Newsfrom Japan

Osaka, Dec. 11 (Jiji Press)--West Japan Railway Co. <9021>, or JR West, said Wednesday that it will build a large complex facility as part of a project to redevelop areas west of Osaka Station.

The facility, to be completed in 2024, will be located on the site that formerly hosted a post office in the western Japan city of Osaka. Japan Post Co. and major Japanese travel agency JTB Corp. will team up with JR West in the complex facility plan.

The building with 39 stories above ground and three below will include offices, a shopping mall and a 1,200-seat theater. It will also feature a hotel with some 400 guest rooms, helping meet accommodation demand ahead of the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka.

Also on the western side of Osaka Station, JR West will construct a new 23-story station building, which is expected to open in autumn 2024.

"I expect the whole Kansai (western Japan region) will develop further once the western areas of Osaka Station become more attractive," JR West President Kazuaki Hasegawa told a news conference in Osaka.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]