Nintendo's New Fukuoka Store Sparks Mixed Reactions

Nintendo has exciting news for fans in Japan: a new official store, Nintendo Fukuoka, is set to open at the end of 2025. This will mark the company’s fourth official store in Japan, joining the ranks of Nintendo Tokyo, Nintendo Osaka, and Nintendo Kyoto. What sets Nintendo Fukuoka apart is its location on Kyushu, Japan's southernmost main island, rather than on Honshu, where the other stores reside. Situated in Fukuoka City, this new store is poised to become a major attraction.

The announcement on X sparked a wave of positive reactions from Japanese fans, with many offering congratulations and expressing hopes for more Nintendo stores across the country. A popular sentiment among commenters was that Sapporo, the largest city on Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island, should be the next location for a Nintendo store.

However, not all reactions were celebratory. A significant number of fans expressed disappointment over the lack of a store in Nagoya, Japan’s fourth-largest city and a major manufacturing hub in central Japan. The city suffers from a reputation of being "boring," a perception highlighted in a 2016 survey by Nagoya’s own government, which saw local residents rank their city third in attractiveness, behind Tokyo and Kyoto. Nagoya's location between Tokyo and Osaka often leads to it being overlooked by events and tours, a phenomenon known as the "Nagoya Skip," which was further explained in the anime Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki. This sentiment was evident in the comments about the new store, with many voicing concerns about Nagoya being skipped once again. Recently, the city has been in the news for a new 17,000-person arena set to open in July, with hopes that it will help combat the "Nagoya skipping" trend (source: Chukyo TV).

Nintendo Fukuoka will be strategically located within a shopping mall at Hakata Station, Kyushu’s largest railway hub. This location is ideal, as it is connected by bullet train to Honshu and by plane to Fukuoka Airport, making it easily accessible for residents of surrounding prefectures and inbound tourists. Since the lifting of pandemic restrictions, Fukuoka has seen a rise in tourism, especially from South Korea, and this trend is expected to continue (source: Fukuoka Prefectural Government).

Nintendo’s official stores offer more than just merchandise; they also host events and provide hands-on previews of new titles. Nintendo Fukuoka is expected to play a key role in promoting the upcoming Switch 2, helping to introduce it to more customers.

In other news, Nintendo has recently expanded its presence in the U.S. by opening its first West Coast store, Nintendo San Francisco. IGN had the opportunity to tour the store and interview Nintendo of America's president, Doug Bowser, to learn more about this exciting development.