Tokyo’s Hot Spot:  Roppongi Hills  8/2003 –Susan Yee

I’ve lived in Los Angeles for over 5 years, and believe it or not, I’ve never been to the Beverly Center. So because I’ve never been there, I always imagine it as the most luxurious, shiny, modern and chic shopping area in the world. The Beverly Center of my imagination is filled with the most fashionable boutiques from Europe and Asia and the trendiest restaurants headed by the industry’s top chefs. It has plush cineplexes with luxury seating, public art projects by internationally-recognized designers, five-star luxury hotels, a 7-story Art Center, a beauty school, 4 residence towers, a TV studio, an outdoor stage and arena, and a classical Japanese garden and temple.

Am I close? OK, so my imagination got carried away. But guess what—this place actually exists, albeit half-way across the world, in Tokyo’s “Roppongi Hills,” the 11-hectare brain-child of billionaire developer Minoru Mori, who dreamed of changing Tokyo’s flat urban sprawl into an “ultra-high rise compact city concept” that makes it “possible for us to combine work, live, play and learn.”

Mori noted that the average Japanese citizen spent over 3 hours a day commuting to and from work (it’s true), greatly reducing leisure time and quality of life. He figured, that if everything that one could need—stores, homes,  work space, cultural activities and parks—could be built near one another, not only would commuting time be cut down, but if that city were to be built vertically, one could live, work and play in a more spacious, therefore creatively-inspiring and leisurely place.

The big problem, however, was that Tokyo was mired in traditional land-use policies that fractured Tokyo into millions of tiny, individually-owned plots, frustrating plans for urban re-development. To combat this “vertically-low, inefficient growth,” Mori pioneered a technique of partnering with local landowners in order to reach his goals. With Roppongi Hills, it took him 17 years and the cooperation of over 400 individual landowners to realize his vision.

Roppongi Hills is hot. So hot that just 2 months after its April 25, 2003 opening, it welcomed its 10 millionth visitor at the end of June. With an average of 300,000 visitors per day, 1 million over a weekend, Roppongi Hills is everything you would imagine a 21st century Asian city to be. It is a vast amalgam of concrete and steel, yet its thoughtful design injects it with a certain liveability that most large urban developments lack. The “City Within a City” consists of basically 8 areas, which are all designed around different themes and experiences. They carefully intertwine and blend into one another, giving you an unusual sense of discovery and journey in a relatively small space.

Metro Hat/Hollywood Plaza:

In the shape of a steel-frame top hat, Metro Hat is the gateway for most visitors to Roppongi Hills. Connected by warmly-lit underground shopping arcades to the subway’s Hibiya Line, the climb on its escalator is like an ascent into outer space. A large video screen flashes the latest ads and info, and when you finally make it outdoors, you step into the brave new world that is Roppongi Hills. Next door is the Hollywood Beauty Plaza, which not only houses a state-of-the-art beauty school, but features 5 floors of salons, make-up, fashion and trinkets galore. This is also where you can find healthy foods, and I recommend a visit to Tofu Cafe Fujino. It’s bestseller is its soy milk soft ice cream cones, but it sells other desserts like Tofu Cheesecake and Tofu Tiramisu.

Mori Tower:

The centerpiece of the development, Mori Tower is a 54-story skyscraper that houses some of the world’s largest companies, such as Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, and Yahoo!, as well as the Roppongi Hills Academy, an extensive library and education center, and the Roppongi Hills Club, a members-only hangout for the world’s rich and famous.

On the 52nd floor, you can find Tokyo City View, a 360° view of Tokyo from 250 m (820 ft.) above sea level. Unlike other lookout points in Tokyo, City View has bench-seating and cocktail tables lined against the windows, inviting you to stay awhile and enjoy the view. Another feature is its innovative Terrace areas, where you can safely feel the breeze while looking down on the city below. (Admission ¥1500).

Also, the Mori Tower is home to the Mori Art Museum, two floors of nine art galleries designed by Richard Gluckman, known for his work at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and Site Santa Fe in New Mexico. From now until Sept. 21 of this year, the galleries are showcasing “The Global City,” a series of models of the greatest international cities of the world, such as Paris, Shanghai and New York. It was due to his travels to such cities that Mori realized that Tokyo needed to change its thinking in order to become a truly “global city.”

The museum, although currently housing exhibitions, is not set to open officially until October 18th of this year. They are planning a spectacular opening, so we’ll keep you apprised.

Roppongi Hills Arena/ TV Asahi Building/Mori Garden:

If you stay in Tokyo for more than a couple of days, you might get that creeping feeling that you just need some SPACE! You wouldn’t be the only one, and for that reason, Mori made sure to include many green areas in his design, and the Mori Garden is the centerpiece of his endeavor. Japanese gardens pride themselves for imitating nature on a smaller scale, so, with a scenic walking path surrounding a small pond and river, you can forget, if just for a moment, that you are in the middle of a city of 12 million people.

The Roppongi Hills Arena is quickly becoming one of the most popular venues in Tokyo. Accommodating up to 1,500 guests, it has already hosted some high-profile movie openings, such as the sequels of Charlie’s Angels and the Matrix, as well as music and cultural performances which can be viewed from all over the complex. It’s open-air design and tilted oval rooftop make it a gravity-defying, unforgettable landmark.

The TV Asahi Building is a working television studio that produces many of Japan’s most popular programs. For the tourist, however, the highlight is to enter the lobby area and check out the free exhibit about the various art projects displayed around Roppongi Hills. There are not only written explanations of the projects by the artists, there are also small videos with English subtitles that let you see and hear these minds at work. And when you are done, you can sit at their small cafe, Chez Madu, and look out at the garden from behind the atrium’s massive windows.

Virgin Cinemas:

When I first walked through the cinema doors, I thought I had made a mistake and walked into a restaurant. The lighting was moody and the color scheme a chic purple and black. People in dark outfits were scurrying about, there was a huge wall water fountain, which, when I looked closely, was actually a giant poster for The Matrix: Reloaded. It wasn’t until I went to the in-house Information Counter (bilingual, of course), that I learned that this was indeed a movie theater.

The Roppongi Hills Virgin Cinema boasts the largest screen in Japan as well as THX sound systems in all its theaters. For the tourist, however, it is the “Premier Screen” luxury seating that makes the hike up the stairs all worth it. For about $25 a person (¥3000), you will be treated to the movie equivalent of an airplane’s First Class cabin, with large-sized, plush, reclinable seats, and end-tables instead of cupholders for your drinks and snacks. A popcorn and a soda will make you feel right at home—just ¥600 ($5) for the pair.

West Walk/Hillside:

These two areas, located on opposite ends of Roppongi Hills, can be summed up in three words—shopping, shopping and...restaurants. The West Walk, whose steep, uneven terraces give you the sense of being in a mountain ravine, is home to the majority of the complex’s Japanese restaurants.  In a past issue of Sushi & Tofu, one of my fellow writers, Hiroshi Kawabata, puzzled on the fact that, although there were “udon” and “ramen” noodle shops, he had never seen a “soba” noodle shop. Well, look no further, Kawabata-san! With the impressive name of “Kasumi-cho Soba-sho Masudaya,” this is the place to enjoy your favorite soba dish.

Hillside is four levels of shops that face out onto Mori Garden, giving you the feeling of looking out from a... hillside.  This area is the focus of the complex’s non-Japanese restaurants. There’s a lot of Chinese, Indonesian and an incredible French restaurant called “L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon.” As some of you may already know, Joël Robuchon stunned the culinary world when he closed his critically-acclaimed Parisian restaurant in 1994. Called “Chef of the Century” and winner of a coveted Michelin 3-star rating, Robuchon came out of retirement in 2003 to open his Ateliers (“Workshops”) in Paris and in Tokyo, where he was inspired by the immediacy of the customer-chef relationship of sushi bars. So instead of tables, the open kitchen is surrounded by counter seats, giving you the unique experience of eating top quality French cuisine in a chic diner atmosphere. What’s more, Robuchon keeps his prices relatively low so that everyone can enjoy his cuisine. The Daily Course Menu is just ¥6000 ($50).

Keyakizaka Doori:

The “Rodeo Drive” of Tokyo, Keyakizaka (“keh-yahkee-zahkah”) is lined with upscale shops such as Gucci, Armani and Christian La Croix.  But if you aren’t much of a shopper, take a load off your feet on one of the street’s 10 benches that are more pieces of art than pieces of furniture. Shigeru Uchida’s bright red “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” looks like a sonic wave about to take off through the streets, and Tokujin Yoshioka’s “Chair Disappears in the Rain” is a chair fabricated from a single block of glass so that when it rains, the outline of the chair completely disappears.

Be sure to pick up a “Roppongi Hills Art + Design Map,” which gives the locations and illuminating explanations of all of the complex’s art projects, such as Louise Bourgeois’ “Maman,” the spidery symbol of Roppongi Hills, and—my personal favorite—the hypnotic digital display wall, “Counter Void” by Tatsuo Miyajima.

Roppongi Hills Residences:

Consisting of two low-rise, and two high-rise residences, the 793 units of this ultra-tony housing area represents a new trend in Tokyo’s real estate market. Until recently, most development efforts in central Tokyo, both small and big budget, concentrated their efforts on office space. But with the weak economy, landowners have been searching for a way to fill their vacancies, and they are doing it by building residential space in the heart of Tokyo.

With doorman and concierge, the latest IT systems, and common garden and lounge areas, Roppongi Hills is on the swankier end of this trend. The units are lease/rental only, so if you, too, aspire to be a “Ropponjin” (citizen of Roppongi Hills), an approximately 700 sq. ft. 1-bedroom in Residence C, one of the high rises, will put you back just ¥600,000 (about $5000) a month.

Grand Hyatt Tokyo:

In America, the Hyatt name has been largely associated with business hotels. But in Asia, Hyatt is synonymous with first-class luxury, and this new addition to their worldwide “Grand Hyatt” chain does nothing to tarnish its distinguished reputation. With sweeping views of the city, every room is stylishly furnished, but it’s their bathrooms that I think take the cake. In an interesting hybrid of East and West, the traditionally spacious ofuro-style bath is outfitted with the latest in chrome fixtures, including a shower that “rains” on you from above and a deep overflow bathtub that fills itself in just 5 minutes. Until September 15, 2003, the Grand Hyatt is offering substantial discounts on all it’s rooms. Its “Grand Room” for example will be just ¥30,000 ($250) as opposed to the standard ¥46,000 ($380).  If you really want to splurge, try the Presidential Suite. It takes up the entire 21st Floor and boasts Japan’s only private rooftop swimming pool. It’ll put you back just ¥470,000 ($3900) a night if you act fast.

Oh, and the restaurants. Grand Hyatt has 7 of them—Chinese, Italian, French, two Japanese (one sushi, one traditional), a Northern European restaurant, and a lively bar and grill called the Oak Door, where meat and poultry are roasted in real wood-burning ovens. All of the restaurants are built in the “open-kitchen” style, so that you can watch your chefs at work. However, that’s where the similarity ends. Each restaurant has an entirely different look and feel—stately European at Juniper, banquet Chinese at Chinaroom, and each of them is concealed by huge doors—purposely—so that the very act of entering will be part of the culinary adventure.

Roppongi Hills is massive, and it can be as difficult to get around in as the “vertically-low” city it replaced. Fortunately, there is an information counter at every turn. Unfortunately, the majority of attendants rarely speak anything other than Japanese and the available pamphlets do not come in English or any other foreign languages. To add to the madness, there are actually several tours of the facility available, as well as a short introductory film you can watch, but they are conducted in Japanese only (the film and tours are an additional charge of ¥1000-3900). I have been, however, assured by representatives of the development that plans are underway to make Roppongi Hills more navigable for foreign visitors by the time the art galleries open in October.

This lack of information, however, can have its upside. A stroll through its maze-like walkways and underground passages begins to feel like an adventure of discovery. You may turn a quiet corner and find yourself at the end of long line of people waiting to buy ice cream, or suddenly find yourself face-to-face with one of the art pieces that you had only seen previously from above, below or from faraway. It’s a curious-type of urban safari, where the big game can be anything from bagging the perfect pair of shoes to the best Japanese cuisine you have ever tasted.

Now that I am back in L.A., I miss the hustle and bustle of Tokyo. To console myself, I thought I’d fire up the car and make my first trip down to the Beverly Center. But somewhere near La Cienega and Sunset, the horns started honking, so I made my way to the beach instead, kicking up my feet and deciding that I like the Beverly Center just that way it is... in my imagination.