Toho Hibiya Building, High-rise building in Yurakucho, Japan
The Toho Hibiya Building is a mixed-use office and shopping complex in the Hibiya area of Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, completed in October 1987 on the site of the former Hibiya Gekijō and Yūrakuchōza cinemas. It houses Toho's headquarters and the Hibiya Chanter shopping mall on floors B2–3. Takenaka Corporation designed and built it, and its north entrance has a layered circular design recalling the round former Hibiya Gekijō.
Completed in October 1987 on the site of the former Hibiya Gekijō and Yūrakkuza cinemas, the Toho Hibiya Building was designed and built by Takenaka Corporation. The adjacent former Kokusaku Building site was redeveloped at the same time into the Nemu no Hiroba plaza and the Chanter Building annex. Toho financed construction debt-free: Nippon Life Insurance's lease deposit covered about 80% of the ¥17 billion cost, and Nippon Life's Tokyo headquarters occupied the offices until 2004.
The low-rise Hibiya Chanter mall occupies floors B2 to 3 and part of the annex. Its winter and summer sales were advertised on Kanto television as the "Chanter Bazaar" until 2012, and actress Ayaka Takahashi served as the image character "Chanter Girl". From 1987 to 1994 a TBS satellite studio on the site broadcast radio and TV programs live from the plaza.
Hibiya Chanter's main building is linked to Tokyo Midtown Hibiya by an underground passage. The underground car park is not open to ordinary vehicles, so visitors arriving by car cannot use it. The former tower structure on the plaza was converted into a Lawson Ticket counter during the 2018 renovation.
The Godzilla statue in Hibiya Godzilla Square was replaced in 2018 with a new version modeled on the 2016 film Shin Godzilla, standing 3 meters tall including its base. The earlier statue, made by sculptor Tomoki Kobayashi, was moved to the TOHO Cinemas Hibiya in Tokyo Midtown Hibiya.
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