As home to myriad love hotels, hostess bars and seedy nightlife establishments, Kinshicho in Tokyo's Sumida Ward has earned itself an unenviable reputation as a center of iniquity. Though it bustles after dusk, during the daytime, the east Tokyo town is an unremarkable shitamachi (downtown) district. While not an obvious choice of location for a swish new shopping center, developers saw fit to build one here, and on April 20, megamall Olinas opened its doors to the public.
The name, an acronym for "Organization of Lifestyle, New Business, Amenity, Shopping," sums up the development's contents, while the poster campaign -- depicting a leggy female silhouette surrounded by designer objects of desire -- communicates an upscale vibe that it only just succeeds in living up to.
Combining an office building, Olinas Tower; two malls, Olinas Mall and Olinas Core; as well as an apartment block named Brilla Tower Tokyo, the complex is about a pleasant five-minute stroll through a sleepy public park from Kinshicho Station.