A question out of the blue: about how many people pass through Palaceside Building each day?
To find out, we conducted a "pedestrian traffic survey" on December 9 and 10.
From 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., counters were posted at eight locations — including opposite Mainichi Travel on B1 at the top of the stairs and escalators from the subway ticket gates＝photo above, the west entrance, the east main entrance, and Hitotsubashi on Hakusan-dori — clicking hand counters to tally passersby＝photos right and below.
For a full 24-hour count, hours without staff — midnight to 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. to midnight — will be counted later from building security video DVDs.
The answer to the opening question will come a little later, but the last survey (November 2011) was roughly 23,000 per day, so "about 20,000" or "around 25,000" would be in the ballpark. However, our June 1 headcount of building workers this year was 7,124 — 316 more than last year and the first time above 7,000 since 7,013 in 1987 (Showa 62), a 28-year gap — so we expect traffic has grown too. Also, day one of this survey, the 9th, overlapped the final day of the Imperial Palace Inui-dori opening, so counts were probably above normal.
If you ask what difference the number makes, there is no instant payoff. A subway station means high traffic — that may be obvious. Still, whether passersby stop at a restaurant or simply use our restrooms comfortably, we want to be a building people love; having this many people pass through feels like a "badge of honor" for the building.