COLLECTIONS › COMMUNICATION AREAS
Collection
Communication areas — open space Japanese offices set aside for talking across teams.
“Communication area” is a common label on Japanese office plans. It marks open space kept for unplanned conversations, short meetings and mixing between departments.
01 · Yaesu, TokyoNEW
A communication area
When Sumitomo Life moved its Tokyo head office in February 2023 it halved the number of desks and meeting rooms — and added 1,225 square metres of space that is neither.
Read the SUMITOMO LIFE office →
02 · Shimbashi, TokyoNEW
The communication space
Creek & River gathered its group companies into one Tokyo building, and inside it sits one of the largest development studios in Japan.
Read the CREEK & RIVER office →
03 · TokyoNEW
The communication station
NRI Netcom wanted an office that would make people want to work there — including people still looking for a job.
Read the NRI NETCOM office →
04 · OsakaNEW
The communication area
Koizumi Sangyo traces its business to 1716, when its founder Koizumi Tahei began peddling hemp cloth.
Read the KOIZUMI SANGYO office →
05 · Chūō, TokyoNEW
The communication area
The institution that sits at the centre of Japan’s shinkin banks shows two buildings — a head office with a gold sign and a green lounge, and a Kyōbashi annex whose floors are labelled in English for communication and for creation.
Read the SHINKIN CENTRAL BANK office →
06 · Shinagawa, TokyoNEW
Seating in the communication space
The studio behind Persona and Megami Tensei gives each of its meeting rooms a letter and a port city, and states that no two of them share a wall colour.
Read the ATLUS office →
07 · Shin-Osaka, OsakaNEW
The communication space
A cosmetics and health-food trading house gave its Shin-Osaka head office one idea — a bridge — and ran a gently curved central corridor through the floor to stand for it.
Read the SHINEI SHOJI office →
08 · Izumisano, OsakaNEW
The communication area
The company that turns soya and palm into the fats inside chocolate and bread opened a communication centre at its Hannan site in January 2023, and put a cashless unmanned shop in it.
Read the FUJI OIL office →
09 · Ginza, TokyoNEW
The communication area
Market Enterprise moved to Ginza in July 2024 — its fifth head office in eighteen years.
Read the MARKET ENTERPRISE office →
10 · Nagatachō, TokyoNEW
The communication area
Japan’s best-known think tank sits beside the National Diet.
Read the MITSUBISHI RESEARCH INSTITUTE office →
11 · Shiodome, TokyoNEW
The communication area
This Mitsui infrastructure trading arm gave each department its own stretch of desk rather than fixed seats or a free-for-all, kept the floor in one unbroken piece, and put the sofas where Tokyo Tower is in the window.
Read the MITSUI & CO. PROJECT SOLUTIONS office →
12 · Shiba, Minato, TokyoNEW
The communication space
Brave group builds virtual talent and the IP around them.
Read the BRAVE GROUP office →Questions
WALL has picked 12: SUMITOMO LIFE (Yaesu, Tokyo), CREEK & RIVER (Shimbashi, Tokyo), NRI NETCOM (Tokyo), KOIZUMI SANGYO (Osaka), SHINKIN CENTRAL BANK (Chūō, Tokyo), ATLUS (Shinagawa, Tokyo), SHINEI SHOJI (Shin-Osaka, Osaka), FUJI OIL (Izumisano, Osaka), MARKET ENTERPRISE (Ginza, Tokyo), MITSUBISHI RESEARCH INSTITUTE (Nagatachō, Tokyo), MITSUI & CO. PROJECT SOLUTIONS (Shiodome, Tokyo), BRAVE GROUP (Shiba, Minato, Tokyo).
Most are private workplaces and not open to the public. WALL reports on them from the companies’ own published material; each office page links to its source.
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Window counters, bar counters and standing tables — the seats in Japanese offices for a short task or a quick talk.
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Counters inside the office where the day ends — coffee in the morning, a drink and a talk after work.
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Where the coffee is made — pantries, kitchen bars and test kitchens inside offices in Japan.
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Family-restaurant booths and banquettes — the seat offices in Japan use for a quick meeting.
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