Joinus Yokohama

Joinus Yokohama (officially 相鉄ジョイナス, JOINUS YOKOHAMA) is a large shopping center and fashion building at the west exit of Yokohama Station in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by Sotetsu Building Management, a company of the Sotetsu Group, and forms part of the New Sotetsu Building that also contains Sotetsu's Yokohama Station and the Takashimaya Yokohama department store. The name "Joinus" was chosen through a public naming competition, and the facility was designed around the theme of "restoration of humanity," with unusually generous public space — roughly 60% of the building at opening — and a rooftop garden, the "Joinus Forest Sculpture Park," of about 4,550 m² with around 20,000 trees, six sculptures and a waterfall. The complex is structured around the New Sotetsu Building, a steel-reinforced concrete structure with two basement floors and eight floors above ground (partly nine). The Joinus specialty-store area occupies basement 2 through the 4th floor on the JR-line side of the station building, while most other floors are occupied by Takashimaya; the two are connected on basement 1 through the 4th floor. Sotetsu's Yokohama Station concourse sits on the 2nd floor, with three ticket gates on the 1st and 2nd floors. As of December 2015 the specialty store area comprised 437 shops, one of the largest such concentrations in Japan, alongside restaurants, food halls and the rooftop garden. Joinus opened in stages from 1973, with the specialty-store portion opening on November 20, 1973, and the full building completed on May 23, 1978. In 2013 it was integrated with the Yokohama Station west-exit underground shopping street formerly known as "The Diamond," and after a renovation completed ahead of schedule on December 1, 2015, the underground area was unified under the Joinus name, creating the present "Sotetsu Joinus." Traces of the old Diamond underground street remain, such as the "Diamond Kitchen" name used in the basement food area. A free point card, the "Joinus Point Card," is shared with other Sotetsu Building Management facilities including Joinus Terrace Futamatagawa and Futamatagawa Sotetsu Life. Today Joinus Yokohama functions as a major station-front retail destination, combining fashion, cosmetics, household goods, food and dining with direct connections to numerous surrounding buildings and to the Yokohama Municipal Subway Blue Line. Because of aging infrastructure, there are long-term concepts to rebuild the New Sotetsu Building together with the Takashimaya building as part of the "Excite Yokohama 22" Yokohama Station area redevelopment plan.

The origins of the Joinus site lie in Sotetsu's post-war development of the Yokohama Station west exit. On April 2, 1956, the arcade-style Yokohama Station Meihinkan shopping street and a Takashimaya Store opened as part of Sagami Railway's west-exit development plan. The Sotetsu Culture Hall opened on September 21, 1957, and on October 1, 1959 the Sotetsu Kaikan was completed on the former Takashimaya Store site, with Yokohama Takashimaya opening there. In 1961 the above-ground extension of Yokohama Takashimaya was completed and an overbridge linking its 5th floor to the roof of the Sotetsu Culture Hall was built. The modern complex took shape in the 1970s. On May 2, 1971 part of the underground extension and the Takashimaya extension were completed, and on August 1, 1971 the Sotetsu Yokohama Station portion was completed. On October 10, 1973 the Takashimaya extension (1st floor, on the former Sotetsu Culture Hall site) opened ahead of Joinus. On November 20, 1973 the first-phase construction (2nd to 5th floors) was completed and the "Sotetsu Joinus" specialty-store area opened on the former Yokohama Station Meihinkan site. The basement 2nd floor opened on December 1, 1973, and the basement 1st floor on March 31, 1974, completing the first phase of the New Sotetsu Building. The second phase (6th floor to rooftop) was completed on May 23, 1978, fully completing Sotetsu Joinus nine years and two months after the first phase began. The name "Joinus" was selected through a public competition. The facility was designed with "restoration of humanity" as its main theme, and at opening its public space accounted for about 60% of the whole building. Its rooftop garden, the "Joinus Forest Sculpture Park" (about 4,550 m²), contained roughly 20,000 trees and six sculptures and a waterfall. The 2nd floor houses the Sotetsu line station, with three ticket gates on the 1st and 2nd floors, and the key tenant Takashimaya Yokohama alongside a specialty store area of 437 shops as of December 2015. In September 1993 Sotetsu Joinus marked its 20th anniversary, and a special program, "City of Light, Water, Green and Wind," was broadcast on Television Kanagawa (tvk) in October. A full-building renovation began in April 2002 and was completed in August 2009. In October 2013 the facility was integrated with the Yokohama Station west-exit underground shopping street "The Diamond," relaunching as "Joinus The Diamond" with a plan to renovate all floors over about three years. The completion was moved forward by half a year to December 2015, and it was decided to drop the "The Diamond" name and unify the underground area under "Sotetsu Joinus." The renovation was completed as planned on December 1, 2015, creating the new "Joinus." Remnants of the Diamond underground street remain, such as the "Diamond Kitchen" name in the basement food area. On December 7, 2019 the underground area was directly connected to the Yokohama Station Central Concourse, eliminating the former "horse's back" step where users had to go up and then down. The underground portion connects to 15 buildings in the Yokohama Station west-exit area, and a joint disaster-prevention organization, the General Disaster Prevention Center and the Yokohama Station West Exit Joint Fire and Disaster Prevention Management Council, has been established. Because of aging infrastructure, there are concepts to rebuild the New Sotetsu Building together with the Takashimaya building as part of the "Excite Yokohama 22" Yokohama Station area redevelopment plan.

• Yokohama Station Meihinkan arcade shopping street and Takashimaya Store open as part of Sotetsu's west-exit development.

• Sotetsu Culture Hall opens.

• Sotetsu Kaikan completed; Yokohama Takashimaya opens.

• Sotetsu Yokohama Station portion completed.

• Takashimaya extension (1st floor) opens ahead of Joinus.

• First-phase construction completed; Sotetsu Joinus specialty-store area opens.

• Basement 2nd floor opens.

• Basement 1st floor opens, completing the first phase of the New Sotetsu Building.

• Second-phase construction (6th floor to rooftop) completed; Sotetsu Joinus fully completed.

• Sotetsu Joinus marks its 20th anniversary; a special TV program airs in October.

• Full-building renovation begins.

• Full-building renovation completed.

• Integrated with the west-exit underground street 'The Diamond' and relaunched as 'Joinus The Diamond'.

• Renovation completed ahead of schedule; underground area unified under 'Sotetsu Joinus'.

• Underground area directly connected to Yokohama Station Central Concourse.

A large station-front shopping center and fashion building directly connected to Yokohama Station, anchored by Takashimaya and offering one of Japan's largest concentrations of specialty stores.

• Fashion and apparel stores

• Cosmetics and beauty shops

• Household goods and lifestyle stores

• Food and grocery area (Diamond Kitchen)

• Restaurants and cafes

• Rooftop garden and event space

1. 1JOINUS | ジョイナスsotetsu-joinus.com
2. 2Joinus Yokohama - Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3相鉄ジョイナス - Wikipediaja.wikipedia.org