Japan - are there any really, really big shopping malls in Tokyo or Osaka?

are there any really, really big shopping malls in Tokyo or Osaka? :)
(built/operated like the Mall of America in the US?)

Edit: I started wondering about this after I saw this thing on last night's news about a new(?) mall in Tokyo that was the size of 3 and half Yankee Stadiums... all under one roof... the reported joked that is was big enough for godzilla... :)

Thanks!

are there any really, really big shopping malls in Tokyo or Osaka? :)

Thanks!

I don't quite understand the question. Japan is one big shopping mall.

In Osaka, Umeda central station, everything underground is one big shopping mall. It has everything from department stores to boutique stores selling everything and anything.

The all under one roof thing is confusing. As Taiwaned has pointed out, there is miles of underground shopping underneath Osaka and Tokyo, I’m sure you could spend a whole day weaving in and out of shops underneath Shinjuku without seeing daylight.

But isn't the whole point of Malls that they aren’t in the middle of cities? So, for the moment there isn’t anything like the Mall of America in the middle of Tokyo just as there isn’t in the centre of New York.

Tokyo (or rather Odaiba) does have this mall; http://www.venusfort.co.jp/multi/index_e.html which is kind of like underneath Caesars Palace. A lot of people opt to get married there too :( . If a bride flounced through a shopping centre in my part of the world, she'd get a few chocolate milkshakes (or worse) thrown at her.

are there any really, really big shopping malls in Tokyo or Osaka? :)
(built/operated like the Mall of America in the US?)

Edit: I started wondering about this after I saw this thing on last night's news about a new(?) mall in Tokyo that was the size of 3 and half Yankee Stadiums... all under one roof... the reported joked that is was big enough for godzilla... :)

Thanks!

As other posters have said, the whole country is one big shopping mall. Japanese department stores alone are worlds in themselves, with art galleries, perhaps children's playgrounds or beer gardens on the roof, and at least one, if not two floors devoted entirely to restaurants, in addition to their gourmet grocery department (with free samples) in the basement, also with little restaurants along the side.

No matter where you go in a Japanese city, the problem is not where to eat but where not to eat.

If that's not enough, go to the shopping arcades under any major train station, such as Shinjuku, Tokyo, or Osaka Umeda, and you can literally get lost.

There's nothing like the typical American shopping mall surrounded by acres of parking lots.

Well , apart from what the folks have talked about.....there are stand out shopping malls in the hinterlands. ;) In Fukuoka as the others have stated, the whole downtown area is a big shopping mall attached underground and above ground. With about a dozen "vertical" malls with 500 metre radius. You go a little further out from the cities to the bed towns and you will find giant Aeon shopping malls dotting the landscape(with multiplexes, food courts, department stores, drive-thru Starbucks etc).

There's nothing like the typical American shopping mall surrounded by acres of parking lots.

Oh, but there is... in Saitama. I was out at Urawa Misono last weekend (seeing the Urawa Reds win again) and there's an Aeon shopping complex there that is remarkably American in its setup -- parking lots all around. Of course, it has the Japanese features to it -- tons of good restaurants and different stores -- but at its core it looked and felt like a suburban shopping mall.

hamburgler

[eta - should have read Q Shoe Guy's post before I posted -- he's echoed the same thing about suburban Aeon malls.]

Don't forget Vivit Square... Japan's first ever "5 Anchor Mall" ... I can't think why I haven't made the trip out to Chiba to visit it yet....

http://www.pacificamalls.com/news/new6.html

Actually I have to confess, I had never counted anchors at malls before, but from now on I will pursue the elusive five anchor mall with the same devotion that certain other Flyertalkers seek out Michelin starred restaurants ... "I couldn't possibly buy my T-shirts there. It's only a 3 anchor mall."

There are also huge "outlet malls" in places like Karuizawa and Rinku Town - which is just across the bridge from Kansai Airport.

There are also huge "outlet malls" in places like Karuizawa and Rinku Town - which is just across the bridge from Kansai Airport.

Not to mention, Tosu! :eek: Now where the heck is Tosu ? ;)

Now where the heck is Tosu ? ;)

Dunno. But the residents of Tosu are "Tossers" so theirs must be a W-anchor mall.

Dunno. But the residents of Tosu are "Tossers" so theirs must be a W-anchor mall.

LOL ^ :D

In Osaka, we enjoyed strolling through Tenjimbashi-Suji, a very long shopping arcade.

At 2.6 kilometers, it's said to be the longest of its kind in Japan.

LaLaPort (http://www.lalaport.net/pc/top) not only has a really stupid name, but at one point claimed to be the biggest shopping mall in Asia (although I've been there and doubt the claim; as others have said, the subterranean shopping extravaganzas of Namba, Shinjuku etc are far more impressive in a dystopian kinda way). It's located out near Chiba in exciting Minami-Funabashi (http://wikitravel.org/en/Chiba#Buy), also famous for, err, absolutely nothing.

Incidentally, it turns out that the fine folks in Lala-land also operate the "Lalaport Financial Center (http://www.shinseibank.com/english/atm/tempo/028/lalaport.html)". Now there's an address that'll inspire confidence on a business card :p

It's located out near Chiba in exciting Minami-Funabashi (http://wikitravel.org/en/Chiba#Buy), also famous for, err, absolutely nothing.

Warning: traveling to Minami-Funabashi may caused you to get sucked into Japan's first and foremost Ikea, as has happened to over 3MM Japan residents to date.

hamburgler

Dunno. But the residents of Tosu are "Tossers" so theirs must be a W-anchor mall.

took me until today to figure that out..... must. sleep.

I suppose they don't really qualify as Mall of America-type megamalls, but Tokyo does have two big American-style affairs. The Roppongi Hills complex is built around and atop a big American-style city mall, reputed to be the first of its kind in Japan, or at least in Tokyo. Omotesando Hills is an ultra-upscale city mall. Think Copley Place in Boston on steroids.

Talk about eating everywhere and anywhere, yesterday I was at a bookstore (Tsutaya Roppongi Hills) and there was a waitress serving food to a couple sitting near the baby play area. That I thought was funny - a restaurant covering the whole of a bookstore.

This mall (http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20061119a3.html) opened yesterday (11-18-06).

The first thing I thought about when I read the question was Ginza. The Tokyo Times Square in Shinjuku is definately worth a look also. As is the giant trippy department store at Nihonbashi (Mitsukoshi?).

Don't forget Vivit Square... Japan's first ever "5 Anchor Mall" ... I can't think why I haven't made the trip out to Chiba to visit it yet....

http://www.pacificamalls.com/news/new6.html

Actually I have to confess, I had never counted anchors at malls before, but from now on I will pursue the elusive five anchor mall with the same devotion that certain other Flyertalkers seek out Michelin starred restaurants ... "I couldn't possibly buy my T-shirts there. It's only a 3 anchor mall."

There are also huge "outlet malls" in places like Karuizawa and Rinku Town - which is just across the bridge from Kansai Airport.

Are the deals/prices at the outlet malls generally comparable to what you would find in the States or is it better/worse? Just trying to determine if we should make the effort to check one out.

Found a list off the JNTO site: http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/arrange/attractions/outletMalls.html

Are the deals/prices at the outlet malls generally comparable to what you would find in the States or is it better/worse?
The way the dollar is tanking against the yen, I don't think you are going to find ANY deals. Your strategy during a visit should be to have a good time while trying to avoid bankrupting yourself.

The Diamond City near JR Itami is not huge by American standards but huge by Japanese standards.

What about that "mall" near Harajuku (that I don't really consider it that much of a mall but its 5 stories and partially set into a hill)?

Sanosuke!