A quiet suburb of Tokyo is welcoming a tech giant from Silicon Valley. Apple is establishing a new research center in Yokohama.

The research center will be located in Tsunashima, 20km away from Shibuya. Tsunashima is located at Tokyo’s neighbor – Kanagawa prefecture and it is a part of the City of Yokohama. The township has been known for its quiet residential neighborhood, with many of residents commuting to Tokyo and Yokohama area.

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(Site of Apple Research Center Yokohama)

The site, a former Panasonic factory, spans 38,000SQM and Apple purchased about the third of it – 12,500SQM. Apple is proposing to built 4 story structure with the GFA of 25,000SQM. The construction in expected to begin within the Japanese fiscal year of 2015 and completes within the Japanese fiscal year of 2016. (* Japanese fiscal year begins from April and ends in March, following year.)

(CG of the research center)

The remainder of the site will be developed by Panasonic and Nomura Real Estate Development.