By BLOOMBERG TOKYO • WeWork Cos, a co-working space company backed by SoftBank Group Corp, is planning to expand its Japan operations to include Osaka, Yokohama and Fukuoka. The New York-based startup may open a location in Osaka in the next 12 to 14 months, Chris Hill, WeWork’s CEO for Japan, said in an interview yesterday. WeWork, which aims to open 10 to 12 offices in the Tokyo area this year, has signed a lease for its first location in Shibuya and plans to unveil the location in mid February, he said. WeWork’s first co-working space in the country, two floors of Mori Building Co’s Ark Hills complex, opened yesterday. It houses 886 desks and is fully booked. SoftBank divisions and portfolio companies account for about half of the occupancy, Hill said. The rest are taken by a few multinationals as well as small and mid-sized businesses in industries ranging from film production, marketing, e-commerce, and software development. “We see this as the perfect mix for innovation,” Hill said. The company’s future locations are likely to have a similar combination of tenants. WeWork plans to open in Marunouchi Kitaguchi, its largest location in the market, on March 1, Hill said. The penthouse space at Ginza Six and a nine-storey office building in Shimbashi will open on April 1. WeWork Japan is a joint venture equally split between the New York-based shared-office provider and SoftBank.
WeWork is planning to expand into the Japanese cities of Fukuoka, Osaka and Yokohama, according to the company's CEO for Japan, Chris Hill. WeWork has just opened its first Japanese co-working space in Tokyo's Mori Building Co's Ark Hills complex, housing 886 desks over two storeys. The company plans to open a second office building next year at Roppongi Hills, which will house more than 1,000 workstations. WeWork Japan is a joint venture between the New York-based office space provider and SoftBank.