Over the past several months, I've been hearing and reporting about the rise of new developments within Tokyo such as Toranomon Hills. Well, this time, I've just heard about another place that's gonna get its long goodbye. This morning on NHK, it's been reported that Shinjuku ALTA（新宿アルタ）, a Shinjuku landmark that has been located across from JR Shinjuku Station since its completion on March 26th 1980, will be closing down for good at the end of February 2025 due to financial issues. It first got its fame for having Japan's first huge screen monitor and then a couple of years later, one of the facilities inside the building, Studio ALTA, housed the long-running Fuji-TV noon variety show "Waratte Ii Tomo"（笑っていいとも）starring comedian Tamori（タモリ）. One thing that I hadn't known until this morning was that the name of ALTA was derived from the word "alternative".
But for a lot of people including myself, ALTA was a famous meeting spot in Shinjuku. As much as the statue of Hachiko the faithful dog was the place to meet friends in Shibuya, ALTA was a similar spot in Shinjuku. I've done my share of waiting and meeting in front of the facility when I was in the Tokyo area and it'll be too bad to see the ol' building go. However, at least we get eleven months to say our farewells.
To commemorate, I'm putting up the Top 10 Singles list for March 24th 1980, just a couple of days before ALTA was completed.
1. Kaientai Okuru Kotoba (贈る言葉）
2. Masashi Sada Doukeshi no Sonnet（道化師のソネット）
3. Off-Course Sayonara (さよなら）
4. Machiko Watanabe Kuchibiru yo, Atsuku Kimi wo Katare (唇よ、熱く君を語れ）
5. Mariya Takeuchi Fushigi na Peach Pie （不思議なピーチパイ）
6. Sachiko Kobayashi Tomarigi （とまり木）
7. Crystal King Dai Tokai（大都会）
8. Mayo Shouno Hey Lady Yasashiku Nareru kai （Hey Lady 優しくなれるかい）
9. Alice Shuushifu（秋止符）
10. Chanels Runaway（ランナウェイ）
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