summary

Completed in 2016 at 11 stories and 66 m, Tokyu Plaza Ginza translates a centuries-old glass-cutting craft into a full-building façade, marking Sukiyabashi Crossing with a surface that never looks quite the same twice. Nikken Sekkei’s design gives Ginza a gateway that is unmistakably local in its references and unmistakably contemporary in its execution. On your next visit, try standing at the crossing at dusk when the light shifts and the panels begin to glow.