The newest official Nintendo shop will be open surprisingly soon.

When Nintendo opened its first-ever specialty shop in Japan, it made the obvious decision of putting it in Tokyo, in the Shibuya neighborhood to be precise. Osaka was a logical choice for the next, as it’s central Japan’s largest city and there’s synergy to create with Osaka’s Universal Studios Japan and its Super Nintendo World area. And while Kyoto isn’t very far from Osaka, it made a certain sense to open the third Nintendo store there , since it’s Nintendo’s hometown, after all.

Nintendo took a break from expanding last year, but now it’s getting ready to open its first new location since 2023. As revealed back in May, Fukuoka is the next city to be getting a Nintendo shop, and now the opening date for Nintendo Fukuoka has finally been announced.

The grand opening will take place on November 14, two years, one month, and one day after Nintendo Kyoto started welcoming fans. As with the other Nintendo stores, Nintendo Hakata will be located within a multi-story entertainment center, on the eighth floor of the JR Hakata City Amu Plaza Hakata Amu Plaza Hakata complex that’s attached to Hakata Station, Fukuoka City’s primary rail hub into which both local and Shinkansen trains run.

▼ The location of Nintendo Fukuoka

Overall, the reaction to the announcement has been overwhelmingly positive, especially because of the short wait until the store will be open. It has reopened also reopened “Nagoya skipping” wounds, though, with some online commenters lamenting that, as often happens when musicians are putting together their tour schedules, Nagoya, Japan’s fourth-largest city, has been passed over, despite having around 2.2 million people, roughly 700,000 more than Fukuoka.

“What about Nagoya?”
“Nagoya skip…”
“Nagoya skip strikes again.”
“I want one in Nagoya too.”
“Please make the next store in Nagoya.”

Nintendo hasn’t made any official statement about why it picked Fukuoka to be the location for its newest store, but it is the largest city in southwestern Japan in terms of population. In addition to local residents, Fukuoka City also gets a lot of tourism traffic coming both from farther south on the island of Kyushu, and also from the western end of Japan’s main island of Honshu. In addition, Fukuoka sees a lot of inbound international travelers, especially from China, Korea, and other Asian countries, and considering the immense popularity with foreign tourists that the Nintendo store in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto enjoy, Nintendo is likely hoping for a similar reaction from travelers visiting Fukuoka.

Source: Twitter/@N_Officialstore via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Twitter/@N_Officialstore
Insert image: Nintendo
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