WeWork Japan set to debut in February with three central Tokyo locations

WeWork Cos., a co-working space startup backed by SoftBank Group Corp., is making its debut in Japan with three locations in downtown Tokyo starting February.

The first space will occupy two floors of Mori Building Co.'s Ark Hills complex, Chris Hill, WeWork's chief executive officer for Japan, said in an interview Thursday. That will be followed by penthouse space at a recently opened building called Ginza Six and a nine-story office building near Shimbashi in March and April, Hill said.

WeWork Japan is a joint venture equally split between the New York-based shared-office provider and SoftBank. The Japanese conglomerate's founder Masayoshi Son and his Vision Fund agreed to invest $4.4 billion in WeWork last month to finance an aggressive global expansion plan that includes a $500 million project in China. WeWork plans to open 10 to 20 locations in central Tokyo, a person familiar with the matter said in July.