Yebisu Garden Place Tokyo redevelopment complex and tower

Yebisu Garden Place (恵比寿ガーデンプレイス) is a large mixed-use redevelopment district in Tokyo that opened in 1994 on the former Sapporo Beer factory site. The complex brings together offices (including Sapporo Holdings and Sapporo Beer headquarters), commercial space, restaurants, apartment towers, hotels and cultural facilities around a central, roofed plaza and a 167‑metre office tower.

How it sits in Ebisu and how to reach it

Yebisu Garden Place occupies land straddling Shibuya‑ku (north half: Ebisu 4‑chome) and Meguro‑ku (south half: Mita 1‑chome). The facility entrance lies about 400 metres south of JR East Ebisu Station and is linked to the station by an air‑conditioned moving walkway called the “Skywalk” (approximately 400 m). The Skywalk and the short walk from the station are the concrete route given in the redevelopment plan and in the facility description.

Major buildings and attractions inside the complex

• Sapporo headquarters building faces the main entrance; its basement houses the Yebisu Beer memorial museum (恵比寿麦酒記念館). Sapporo Holdings, Sapporo Beer and Pokka Sapporo Food & Beverage have offices on site.
• Yebisu Garden Place Tower reaches 167 metres and includes the observation restaurant area “TOP of YEBISU” on floors 38–39.
• The Chateau restaurant group of Joël Robuchon operates two concepts in the complex: La Table de Joël Robuchon on the 1st floor and the higher‑end gastronomy restaurant on floors 2–3; in the Michelin Guide Tokyo 2014 the 1st‑floor restaurant had two stars and the gastronomy restaurant three stars. The building exterior is styled in 18th‑century French rococo with limestone and other materials procured from France.
• The Tokyo Photographic Art Museum is a Tokyo metropolitan museum dedicated to photography and images; it reopened in September 2016 with the adopted English name “TOP MUSEUM.”
• YEBISU GARDEN CINEMA is a small cinema located in the low-rise portion of Yebisu Garden Terrace; it first opened on 8 October 1994, underwent closures and operator changes, reopened on 28 March 2015 under the present name, experienced a temporary closure from March 2021 and resumed operations on 8 November 2022 with projection and ticketing adjustments.
• The Entrance Pavilion near the approach contains a large karakuri (mechanical) clock that performs with figures and music three times daily (12:00, 15:00 and 18:00).
• Other facilities include Glass Square (fitness on the first floor, eateries in the basement), The Garden Hall and The Garden Room for events, and an outdoor sloped promenade leading down to the centrally roofed plaza at basement level.

A short history: from brewery to mixed‑use district

The site was first used for beer production after Nihon Beer Brewing opened a factory there on 6 September 1887 to brew Yebisu beer. A small freight siding laid to carry beer led to the creation of a station that became Ebisu Station and gave the surrounding neighbourhood its name. During the 1980s the factory was judged old and cramped; Sapporo announced a redevelopment plan tied to Tokyo’s Ebisu district plan and decided to relocate the factory. In 1988 the brewery moved to Funabashi in Chiba Prefecture and began operating as the Chiba factory. Construction on the redevelopment began in August 1991. The project was completed in September 1994 and the complex had its grand opening on 8 October 1994. In 2008 Sapporo Holdings sold a 15% real‑estate stake to Morgan Stanley and re‑acquired the portion in March 2012, returning the facility to full Sapporo ownership.

Architecture, engineering and urban design choices

Design and delivery involved Kume Sekkei (design) and major contractors, with project team members from the private and public sectors. Kume Sekkei designer Ken Okamoto led the concepting phase; the team took urban precedents from Europe (an explicit reference is an old market square in Nuremberg) and aimed to create different low‑rise street scenes and a distinctive central plaza reached by a gentle slope. The project used a comprehensive design allowance to place about 35% of the total built volume below ground, enabling roughly 60% of the site to remain as open, green space. Brick and granite are prominent in facades and paving to underline a “European” design language.

Underground engineering includes a parking garage capacity for about 1,900 cars, district cooling/heating equipment, a recycled (middle) water system for reuse, and a pneumatic waste collection centre that gathers refuse from several points in the district to a single hygienic collection location. Around the development’s twentieth anniversary, emergency power generation equipment was installed as part of ongoing maintenance.

The complex has been recognised with design and engineering awards including the 37th BCS Prize, the 1997 Architectural Institute of Japan award (achievement), the Heisei‑7 Urban Landscape Award (Urban Landscape 100 selection), the Air Conditioning and Sanitary Engineers award and the Electrical Equipment Society award.

Retail, residences and tenant turnover

Residential capacity totals 1,030 units across three principal residential buildings. Yebisu Garden Terrace Ichibangkan (B4–32F) contains 290 units; Garden Terrace Niban‑kan (B2–13F) contains 220 units and includes the cinema at its lower levels; and Yebisu View Tower (B3–32F) contains 520 units and was built as UR rental housing, later receiving large‑scale renovation work by 2015 after twenty years.

Retail and dining have evolved: a flagship TSUTAYA store closed at the end of February 2018 and later returned as TSUTAYA BOOKSTORE at the complex in November 2022. The department store Ebisu Mitsukoshi, which had been the complex’s core tenant, closed on 28 February 2021; the former Mitsukoshi site was redeveloped as Center Plaza with a food‑oriented zone named Foodies Garden (the basement 2 area with supermarket Life, Meidi‑ya Ebisu Store and Tomod’s opened in April 2022, and on 8 November 2022 the remainder of Center Plaza — B1 and 1F with 26 shops — opened). A beer‑themed restaurant called Beer Station Ebisu operated until its contract ended and it closed on 30 December 2021; Blue Note Japan opened a new dining concept, BLUE NOTE PLACE, on 6 December 2022 in the former Beer Station location. Nojima Prime Selection Ebisu opened in October on the site vacated by the previous bookstore as a city‑type concept shop with event space and product experiences.

The Westin Hotel Tokyo on the site was constructed by Sapporo and operated by the Westin group; ownership subsequently changed hands several times — a Morgan Stanley real estate fund acquired it from Sapporo Holdings in 2004 for about ¥50 billion, the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation bought it from Morgan in February 2008 for about ¥77 billion, and at the end of 2019 a Singapore‑based Chinese investment company acquired it from GIC for about ¥100 billion.

Seasonal displays, culture and film

From November through January each year the complex stages a Christmas illumination that uses roughly 100,000 lights. A large Baccarat crystal chandelier composed of more than 8,000 crystal pieces and some 250 light bulbs is installed in the plaza during the illumination period and is described as one of the world’s largest chandelier installations of that type.

Yebisu Garden Place has also played a role in Japanese television drama: the clock plaza was used as a meeting place in the popular series Hana Yori Dango (the first series’ fourth episode depicts a first date there), and the production returned to the plaza for subsequent important scenes as the location became a recurring, recognisable setting.

FAQ

How far is Yebisu Garden Place from Ebisu Station?

The facility entrance is about 400 metres south of JR East Ebisu Station and is linked by the air‑conditioned moving walkway called the "Skywalk" (approximately 400 m).

What stood on the site before redevelopment?

The site was the Sapporo (Nihon Beer Brewing) brewery where Yebisu beer was produced, first established on 6 September 1887.

When did the complex open?

Construction completed in September 1994 and the grand opening took place on 8 October 1994.

Which museum is located at Yebisu Garden Place?

The Tokyo Photographic Art Museum is on site; it reopened in September 2016 and uses the English name "TOP MUSEUM."