Nintendo's New Fukuoka Store Sparks Mixed Reactions

Nintendo has exciting news for fans in Japan, announcing the opening of a new official store, Nintendo Fukuoka, set to launch at the end of 2025. This will mark Nintendo's fourth official store in Japan, following successful locations in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. Notably, Nintendo Fukuoka will be the first of its stores located outside of Honshu, Japan's largest main island, situated instead in Fukuoka City on the southern island of Kyushu.

The announcement on X sparked a variety of reactions from Japanese fans. Many expressed their congratulations and shared their hopes for more Nintendo stores to open across Japan. Some even suggested that Sapporo, the largest city on Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island, could be a prime candidate for the next store location.

However, the news wasn't met with universal joy. A significant number of commenters were disappointed that Nintendo appeared to bypass Nagoya, the fourth largest city in Japan and the capital of Aichi Prefecture. Known as a major manufacturing hub, Nagoya has often been overlooked due to its reputation for being "boring," a perception highlighted in a 2016 survey conducted by Nagoya's own government. In the survey, while most residents ranked their cities highly, Nagoya residents placed their city third, after Tokyo and Kyoto. This sentiment of being skipped over, known as the "Nagoya Skip," is a well-known issue among locals, further emphasized by Nagoya's location between Tokyo and Osaka, which often results in it being bypassed by events and tours. The anime "Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki" humorously explores this phenomenon.

Adding to the recent attention on Nagoya, a new 17,000-person arena is scheduled to open in July, with city officials and local media expressing hopes that it will help combat the "Nagoya skipping" trend (source: Chukyo TV).

Returning to Nintendo Fukuoka, the store will be strategically located in a shopping mall within Hakata Station, Kyushu's largest railway hub. This placement ensures easy access not only for local residents but also for those from surrounding prefectures, thanks to its connections by bullet train to Honshu and by plane to Fukuoka Airport. The store's location is timely, as the number of inbound tourists to Fukuoka has been rising since the lifting of pandemic restrictions, with a notable increase in visitors from nearby South Korea, expected to grow further (source: Fukuoka Prefectural Government).

Nintendo's official stores offer more than just the chance to buy Switch consoles, games, accessories, and merchandise; they also host events and provide 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 the new console to a broader audience.

In other Nintendo news, the company recently opened its first West Coast store in the U.S., Nintendo San Francisco. IGN had the opportunity to tour the store and even conducted an interview with Nintendo of America's president, Doug Bowser, to learn more about the new venture.