Tokyo Big Sight
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Tokyo Big Sight

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Tokyo Big Sight

Tokyo Big Sight (東京ビッグサイト, Tōkyō Biggu Saito), officially known as Tokyo International Exhibition Center (東京国際展示場, Tōkyō Kokusai Tenjijō), is a convention and exhibition center in Tokyo and the largest such venue in Japan. Opened in April 1996, the center is located in the Ariake Minami district of the Tokyo Waterfront City [ja] on the Tokyo Bay waterfront. Its most iconic feature is the visually distinctive Conference Tower. The name Tokyo Big Sight in Japanese eventually became the official name, and it also became the name of the operator in April 2003.

The center hosts the Comiket convention since 1996 and the AnimeJapan convention since 2014. It previously hosted the Tokyo International Anime Fair from 2002 to 2013. It was a planned venue for the 2020 Summer Olympics hosting wrestling, fencing and taekwondo events, but the reduction of public funds forced the organization committee to choose an alternative location for these events; it instead served as the main broadcasting and press center for the Games.[failed verification]

Located on the shore of Tokyo Bay, about 30 minutes by rail from Tokyo Station (12 minutes by car), Big Sight is Japan's largest international convention venue. Its most distinctive feature is the unique architecture of its 58 metres (190 ft) high eight-storey Conference Tower. The site utilizes steel frame with reinforced concrete construction, boasting a total floor area of 230,873 square metres (2,485,100 sq ft) which outsizes Makuhari Messe's floor space by half, and of which 35% is indoors. The convention center is divided into three main areas, each with their own restaurants and other supporting facilities: The East Exhibition Hall, the West Exhibition Hall and the Conference Tower.

The architectural element most associated with the Tokyo Big Sight name, the glass and titanium-panelled Conference Tower appears as a set of four inverted pyramids mounted upon large supports. The first floor comprises an 1,100-seat reception hall and four conference rooms of varying size. The second floor comprises the Entrance Plaza which is the main access area, the glass-roofed Event Plaza, the Entrance Hall which leads to the exhibition halls proper, and the Exhibition Plaza. There are no floors three through five due to the structure's above-ground stature.

Floors six and seven can be directly accessed via escalator from the second-floor Entrance Hall, and comprise the main convention facilities of the Tower. The sixth floor houses ten conference rooms of small to medium size, some of which can be merged into larger spaces by removing intervening partitions. Floor seven houses the 1,000-seat International Conference Room as well as three conference rooms of much smaller size. Floor eight houses five conference rooms.

Scattered around the Tower's vicinity are public art pieces, most of which are works by international artists such as Claes Oldenburg and his wife Coosje Van Bruggen, Michael Craig-Martin and Lee U-Fan. These include a giant sculpture of a saw, a large stylized pond and three marble beds.

The East Exhibition Hall's main layout consists of a central 600 metres (2,000 ft) long two-tiered galleria, flanked on both sides by three mostly identical exhibition halls, and has underground parking available. The overall height of the structure is three storeys, with the galleria reaching two storeys. The glass-roofed galleria is equipped with moving walkways for easier movement, food outlets, escalators, electronic signboards and a host of other relevant facilities.

Each hall has a mobile roof that enables exhibitors to control the amount of sunlight coming through, recessed electronic and control service pits at regular intervals (6 metres (20 ft)), a show office, four meeting rooms and a dressing room. It is possible to merge a hall with adjacent halls on the same side, allowing for a maximum continuous floor space three times the capacity of a single hall, or a grand total of 26,010 square metres (280,000 sq ft).

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