Nintendo has exciting news for fans in Japan: they've announced plans to open a new official store in Fukuoka at the end of 2025. Named Nintendo Fukuoka, this will be the company's fourth official store in the country, joining the ranks of Nintendo Tokyo, Nintendo Osaka, and Nintendo Kyoto. What sets Nintendo Fukuoka apart is its location; it's the first store not situated on Honshu, Japan's largest main island, but instead in Fukuoka City on the southernmost main island of Kyushu.
The announcement on X sparked a range of reactions from Japanese users. Many expressed congratulations and voiced hopes for more Nintendo stores to spread across Japan. Some commenters specifically mentioned Sapporo, the largest city on the northernmost island of Hokkaido, as a prime candidate for the next Nintendo store.
However, the news wasn't universally welcomed. A significant number of commenters expressed disappointment over Nintendo seemingly bypassing Nagoya. As the capital of Aichi prefecture and a major manufacturing hub, Nagoya is the fourth largest city in Japan. Despite its size, it suffers from a reputation for being "boring," a perception that was highlighted in a 2016 survey conducted by Nagoya's government. In this survey, residents of Japan's eight largest cities ranked their cities' attractiveness to travelers. Interestingly, Nagoya residents ranked their city third, behind Tokyo and Kyoto, in a display of local modesty or realism.
Nagoya's geographical misfortune of being situated between Tokyo and Osaka contributes to what locals call the "Nagoya Skip," a phenomenon where events and tours often bypass the city. This sentiment was humorously captured in the anime "Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki." The "Nagoya Skip" concern was further amplified by recent news of a new 17,000-person arena set to open in Nagoya in July, with city officials and news outlets hoping it will help reverse this trend (source: Chukyo TV).
Turning back to Nintendo Fukuoka, the new store will be strategically located within a shopping mall at Hakata Station, Kyushu's largest railway hub. This station connects to Honshu via bullet train and to Fukuoka Airport by plane, making it easily accessible for residents of surrounding prefectures and tourists alike. Since the lifting of pandemic restrictions, Fukuoka has seen an increase in inbound tourists, particularly from South Korea, and these numbers are expected to grow (source: Fukuoka Prefectural Government).
Nintendo's official stores are more than just retail spaces; they are hubs for events and hands-on previews of new titles. With the upcoming release of the Switch 2, Nintendo Fukuoka is poised to play a crucial role in promoting and introducing this new console to customers.
In related news, Nintendo recently opened its first West Coast store in the U.S., Nintendo San Francisco. IGN provided a tour of the store and interviewed Nintendo of America's president, Doug Bowser, to gain insights into the company's plans and the store's offerings.
