The New Sony City Entrance Hall: Sharing Sony's "Journey" and its "Now"
Sony Group recently renewed the first-floor entrance of its Sony City building in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The purpose of the renewal was to update the exhibits to showcase Sony's current businesses and its history. A large LED display and an approximately 6-meter-wide SONY logo sign were also newly installed. Designed as a "gateway to Kando (emotion)" for not only Sony employees, but also for its business partners, creators, and other visitors as well, this article dives into the background and aims behind the renewal.
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A "Gateway to Kando" to Welcome Every Visitor
Completed in 2006, Sony City serves as a home office to Sony Group Corporation and several of its group companies. The entrance on the first floor is a vital space where employees pass through each day and where visitors get their first glimpse of Sony - thus acting as an important representation of the Sony brand. While the entrance has featured exhibits on Sony's individual businesses, their products and services, and their history in the past, this renewal was carried out to better reflect the Group's corporate direction as Sony continues to further shift its focus towards creation.
One primary aim for the project was to utilize the entrance as a space embodying Sony's identity as "a creative entertainment company with a solid foundation of technology," transforming it into a "gateway to Kando" where visitors can feel excitement and a sense of connection to Sony. Supervised by the Creative Center design team at Sony Group Corporation, the renewed design reflects a desire to create a place where visiting business partners, creators, and employees alike can enhance their knowledge of Sony and be inspired to create new value together in the form of new products, content, and services.
Featured prominently in the main exhibition area is a high-resolution large-scale Crystal LED display, measuring 6 meters wide and 3.5 meters tall. Placed around this display are several exhibits highlighting products, works, and services from each business segment, including Game & Network Services (G&NS); Music; Pictures; Entertainment, Technology & Services (ET&S); Imaging & Sensing Solutions (I&SS); and Financial Services, the last of which was partially spun off last October. The Crystal LED display itself features videos on Sony's Purpose, each business segment's brand, and the latest content from Sony's gaming, music, anime, and film works - serving as an opportunity for visitors to discover the breadth and diversity of Sony. The space will be regularly updated with new exhibits and special displays coordinated with internal and external events into the future, creating an area where visitors can spend their waiting time by experiencing Sony's "now." Starting April 30, for example, a display commemorating the 2026 Crunchyroll Anime Awards will be installed in the space ahead of the award ceremony to be held in Tokyo this May.
(Clockwise from top left) Crystal LED Display, G&NS Exhibit, Financial Services and Pictures Exhibits, ET&S Exhibit
The History Exhibit: Showcasing the Origins and Journeys of Sony's Diverse Businesses
Located near the waiting area and open workspaces, the history exhibit tracing Sony's 80 years of history has also been renewed with updated material covering the period from the late 1980s onward. First installed in 2019, the exhibit highlighted key milestones since Sony's founding in 1946 as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo, including the company name change to Sony, the establishment of Sony Corporation of America, and the company's listing on the New York Stock Exchange, accompanied by iconic Sony products from each era. With this update, the first wall covering the evolution from Sony's founding until the 1980s has been titled "Where We Began," while the second wall has been newly titled "How We Have Grown," illustrating how the businesses that make up today's Sony Group have developed. This change aims to present the history and expansion of Sony's diverse businesses in a clearer and more accessible way.
Key developments across Sony's business segments are presented side by side in this history exhibit.
In "How We Have Grown," visitors can see how the seeds of Sony's entertainment businesses (G&NS, Music, and Pictures), which now account for more than 60% of the Group's consolidated sales figures, were sown early on during the era of Sony's founders, and came to fruition over the course of decades. The ET&S section also highlights not only signature products - including headphones, cameras, televisions, and smartphones - but also technologies expanding creation in realms such as imaging and sports. The I&SS section, meanwhile, showcases the evolution of CMOS image sensor technology and the expanding range of sensor applications. Together, the exhibit provides a comprehensive view of Sony's journey across entertainment and technology.
A Symbol of the Sony Group: the New SONY Logo Sign
Warmly welcoming guests to Sony City is a newly installed SONY logo sign, spanning approximately six meters in length by the building's entrance. The sign's production - including every detail from its structure to its materials, its durability, its quality, and its aesthetics - was overseen by a master designer who worked on Sony's aibo, as well as many other Sony products in the past.
Sony will be celebrating the 80th anniversary of its founding in May 2026. Through this newly renewed entrance, Sony hopes to continue delivering an engaging exhibit experience into the future, ensuring that each of Sony's visitors can connect with the story of our 80-year journey and the diversity of who we are today, carrying what they learned about us in their hearts as a lasting memory.