One of Tokyo’s oldest commercial quarters is reinventing itself as a startup hub.
During the Edo period (1603-1868), Nihonbashi developed as a center of trade, flourishing due to its strategic location at the intersection of major roads and waterways. Its namesake bridge was first constructed with wood in 1603, and its stone and steel incarnation built in 1911 remains one of the capital’s landmarks — albeit somewhat obscured in the shadows of the Metropolitan Expressway running directly over it.
Now the financial district home to the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Bank of Japan is undergoing a makeover, luring dozens of life science and space technology startups in a project led by Mitsui Fudosan Co., one of the nation’s largest real estate developers.