News Shinjuku Alta to close its gates in February 2025

[thomas]

Shinjuku Alta, the well-known commercial facility located at the east exit of JR Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, will cease operations on 28 February 2025. The department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings announced on its website. Shinjuku Alta opened its doors in 1980 and has been home to various clothing stores and general merchandise outlets. It was the filming location for the popular live variety show "Waratte Iitomo!" hosted by TV personality Tamori until March 2014.

Shinjuku Alta Commercial Facility to Close in February Next Year; Known as Filming Location for Live Variety Show ‘Waratte Iitomo!’

<p>Shinjuku Alta, a commercial facility known as the symbol of the east exit of JR Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, will end its operation on February 28, 2025, department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings announced on Friday.</p>

japannews.yomiuri.co.jp

「新宿ALTA(アルタ)」が閉店！2025年2月28日に営業終了、公式サイトにて発表！

「新宿ALTA(アルタ)」では、公式サイトにて2025年2月28日をもって営業終了することを発表。詳細をご紹介します。

daily-shinjuku.tokyo

 

[bentenmusume]

Let everyplace that was every good in Japan close or get redeveloped or whatever.

Let the Japan I once loved ******* die, and let me die with it.

Nobody every cared about any of us, so at least give us a good death.

It'll be fun.

 

[mdchachi]

I was pleasantly surprised to see Studio Alta was still there last time I visited. Odakyu Dept store on the west side of the station is already closed for its redevelopment.

And Shibuya has changed drastically since I lived near there. At least the area around the station. Many of the store names have changed but the センター街 area looks much the same. And Seibu, Loft and (Tokyu) Hands is still there providing some sense of familiarity.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

Our big mall here has been dying since covid hit. Seems everyone orders on the internet now. All day everyday on my street , I see FedEX , UPS and postal trucks delivering packages.

 

[thomas]

Studio Alta in Shinjuku and Harajuku Alta closed their gates yesterday.

Shinjuku Alta on 28 February (photo credit: Kyodo)​

Since opening in 1980, the area in front of the shopping complex near Shinjuku Station has been a well-known meeting spot known as "Alta-mae," or "in front of Alta," and many people with fond memories of the site gathered to witness the end of an era. Managed by major Japanese department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. as a fashion-focused shopping complex, Shinjuku Alta housed stores selling apparel and sundries. The building's exterior, with its large-scale screen, frequently appeared at the start of the TV show "Waratte Iitomo," meaning "it's OK to laugh," filmed on the seventh floor. It became the "face" of the east exit of what the Guinness World Records has recognized as the world's busiest railway station. But visitors declined after the show ended in 2014, and the decision was made to close it amid difficulties in giving it new life.

Studio Alta, Tokyo's Shinjuku iconic meetup spot, closes after 45 yrs - The Mainichi

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The landmark Studio Alta building in Tokyo's Shinjuku, a popular meeting spot and former filming site of a long-running Japanese vari

mainichi.jp

 

[mdchachi]

I used that meeting spot many times. Back in the day where you had to be precise with your meeting spot since not everybody had phones on them.