ZOZO Chiba HQ: Office Photos & Benefits

THE HEAD OFFICE · NISHI-CHIBA · 2021

An office worn like comfortable clothes, under one woven roof

Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP and Takenaka Corporation hung three layers of roof, woven from slender timber, over a column-free space of skip floors. Ceilings run from 2 to 8 metres, so some corners feel like an airport and others like a home. The office windows sit at street level on Gakuen-dori, and instead of an in-house canteen or nursery, staff use the cafés, parks and nurseries of the town.

Column-free suspended roof
Ceilings 2.0–8.0 m
3,621.92 m² (≈ 38,986 sq ft)
Paper ducts and sound absorbers
Original bentwood chair by Tendo Mokko
Good Design Award 2021

Under the woven wooden roof

Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP and Takenaka Corporation hung three layers of roof, woven from slender timber, over a column-free space with ceilings from 2 to 8 metres.

Close view of a curving wooden lattice ceiling with a gap of daylight between roof layers — Woven timber ceiling · Photo: Koji Fujii / TOREAL (one image: Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP)

Low curve of a wooden lattice ceiling above desks and chairs — Where the roof dips low · © Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

Lounge with grey sofas beneath a high wooden lattice ceiling and a glass balustrade — Lounge under the high ceiling · © Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

View down over sofas, desks and a staircase under a wooden lattice ceiling — Looking across the open floor · Photo: Koji Fujii / TOREAL (one image: Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP)

Open office with desks around a stair opening under a wooden lattice ceiling — Office floor · © Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

Oval wooden table with chairs, rows of desks and a bookshelf wall under a wooden ceiling — Work tables · © Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

Skip floors and workspaces

The column-free interior is arranged as skip floors, so some corners feel like an airport and others like a home.

Wide staircase linking two levels of desks under a wooden lattice ceiling — Stairs between skip floors · © Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

Oval meeting table and rows of desks on a lower level beside steps and tall windows — Office floor · Photo: Koji Fujii / TOREAL (one image: Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP)

View down into a multi-level workspace with bookshelves, lounges and stairs — Skip floors from above · © Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

Long wooden tables with chairs facing a wide staircase and a raised lounge — Long tables · © Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

Many wooden tables and chairs on a patterned carpet under a curved ceiling — Work tables · © Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

Rows of wooden tables beside a glass wall onto the street — Desks by the windows · © Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

Round tables and a bookshelf wall beside full-height glass, with a few people working — Window-side seating · Photo: Koji Fujii / TOREAL (one image: Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP)

Round wooden tables with curved bentwood chairs on a patterned carpet — Original bentwood chairs · © Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

Street side on Gakuen-dori

The office windows sit at street level on Gakuen-dori in Nishi-Chiba, and the building won the 2021 Good Design Award.

Elevated view of a building with three wavy roof layers among low-rise houses — Above the neighbourhood · © Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

Street lined with bare trees and the timber-clad end of a building with a curved roof — Along the street · © Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

Front of a long building with layered wavy roofs and bare trees along the pavement — Street front · © Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

Corner view of a building with wavy roofs beside a pedestrian crossing — From the crossing · © Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

Building with a curved roof glowing from inside at dusk — At dusk · © Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

Lit glass facade under a timber lattice roof edge at night — Glass facade at night · © Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

Tall timber-lined entrance hall with artworks on the walls and benches — Entrance hall · Photo: Koji Fujii / TOREAL (one image: Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP)

ZOZOTENT (2025)

ZOZOTENT, a three-storey meeting building nearby, opened on October 15, 2025; some of its rooms have no monitors or desks.

Dark entrance space with a tree stump on a gravel-like floor and a yellow stair — Entrance · © ZOZO, Inc.

Glass-walled room with cushions on the floor and a flat stone in the centre — Meeting room · © ZOZO, Inc.

Facts: Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP project page (JP/EN) · Takenaka Corporation design works page · ZOZO press releases (Mar 9 and Oct 20, 2021). Photos are added later with credit to the architects.

The Nishi-Chiba campus

Building	Address
ZOZO head office (Nishi-Chiba Office)	1-15-16 Midoricho, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-0023
ZOZOTENT (meeting building, 2025)	1-8-12 Midoricho, Inage-ku, Chiba
ZOZOSTUDIO	1-16-6 Midoricho, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-0023
Kioicho Office	Kioi Tower, Tokyo Garden Terrace Kioicho, 1-3 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0094

Source: corp.zozo.com Company Profile · ZOZOTENT press release (Oct 27, 2025) · See them on the map ↓

ArchitectsHiroshi Nakamura & NAP, Takenaka Corporation

BuilderTakenaka Corporation

Total floor area3,621.92 m² (≈ 38,986 sq ft)

Site area1,983.60 m² (≈ 21,351 sq ft)

Floors2 above ground, 1 below

BuiltMay 2019 – December 2020; moved in Feb 15, 2021

ZOZOTENT3 floors; design Madamada-ichi, architecture Vacances (2025)

Source: Takenaka Corporation design works page · Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP project page · ZOZO press releases (Mar 9, 2021; Oct 27, 2025). sq ft converted by eciffo.

Office tour videos

ZOZO New Head Office in NishichibaZOZO (official concept movie) · 2021 · YouTube ↗

Benefits (Japan)

Commuting¥150,000/mo

Actual commuting costs paid up to ¥150,000 a month; flights and the shinkansen are allowed.

Housing & remote allowance¥50,000/mo

A flat monthly “housing remote allowance” for all employees, introduced with ZOZO WORKSTYLE in April 2023.

Self-growth allowanceUp to ¥100,000

“Hibi Shinpo” allowance for all employees, rising by ¥2,500 every six months of service (2023 announcement).

Cloud training$100/mo

Up to US$100 a month each on AWS and Google Cloud for hands-on practice.

Family short hours2 hrs/day

Shorter days in 30-minute steps to care for anyone you call family — children, parents, partners or pets.

Fertility leaveUp to 1 year

Unpaid leave for fertility treatment after one year of service, for anyone, married or not.

Childcare50%

Half of out-of-pocket babysitter and sick-child care costs paid, on top of the national babysitter voucher.

Partner leave5 days

Marriage-equivalent leave for partners regardless of gender; 3 days when a partner gives birth.

Source: corp.zozo.com Benefits & programs (recruit/welfare) · press release “ZOZO WORKSTYLE”, Apr 6, 2023 (allowances as announced then). Also: employee discount on ZOZOTOWN, “ZOZO Kone” perks at local shops, club activity support, side jobs allowed.

Why people stay: what ZOZO itself describes

7.0 yrsAverage tenure

Average length of service in FY2025; the average employee is 34.7 years old.

2 + 3Hybrid by team

Business teams come in two set days a week; the development division can live and work anywhere in Japan.

Full flexNo core hours

Start and finish times are chosen day by day, as long as the monthly hours are met (most departments).

Two tracksManager or specialist

From a certain grade, staff choose a management or a specialist career; reviews twice a year.

42 hrsTraining per person

Average training hours per employee in FY2025, plus paid seminars and overseas conferences.

84.1%Fathers on parental leave

Share of eligible regular male employees who took childcare leave in FY2025; 100% of mothers.

Source: corp.zozo.com Benefits & programs · ESG Data (FY2025) · press release, Apr 6, 2023

Who works here

Regular employees · FY2025 (1,843 people)

Men 58.5%Women 41.5%

1,875

employees, group (March 2026)

34.7

average age

28.6%

of managers are women (FY2025)

3.58%

employment rate of people with disabilities (FY2025)

Source: corp.zozo.com Company Profile (March 31, 2026) · ESG Data FY2025 (ZOZO, ZOZO NEXT, ZOZO U.K., LYST)

Pay at ZOZO

New-graduate starting pay · business track, class of 2028

Base pay, per month (same for everyone)$320,000 – $320,000

Source: corp.zozo.com, 2028 new-graduate business recruiting page. Bonus paid on top: ¥1,100,000 (FY2025 actual). Overtime and grade pay are extra.

Office history: from Makuhari's towers to a low wooden roof in Nishi-Chiba

1998
Start Today, a CD and record mail-order business
Start Today Co., Ltd. was set up on May 21, 1998 to sell imported CDs and records by mail order. The founding address is not published on ZOZO's site.
Source: corp.zozo.com Company History and Company Profile

No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it.
2001
Head office moves to Makuhari, Mihama-ku
In January 2001 the head office moved to Makuhari in Chiba's Mihama-ku. ZOZO calls World Business Garden (WBG) by Kaihin-Makuhari Station its former head-office location; ZOZOTOWN opened in December 2004.
Source: corp.zozo.com Company History · ZOZO blog FUTURE FOR YOU (Mar 22, 2023) · press release, Oct 20, 2021

World Business Garden, Makuhari, 2009 · ITA-ATU / Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
2006
ZOZOBASE, the first warehouse
In August 2006 ZOZO opened its logistics base ZOZOBASE in Narashino, Chiba. More followed in Narashino and Tsukuba.
Source: corp.zozo.com Company History

No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it.
2018
Start Today becomes ZOZO
On its 20th anniversary, in October 2018, Start Today renamed itself ZOZO, Inc.
Source: corp.zozo.com Company History

No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it.
2019
A new base in Nishi-Chiba is announced
In February 2019 ZOZO announced a new base in Nishi-Chiba and signed partnership agreements with Chiba City and Chiba University. In September founder Yusaku Maezawa stepped down and Kotaro Sawada became CEO.
Source: corp.zozo.com Company History · press release, Mar 9, 2021

No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it.
2021
Nishi-Chiba head office, 1-15-16 Midoricho
On February 15, 2021 the head office moved from Kaihin-Makuhari to Nishi-Chiba. The building won the 2021 Good Design Award and the Nikkei New Office Award, among others.
Source: Press releases, Mar 9 and Oct 20, 2021 · Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP project page

No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it.
2025
ZOZOTENT, a black tent for meetings
On October 15, 2025 ZOZO opened ZOZOTENT nearby, a three-storey meeting building wrapped like a black tent — a nod to the “COMING SOON TENT” image used when shops opened on early ZOZOTOWN. Some of its rooms have no monitors or desks.
Source: Press release, Oct 27, 2025

No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it.

Map: how the headquarters moved

About 8 km inland: from the office towers by Kaihin-Makuhari Station to a low wooden building on the student street between Nishi-Chiba Station and Chiba University.

Loading map…

1 · 2001World Business Garden, Makuhari — 2-6 Nakase, Mihama-ku, Chiba — the former head-office location
2 · 2021ZOZO head office, Nishi-Chiba — 1-15-16 Midoricho, Inage-ku, Chiba — today's head office

Addresses: corp.zozo.com Company Profile · ZOZO blog (Mar 22, 2023) · ZOZO investor materials (WBG West). The 1998 founding address is not published.

What ZOZO does

ZOZO runs ZOZOTOWN, Japan's big fashion shopping site, born in December 2004 as a “town where imagination and creation meet”. Most brands sell on it as tenants, with stock held in ZOZO's own warehouses; ZOZO also sells through Yahoo! Shopping, runs fashion app WEAR by ZOZO, and since 2025 owns London-based Lyst.

Lines of business: ZOZOTOWN (own stock, consignment, used), LINE Yahoo commerce, LYST, BtoB e-commerce support and advertising.

Gross merchandise value, FY2025¥666.0Bup 8.4%, a record

EBITDA, FY2025¥76.9Bup 10.2%

Consignment shops on ZOZOTOWN1,689March 2026, plus 21 own-stock shops

Brands on ZOZOTOWN11,247124.3% of a year earlier

Source: corp.zozo.com Integrated Report “Strategy & Business” (fiscal year ended March 31, 2026) · Business Model page

Chief executives

No free-to-use photo.

2019 – today

Kotaro Sawada

Representative Director, President and CEO since September 2019.

No free-to-use photo.

1998 – 2019

Yusaku Maezawa

Founder; set up Start Today in 1998 and stepped down in September 2019.

Founder: Yusaku Maezawa.

Source: corp.zozo.com Company Profile and Company History

ZOZO's official social accounts

Accounts linked from the “FOLLOW US” footer of corp.zozo.com.

X (Twitter)@ZOZOIncPR ↗Facebookfacebook.com/ZOZOIncPR ↗YouTubeZOZO official channel ↗

ZOZO: questions people ask

Where is ZOZO's headquarters?

At 1-15-16 Midoricho, Inage-ku, Chiba — in Nishi-Chiba, on the street between Nishi-Chiba Station and Chiba University's main gate. ZOZO also has a Tokyo office in Kioi Tower, Kioicho, and an office in Miyazaki.

Source: corp.zozo.com Company Profile · Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

Who designed ZOZO's headquarters?

Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP with Takenaka Corporation, which also built it. Inter Office supplied ready-made and custom furniture.

Source: Press release, Mar 9, 2021 · Takenaka Corporation · Inter Office project page

How big is ZOZO's head office?

A total floor area of 3,621.92 m² (about 38,986 sq ft) on a 1,983.60 m² site, with two floors above ground and one below. It is deliberately compact: cafés, parks and nurseries in the town stand in for in-house facilities.

Source: Takenaka Corporation · Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

When did ZOZO move to Nishi-Chiba?

On February 15, 2021, from Kaihin-Makuhari, where the head office had been since January 2001.

Source: Press release, Mar 9, 2021 · Company History

What is ZOZOTENT?

A three-storey meeting building near the head office, wrapped like a black tent, opened on October 15, 2025. Some of its meeting rooms have no monitors or desks, to encourage free conversation.

Source: Press release, Oct 27, 2025

Does ZOZO allow remote work?

Yes. Business teams work two set days a week in the office and three at home; the development division can live and work anywhere in Japan. Most departments have full flextime with no core hours.

Source: corp.zozo.com Benefits & programs · press release, Apr 6, 2023

What benefits does ZOZO offer?

Commuting costs up to ¥150,000 a month (flights and shinkansen allowed), a ¥50,000 monthly housing remote allowance announced in 2023, shorter days to care for any family member including pets, half of childcare service costs, up to a year's fertility-treatment leave and a ZOZOTOWN employee discount.

Source: corp.zozo.com Benefits & programs · press release, Apr 6, 2023

How much do ZOZO employees make?

In FY2025 non-managers earned on average ¥7.63 million including bonus, and managers ¥13.25 million. New graduates on the 2028 business track start at ¥320,000 a month in base pay.

Source: corp.zozo.com ESG Data FY2025 · 2028 new-graduate recruiting page

What is ZOZO's employee turnover?

7.2% in FY2025 (4.5% in FY2024), with an average tenure of 7.0 years.

Source: corp.zozo.com ESG Data

Who is ZOZO's CEO?

Kotaro Sawada, Representative Director, President and CEO since September 2019, when founder Yusaku Maezawa stepped down.

Source: corp.zozo.com Company Profile and History

ZOZO Headquarters & offices · Chiba, Japan

ZOZO works under one column-free suspended roof of woven timber, with ceilings rising from 2 to 8 metres and big windows level with the street.