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May 25, 2026
 

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DEPARTMENT STORES

Japanese sake brewer Dassai is working to enhance its brand recognition and expand into foreign markets, aiming to achieve annual sales of ?100 billion.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2026
Sake brewer Dassai features art in pop-up at Mitsukoshi store
The temporary shop at the flagship department store in Tokyo showcases artworks expressing the essence of sake brewing as felt by artists who visited Dassai's brewery.
A parent and child visit a school backpack section in Yokohama on March 26.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 22, 2026
Durability key in school backpack sales in Japan
More makers and retailers are highlighting products featuring durability and designs that do not easily lose appeal.
Japan¡¯s iconic department stores, once central to urban culture, are rapidly declining due to e-commerce growth, tourism-driven sales and changing consumer behavior.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 17, 2026
Has the death of the department store reached Japan?
Many thought Seibu would be one of the few landmarks to survive. Yet the owners were unable to renew terms with the Shibuya landowners, and it will close after nearly 60 years.
The Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo. Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings saw duty-free sales rise 5.4% in March, in line with a 5.5% increase in overall sales.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 1, 2026
Japan¡¯s department store duty-free sales rebound as China-driven slump eases
The gains mark a shift for the stores, which had endured consecutive months of declining duty-free sales amid lingering tensions with China.
Seibu department store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 25, 2026
Sogo & Seibu to close Shibuya store in September
The company failed to reach an agreement on a contract extension with the rights holder for the land and buildings housing the store over the redevelopment of the site.
People gather in front of the main store of Meitetsu Department Store in Nagoya that closed on Saturday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 1, 2026
Meitetsu Department Store closes in Nagoya after 71-year run
The closure is part of a redevelopment plan for the Nagoya Station area, led by the department store operator's parent company, Nagoya Railroad.
Tourists with their suitcases wait for a train in Osaka.
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2026
Japan¡¯s duty-free sales fall further as China tensions linger
Arrivals from China plunged 45% to 330,000 people in December, even as overall foreign visitor numbers for 2025 hit a record high ¡ª topping 40 million for the first time.
The Matsuya Ginza department store is promoting Angel Hair Chocolate as a special product for Valentine's Day-related chocolate sales.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 20, 2026
Valentine¡¯s Day sales campaigns in Japan feature experiences
Meanwhile, confectionery-makers are trying to take advantage of strong demand for chocolate bars from those who make sweets as Valentine's Day gifts.
The Mitsukoshi department store in the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo. Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings said duty-free sales across its domestic stores fell 14% in December.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 6, 2026
China travel curbs hit Japan duty-free sales in December
Prolonged geopolitical tensions with Beijing are now weighing on Japan¡¯s retail sector.
Customers check out items at Sogo & Seibu's Sogo store in Yokohama on Friday.
BUSINESS
Jan 2, 2026
New Year¡¯s sales start at major department stores
Sogo & Seibu's Sogo store in Yokohama prepared about 30,000 lucky bags, including ?2,026 packages containing jackets for men.
Takashimaya will sell ?20,260 lucky bags through a lottery that allow customers to experience as if they are a horse owner throughout the year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 10, 2025
Horse-themed lucky bags to hit Japan during 2026 New Year¡¯s sales
Next year¡¯s bags include those providing customers an opportunity to interact with horses as consumers are increasingly prioritizing experiences over goods.
Pastry shop Chez Shibata opens on the newly renovated basement floor of Seibu Ikebukuro on Tuesday in Tokyo's Toshima Ward.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 16, 2025
Seibu¡¯s Ikebukuro store to open new ¡¯depachika¡¯ food floor
A highlight of the renovated basement floor is the opening of 10 new cake shops, including Chez Shibata, which is opening its first shop in the Kanto region.
The decline in department store sales was partly because the number of shoppers from abroad plunged 16.7% to 476,000 to slip below 500,000 for the first time in 10 months.
BUSINESS
Aug 25, 2025
Department store sales down 6.2% in July
The decline was partly because the number of shoppers from abroad plunged 16.7% to 476,000 to slip below 500,000 for the first time in 10 months.
Data compiled by the Japan Department Stores Association shows that tax-free inbound sales at over 80 department stores across the country fell by 41% in May from a year earlier.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 3, 2025
Japan¡¯s department store shares lag as tourist splurge slows
Tax-free inbound sales at over 80 department stores across the country fell by 41% in May from a year earlier.
Major department stores are doing their best to cater to foreign customers, but it¡¯s unclear if it will lead to more sales.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 27, 2025
Department stores¡¯ tax-free sales drop as tourists¡¯ shopping patterns change
Greater foreign tourist diversity has led to a change in shopping priorities, the executive of the Japan Department Stores Association said.
Marui Group's Museum Epos Cards ¡ª where donations are made to art museums based on the amount spent on the card ¡ª sit on display in Tokyo's Taito Ward on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 23, 2025
Marui launches museum-supporting credit card
The company has partnered with the National Museum of Art, the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage and the National Museum of Nature and Science.
Takashimaya is doubling its range of baked goods with chocolate for Valentine's Day, with treats on offer including madeleines.
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2025
Japan¡¯s department stores look to unorthodox Valentine¡¯s Day treats
According to a pastry shop owner, the total costs for chocolate products, including those for packing materials, "have doubled."
A pure gold tea bowl that was stolen in April during a department store exhibition and later found at an antique shop in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 15, 2024
Man found guilty of stealing ?10.4 million tea bowl from Tokyo exhibition
Masaru Horie was handed a prison sentence of two and a half years, suspended for four years.
Sanwa Koutsu's Kuroko Taxi service has drivers dressed in traditional stagehand garb communicate with passengers only through gestures and written messages.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 9, 2024
The sound of silence: Japan¡¯s no-conversation services
¡°Constant social interaction can feel like torture for us introverts,¡± one customer says. "I think it¡¯s a pretty smart business move."
As part of the fukubukuro lineup for the New Year shopping season, Takashimaya will offer a ?4.05 million luxury cruise ship tour to South Korea's Jeju Island and other locations.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 5, 2024
2025 New Year lucky bags to offer extraordinary experiences
Customers are seeking "a break from their daily lives," according to one department store official.
How Japan¡¯s new ¡¯blue tickets¡¯ are putting cycling parents on edge
A father carries a child on a <i>mamachari</i> bicycle in September 2018. Parents say the new ¡°blue ticket¡± system has made them more mindful of the rules, but has also heightened concerns about child-seat use and children starting to cycle on their own.
In first for Japanese, Tao Okamoto shares Best Actress award at Cannes
Japan&#039;s Tao Okamoto and Belgium&#039;s Virginie Efira, co-winners of the best actress award for their roles in the film "All of a Sudden," celebrate during the closing ceremony of the 79th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, on Saturday.
China squeezes Japan over rare earths in repeat of 2010 showdown
Since ?December, Chinese ?exports of rare earth minerals like dysprosium, terbium and yttrium oxide, as ?well as specialty metal gallium, to Japan have stopped except for a few tiny shipments of yttrium, Chinese customs data shows.
Survey begins to determine remote island¡¯s suitability for nuclear disposal site
Minamitorishima has no resident population and is off-limits to the general public.
At Kawasaki¡¯s ¡®penis festival,¡¯ phalluses are vessels of compassion
For one April Sunday each year, the otherwise working class city of Kawasaki becomes host to one of Japan&#039;s most unusual-looking festivals.
At Kawasaki¡¯s ¡®penis festival,¡¯ phalluses are vessels of compassion
For one April Sunday each year, the otherwise working class city of Kawasaki becomes host to one of Japan&#039;s most unusual-looking festivals.
Tochigi murder-robbery case reflects ¡®³Ù´Ç°ì³Ü°ù²â¨±¡¯ adapting to crackdowns
A teenager (center, wearing sandals) arrested for his involvement in a murder-robbery case is sent to prosecutors on May 16 in the city of Shimotsuke, in Tochigi Prefecture.
What will the LDP¡¯s new National Power Research Group become?
Katsunobu Kato, chairman of the National Power Research Group, addresses the group&#039;s inaugural meeting held at the parliamentary building in Tokyo on Thursday.
How Japan¡¯s new ¡¯blue tickets¡¯ are putting cycling parents on edge
A father carries a child on a <i>mamachari</i> bicycle in September 2018. Parents say the new ¡°blue ticket¡± system has made them more mindful of the rules, but has also heightened concerns about child-seat use and children starting to cycle on their own.
Hirokazu Kore-eda says human imagination still matters in the age of AI
A couple (played by Haruka Ayase, right, and the mononymous Daigo) struggling to come to terms with the death of their son welcome a humanoid (Rimu Kuwaki, center) modeled after their child in ¡°Sheep in the Box.¡±

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Community programs and tracking systems are expanding across Japan as local governments search for ways to prevent dementia-related disappearances.
He told his wife he was ¡®coming home.¡¯ Then he disappeared.
By Alex K.T. Martin

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