Yurakucho Marion

A mixed-use commercial building completed in 1984 on the former site of the Asahi Shimbun Tokyo headquarters, standing at the boundary of Ginza and Hibiya and long serving as one of central Tokyo's most recognizable meeting-point landmarks.

Use

Office tower

Area

Chiyoda City

Completed

1984

A Landmark at the Edge of Ginza

Step out of Yurakucho Station toward the Ginza exit and Yurakucho Marion appears almost immediately. Formally known as the Yurakucho Center Building, the complex has been known by its affectionate nickname “Marion” since it opened in 1984. Located at Yurakucho 2-5-1, Chiyoda City, the building houses cinemas, department-store tenants, and retail floors, serving as an anchor between Ginza, Hibiya, and the station itself. The site it occupies belonged to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper’s former Tokyo headquarters: when the paper relocated, the land was redeveloped into this large commercial complex, integrating two major department stores under one roof and placing them at one of central Tokyo’s busiest pedestrian crossings. The building’s clock tower and signage have made the phrase “in front of Marion” a shorthand for meeting in Yurakucho for decades.

A Building That Has Watched Retail Change

When Marion opened, it was anchored by two department stores: Seibu Yurakucho (Seibu’s store) and Hankyu Yurakucho, drawing shoppers from Ginza, Hibiya, and the Marunouchi side. The pairing of two established retailers in one building reflected the confidence of mid-1980s retail expansion in central Tokyo. Over the following decades, the fashion retail landscape shifted. Seibu Yurakucho closed in December 2010 after the parent group restructured, ending a 26-year run. The space reopened in October 2011 as Lumine Yurakucho, a fashion-focused complex. The Hankyu side continued under a revised banner. Throughout these changes, the building itself remained — a fixed point around which tenants came and went, while the structure’s role as a Yurakucho landmark persisted. It is a relatively rare example of a building from the early 1980s that has held its retail gravity across multiple retail generations.

Summary

Yurakucho Marion was completed in 1984, standing at Yurakucho 2-5-1, Chiyoda City. Built on the former site of the Asahi Shimbun Tokyo headquarters, it placed two major department stores at the junction of Ginza, Hibiya, and Yurakucho Station. As retail formats changed around it, the building absorbed those changes while keeping its function as a meeting place and commercial node. Begin a walk through Ginza here, in front of Marion, and you are starting at a point where Tokyo’s retail and urban histories overlap.

Related: Tokyo International Forum / Tokyo Midtown Hibiya

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