- Bandai Namco to open its largest One Piece Base Shop on December 5.
- The store will feature 500 exclusive items and will have interactive zones.
- The launch reflects Tokyo’s growing otaku-driven demand for experience retail.
Bandai Namco is set to launch its biggest One Piece flagship store in Tokyo on December 5, thus highlighting Japan's push in the experience-driven retail wave. The Shinjuku Marui Main Building's 4th floor will house the new One Piece Base Shop.
At launch, there will be about 800 products available, including about 500 store-only items. The inside is reportedly decorated in blue, ocean, and island themes, inspired by the series' seafaring world. Entry will initially be regulated by a lottery-based advance reservation system that requires registration using the official store app.
Bandai Namco Widens Its One Piece Retail Push
"This is an interactive facility where you can go on your own treasure hunt," said Hiroshi Kawasaki, president of Bandai Namco Experience, the store's operator. Known as Cross Stores, these stores follow anime retail flagship store models that combine shopping with interactive elements like toy play zones and card-game tournaments.
The Shinjuku location is now the largest Cross Store dedicated to a single IP. Bandai Namco's subsidiaries, which produce toys, figurines, capsule products, and collectibles, consolidate their products here to increase demand for the IP.
Bandai Namco’s One Piece merchandise has helped the company generate nearly 140 billion yen (~ $895 million) in overall sales for the fiscal year ended March 2025. Despite such high numbers, One Piece trailed slightly behind the Dragon Ball and Mobile Suit Gundam franchises.
Tokyo Retailers Tap Otaku Spending Surge
Japanese merchants are aiming for the rapidly growing otaku culture Tokyo shopping sector, in which fans value emotional attachment over price sensitivity. The Marui Group, which owns Shinjuku Marui, launched an anime branch in 2016 and asserts that this loyalty is reshaping consumption trends. Adding to it, Marui CFO Hirotsugu Kato said, “Normal consumption is sluggish, but people tend to buy things they adore even if the unit price is high.”
Yano Research Institute’s study revealed that Japan’s otaku market has surpassed ¥1 trillion in FY2024. Meanwhile, new Godzilla and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure-themed stores at Shibuya Parco exemplify how exclusive content increases foot traffic."The content that can be found only here is what draws customers," said Keiichi Ono, president of J.Front Retailing, which owns Shibuya Parco.
