Digital dome, wellness ring among landmarks of Gateway Narita development

Kyosei Bank Inc. has unveiled its master plan for Gateway Narita, a mixed-use development near Narita International Airport featuring a digital dome and a wellness ring where visitors can compete against avatars.

The development, which will be located on a site around three minutes drive from Narita International Airport 60 km east of Tokyo, is scheduled for completion in March 2027, according to the plan.

The landmark facility of Gateway Narita will be a 5,000-seater digital dome, or “digidome,” featuring a 6,000 square meter screen. The dome will host music events and serve as a venue for international conferences, among other uses. By offering world-class screen resolution and acoustics, as well as a carbon-neutral operation, Kyosei Bank says it is hoping the arena will appeal to overseas artists conscious of environmental issues. 

(Architect's rendition in a press release from Kyosei Bank Inc. shows a bird's eye view of the Gateway Narita development plan.)

With a site area of around 456,000 square meters - around 10 times the size of Tokyo Dome - to play with, in their plan for Gateway Narita the developer has also included a digital hotel which will offer one of the largest numbers of guest rooms among hotels in the Narita area. Rooms will come equipped with large displays through which hotel guests can take in the contents of the digital arena. 

Among the more curious features of the plan for Gateway Narita is the “wellness ring,” a 500-meter circular track, connecting the hotel with a commercial complex, on which the developer says guests can engage in competition with avatars. Overlooking the ring will be one of the world's largest display screens, 2,500 square meters in size. 

(Architect's rendition of the Gateway Narita development in a press release from Kyosei Bank Inc.)

Environmental features of the plan include a system to collect and filter rainwater throughout the site to be reused in the watering of plants. The system is expected to reduce the burden on water and sewage systems as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to the developer. 

Electric self-driving buses will be introduced to connect Gateway Narita with the airport with testing due to be carried out up until the development's opening. The buses will also be used as evacuation vehicles in the event of a disaster, according to the developer.

The plan for Gateway Narita also includes a research and development complex inspired by the “food valley” concept developed in The Netherlands which brings together a network of companies, institutes and organizations with a focus on innovation and business in food, health and nutrition. 

The R&D complex at Gateway Narita will house an innovation center for food tech companies and a test marketing restaurant offering menu items including new products and dishes created by companies carrying out research at the complex.  

Kyosei Bank has also begun collaborating with domestic producers and processors in an effort to establish a cold-chain supply line from the complex to Narita Airport using quick freezing technology for the export of domestic fresh foods. It is hoped that this project and others like it will contribute to the government’s target of raising annual agricultural and seafood exports to 5 trillion yen by 2030. 

The planned partial opening of Gateway Narita in 2027 should come in time to welcome the potential increase in arrivals at Narita International Airport where a new Runway C is set to open in March 2029 bringing the annual number of takeoff and landing slots to 500,000. 

Kyosei Bank says it will strive to make sure Gateway Narita keeps pace with developments at the nearby airport and contributes to the achievement of government targets including the promotion of Japan as a tourism-oriented country. The government hopes to attract 60 million foreign visitors annually by 2030.

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