109 (department store)
Encyclopedia
Shibuya, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 2008, it has an estimated population of 208,371 and a population density of 13,540 persons per km². The total area is 15.11 km²....
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
The store is operated by the Tokyu Malls Development (TMD), a company under the Tokyu Group
Tokyu Group
The of companies centers on the Tokyu Corporation railway company, which links Tokyo and its suburbs. Many companies in the group are designed to enhance the value of the Tokyu rail network. In addition to the railroad system, the group includes other companies in transportation, real-estate,...
.
History and description
The building, located just across the street from Shibuya StationShibuya Station
is a train station located in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. With 2.4 million passengers on an average weekday in 2004, it is the fourth-busiest commuter rail station in Japan handling a large amount of commuter traffic between the center city and suburbs to the south and west.-JR East:*Saikyō Line /...
, opened in April 1979. The architect was Minoru Takeyama. Tokyu, the building's operator, designed the building as a "Fashion Community" containing small retail stores targeting the early-30s female consumer. Tokyu intended the store to compete with Seibu Department Stores
Seibu Department Stores
is a Japanese department store. The first store to trade under the name opened its doors in 1949. Seibu is typical of Japanese department stores with a wide variety of stores doing business on several floors. The company is now a subsidiary of Seven & I Holdings Co., Ltd..-Japan:The Seibu...
, which was making inroads into the Shibuya area.
The name of the building, 109, is taken from the Japanese characters to (meaning 10) and kyu (9) as in Tokyu. The interior of the building is designed to move shoppers in a loop on each floor from the elevators past various shops. A movie theater was originally planned for the top floor, but the fire department would not grant approval due to emergency-evacuation routes not meeting appropriate standards. Although originally targeted at women in their 30s, the building later became more known as a mecca for young women from the gyaru
Gyaru
is a Japanese transliteration of the English word gal, that of girl being . The name originated from a 1970s brand of jeans called "gals", with the advertising slogan: "I can't live without men", and was applied to fashion- and peer-conscious girls in their teens and early twenties. Its usage...
subculture.
Stores
- SHIBUYA 109 (ShibuyaShibuya, Tokyois one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 2008, it has an estimated population of 208,371 and a population density of 13,540 persons per km². The total area is 15.11 km²....
, TokyoTokyo, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
) - April 1979 - 109MEN'S (Shibuya, Tokyo) - April 1979
- KOHRINBO 109 (KanazawaKanazawa, Ishikawais the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.-Geography, climate, and population:Kanazawa sits on the Sea of Japan, bordered by the Japan Alps, Hakusan National Park and Noto Peninsula National Park. The city sits between the Sai and Asano rivers. Its total area is 467.77 km².Kanazawa's...
, IshikawaIshikawa Prefectureis a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshū island. The capital is Kanazawa.- History :Ishikawa was formed from the merger of Kaga Province and the smaller Noto Province.- Geography :Ishikawa is on the Sea of Japan coast...
) - September 1985 - 109 MACHIDA (MachidaMachida, Tokyois a city located in the western part of the greater metropolis of Tokyo, Japan. The city was founded on February 1, 1958.As of October 1, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 424,669 and a population density of 5,928.65 persons per km². The total area is 71.63 km²...
, Tokyo) - July 2002 - SHIZUOKA 109 (ShizuokaShizuoka, Shizuokais the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, and the prefecture's second-largest city in terms of both population and area. It became one of Japan's 19 "designated cities" in 2005.-Geography:...
, ShizuokaShizuoka Prefectureis a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshu island. The capital is the city of Shizuoka.- History :Shizuoka prefecture was formed from the former Tōtōmi, Suruga and Izu provinces.The area was the home of the first Tokugawa Shogun...
) - October 2007- It was created in March 2006 as SHIBUYA 109 DREAMS, later recreated into the current 109.
- MINATOMIRAI 109 (YokohamaYokohamais the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
, KanagawaKanagawa Prefectureis a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...
) - April 2010 - SHIBUYA 109 ABENOAbeno Cues Townis the name of in Abeno-ku, Osaka, Japan.-Overview:Abeno CUES TOWN consists of and . Via Abeno Walk is the area for the local tenants, and Q's Mall is the area the specific architect, Tokyu Land Corporation, manages. The area opened in April 2011....
(OsakaOsakais a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
, OsakaOsaka Prefectureis a prefecture located in the Kansai region on Honshū, the main island of Japan. The capital is the city of Osaka. It is the center of Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto area.- History :...
) - April 2011
Popular culture
- Shibuya as a whole appeared in Shin Megami Tensei: IMAGINEShin Megami Tensei: IMAGINE, formerly , is a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game based in the Megami Tensei universe. Aeria Games acquired the rights to the game from Cave Co., Ltd. Shin Megami Tensei is a major intellectual property of the Japanese developer and publisher, Atlus Co., Ltd...
as a ruined city with 109 (renamed 199 in-game) apparently still intact but consumed by the landscape due to an earthquake. - The store was seen in the opening of the PSPPlayStation PortableThe is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
game DJ Max Portable 2DJ Max Portable 2DJMax Portable 2 is a music video game published and developed by Pentavision, for the PlayStation Portable which was released on March 30, 2007. This is the second installment of the DJMax Portable series for the PlayStation Portable...
. - The store, along with a twin building 108 (which does not exist in the real world), is seen often in the Japanese TV series Sh15uyaSh15uyais a Japanese television drama that premiered on TV Asahi on January 10, 2005. It ran for 12 episodes until its conclusion on March 10, 2005. Set in a virtual simulation of Shibuya, Tokyo which is regulated by an entity named Piece which does not allow inhabitants to live, the series focuses on a...
. - An alternate version of 109 (renamed 104 for copyright purposes), is seen and prominently featured in the Nintendo DSNintendo DSThe is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
game, The World Ends With You. - The Japanese pop group, AKB48AKB48AKB48 is a Japanese female idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto.The group has achieved enormous popularity in Japan. Its ten latest consecutive singles topped the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart...
, has a song titled 109, in which the department store is directly referenced. - The store is often seen and featured in the visual novelVisual novelA is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
Chaos;HeadChaos;Head, stylized as ChäoS;HEAd, is a Japanese visual novel developed by 5pb. and Nitroplus that was released on April 25, 2008 for the PC. A port of the game, named , for the Xbox 360 console was released on February 26, 2009. The game is described by the development team as a...
, renamed 107 for copyright reasons. - The game Tokyo Beat DownTokyo Beat DownTokyo Beat Down, or Yajuu Deka in Japan, is a 2008 side-scrolling beat-em-up released for the Nintendo DS. It is being published by Atlus and developed by Tamsoft.The story takes place in Yaesu, home of the so-called "Beast Cops"...
also shows an alternate 109, renamed 108 for copyright reasons. - Is seen being destroyed along with the entire surrounding area in Resident Evil: AfterlifeResident Evil: AfterlifeResident Evil: Afterlife is a 2010 Canadian-German 3D science-fiction horror action film written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. It stars Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Spencer Locke, Boris Kodjoe, and Wentworth Miller. The film marks Anderson's second time to direct in...