Huge Thanks to NordVPN for always supporting this channel! Check it out here: nordvpn.com/tokyolens AND BIG LOVE TO THE NOTIFICATION SQUAD!! GIVING AWAY FREE MERCH TO NOTIFICATION SQUAD PEEPS ALL SUMMER! It is that time of the week again!! And by popular request, this week we are hitting up a Japanese shopping mall! **Different from your country? Join the discussion below!! **

I just love the malls in Japan. We don‘t have things like gachapon, fancy vending machines and game centers here in Switzerland.. The variety of shops is also great, i remember spending a whole day in a mall in Tokyo once :‘D

I went to a different Aeon mall years ago and remember getting culture shock at how open everything was! The ones where I'm from usually have glass partitions/displays, and you'd have to go inside each store to see what they had, whereas you have a clearer view of things in a Japanese mall. Seeing this layout again takes me back!

Unfortunately most of the malls in America (or at least here in NY) have been shutting down for years. We've got a few big ones that still operate but not nearly as many as there used to be. The closest one to me has a small humane animal exhibit and an old carousel so that's cool at least. It's mostly fast food, clothing and game areas (mini golf, a mirror maze, etc.).

I love Japanese shopping malls! There's one in Nagasaki called Mirai Nagasaki Coco Walk that has a ferris wheel on the 5th floor! It is somewhat similiar to this mall but it's bigger, plus it has SEGA in it :D

What struck me is this: I am an Indonesian living in Jakarta. First time I was in inside a Japanese shopping mall was 25 years ago in Osaka. I was awestruck. Never in my life I saw something so beautiful, with tons of fascinating goods spread all over. Today I watched your video and I was surprised how the shopping mall you showed here is so familiar. If I watch this video without sound I wouldn’t be able to tell where is this until you showed that the price is in Yen. I would only be able to tell that this is in Asia, but for all I know this could be in Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, or even Hanoi. All shopping malls in Asia nowadays look like this.

Japanese malls are often much more open in appearance and welcoming to browsing than US malls are, I have noticed. I suspect that the difference is partially because there is much less risk of theft in Japan and a more customer friendly approach. Malls are very much on the decline here in the US, in part, I believe because they are so dominated by chain stores. Fyi… Sports Authority is a US chain. Huge big box stores often. I assume this is a licensing arrangement in Japan, but maybe not.

Got to say, the Kyushu mall reminds me of the malls in Malaysia - but to be fair, the malls here are mostly designed to be be similar to Japan. Aeon is a big anchor for many malls here in Malaysia. And sized to match too.

These walk/explore with me type of videos are my favorite because I can really imagine myself where you are and live vicariously through your explorations! Thanks for making these.

I LOVED the shopping in Japan! 😍😍Sunshine city was my absolute favorite I felt like I really was in a small city! I can’t wait until I can finally go back but until then thank you for making these videos that really help me feel like I’m there ☺️☺️☺️

I love your videos! I’ve been binge watching them wanting to visit Japan but for now your videos make my day! They’re so good!

Love your videos and your narration through them, informative, straightforward, not pushing agenda, useful opinion, etc. This one makes me miss Japanese malls so much and Japan in general. Can’t wait til they open the border for individual travelling!

The West Edmonton Mall has a Rec Room. Rec Room game centers/restaurants have really taken off since, obviously, the last time you were in Canada. Most bigger "mall areas" have them now. Shopping malls, with everything under one roof, have given way to "shopping destinations," collections of separate stand alone shops and services. One in Calgary even has an iFLY indoor skydiving wind tunnel.

Yes! I'd love to see a supermarket video. I love exploring supermarkets in other countries.

Love the content, I'm showing these to my friends who are planning to have a trip to Japan. Just to hype up expectations of everything. Keep up with great vids!

I don't think i'll ever be able to travel the world, to see places like Japan so thank you for sharing your journey there!

The shopping malls near me have devolved into a cluster of clothing and brand stores. No more uniqueness. It's not fun to look around in a mall when you can get everything you want somewhere else. It really makes it to where there's no reason to explore or hang out with friends. The mall your showing off looks sweet though, you could spend hours finding new and interesting stuff.

Are the Malls still thriving in Japan? Here in Germany they are "dying out". Often third or half of the stores/area are not rented. They are partly converted into office space.

Thanks Norm. Always fun to explore with you!

Its amazing! Thank you for always providing and blessing us with beautiful videos!

I was wondering if AEON malls in Japan also have the same floor plan arrangements as AEON malls outside of Japan ( like Indonesia for example ) until this video came up and answers my question. It's kinda interesting to learn that AEON manage to reuse their mall's floor plan arrangement at certain points and was able to apply it to various locations with different site contexts. Thank you for vlogging this, now I can sleep soundly haha.

I like a good Japanese mall. Don't think I've been to a Aeon one, due to their locations, but I've been to others in various cities. They always seem to have a far wider range of stores than malls here ... which tend to be a lot more limited to clothes, mobile phones, trainers and shops selling misc crap. I love the bookshops in the Japanese malls as well as the food halls their or in the basements of department stores. Always good for a wander around. Village Vanguard is always good for a wander around and I like Muji (we used to have a Muji store in my city but it closed about 10 years ago). We don't tend to have hardware stores in malls as they tend to be in cheaper, standalone, out of town locations.

I’ve been missing Japanese shopping malls so THANK you for sharing this!! I am from LA area so I am fortunate to have many shopping malls around me, however they differ SO much from the malls in Japan (ie. the grocery stores, arcades, gachapon, etc.) There’s great malls in Chiba, Japan where a lot of my family are. It’s funny that no matter how many times I go shopping there, I have still have not been able to see and appreciate everything there!

You’re happiness and excitement while at that mall was infectious!! 😊

Its pretty cool how this huge shopping mall is located in the countryside! Im from Indonesia and I get the impression that while shopping malls let alone the huge ones might be pretty rare in Japan, here especially in the capital there are a lot of them! Even bigger than this one!

Please do the grocery / supermarket bit downstairs! Would love to see all the different things they sell :)

Definitely please feel free to do a whole episode of you just going through all the aisles of the stores, and spend time in the camping section! It's fun perusing aisles with things people are interested in

Its so cool to have the same reaction as you when Im watching your vids. Please keep posting these vids. They make me want to go to Japan!!!

It is great to see a mall full and thriving, shopping malls here (USA) and back home (Canada) are dead, 90% empty. Hanging out at the mall on the weekends was my teenage years, sad to see them just become an empty shell.

This is definitely on my to-do list whenever we can go! Oh and the camping stuff! I'm gonna have to rewatch this video and pause often to take everything in. It's so visually overstimulating but I kinda love that- LOVE seeing interesting things in every corner, every frame. I feel like I could have a year in Japan and it still wouldn't be enough because there's so much to see, and so much changing all the time. And Norm, I totally relate to the not eating thing. Actually, I realized I don't eat, drink, potty, or sleep without having to ask myself if I need to do those things and genuinely having to think about it (and poke my bladder) sometimes. Learned that's probably a divergent thing- got diagnosed with ADHD this year too (that probably would have saved me during class back in the day ;-;) Making lists is also something I have to do or I'll get distracted and never get anything done otherwise. The struggle bus is real haha but I think things like that are what make people so interesting sometimes. Like I'm not personally interested in many techy-type things but I think it's so cool how diverse your interests are on those things- from camera lenses, old tech, to... planes? It's like there's just so much to learn. Every month I'm onto seemingly random things- this month seems to be.. fish, economics, and fish economics (just kidding, more like plankton and seaweed agriculture. Fish economics sounds cuter though.) Hope that coffee was great and not stale lmao and wishing you a great day c:

I really enjoyed this video. It's not the basic popular or famous places people video. You video every corners of Japan! ✌ so happy to see a mall

Love the info on the VPN! Ty so much. Enjoying your channel,so glad I found it!

I can't imagine a mall like this in Belgium, especially one with such a game center. I'd actually love to see a deeper gander at the hardware store, maybe as a tie in with Sharlas home renovation? I am curious about some Japan specific things, and also the adaptations that are taken into consideration.

This reminds me of the AEON mall near where I used to live in the countryside in Mie prefecture. Tokyo has everything, but I really do miss shopping malls like this. I'm not really one for wandering around shopping malls, but a movie and wandering around the mall (with a Bookoff) on a rainy day was fun and relaxing.

Been looking forward to this! It's always fun to compare how different places approach the "same" thing, eh?

*me taking notes on what shops to look out for when I finally go to Japan* I also love how this is laid out, almost like traffic calming for indoors. The vibe is very chill, compared to shopping malls here in Ireland which are usually massive and very open, and usually use a lot of white paint and mirrors. This almost seems like you're moreso walking through a chain of various shops, than in an actual mall. Also, chocolate equivalent to 1 euro? Now I get why you moved to Japan!

I like how warm and welcoming Japanese shopping malls look. Maybe it's all the wood, good lighting and varying floor designs. Shopping malls in Canada like Eaton Centre and Yorkdale in Toronto and Dixie and Square One are so bland and depressing.

I stayed in Odaiba for 3 months in 2016 for business travel, and there were malls galore in that area it seemed. The biggest one being Diver City (with it's awesome Gundam outside) at 7 floors, but also on the other end of the Yurikamome line in Toyosu was the Urban Dock LaLaPort which was pretty big (5 floors I think?). Also that crazy 20,000 leagues under the sea boat had a berth there.

Was just thinking about a new video from you and it just appeared. This is amazing!

Thank you for always sharing with us! Stay cool in the heat!

I loved Venus Fort in Tokyo. That’s a unique shopping centre. Also I’d love for you to wander through the kitchen shop area and see all the bowl designs and kitchen utensils. Thanks!

Wow, compared to the malls in my area, that looked super clean and organized. I suppose that might just be a general thing to expect in Japan, but still pretty cool to see. Thanks for the video Norm

7:19 I was kinda amazed to see this sign. I was amazed because of the fact that Sports Authority is listed as a shop on it. For those that don't know or have forgotten Sports Authority was one of the biggest Sports retailer chains in America. Though they filed for Bankruptcy back in 2016 and closed down. So its fascinating to see that there's actually one overseas, and in Japan at that.

Almost like being there with you,Norm! Great stuff!💯

We have a Muji in Toronto, and it's such a great store, the prices are awesome. The brand is so popular you find stuff on Amazon being sold 3x the price online than in the store (since not all cities have Muji). Reminds me I need to go shopping there soon and get some cooking chopsticks and their pens (they're so awesome).

That was a fun video and your enthusiasm was fun to listen to. I do miss Muji. Great quality and I use daily what I’ve bought from them. Hey Norm here’s a suggestion I haven’t seen before. How about an episode of online retailers who ship Japanese products to overseas customers. There are some companies who won’t ship internationally.

I always find your video so fascinating although I must say i was truly shocked at how expensive those backpacks are

Love these videos. I visited an Aeon Mall in Kyoto a few times during my last stay in the city. My only regret was not having time to explore it, since I only had 2 days to go around Kyoto at the time. Didn't help that there were other places worth visiting nearby, including Kyoto Station itself.

Now I want to take my kids to the only mall we have left in Austin. There were 3, one converted to a massive community college, the other had an ice rink but now the shops are on the outside.

There's a few Beard Papas in Metro Vancouver. They're pretty good! The one mall in Tokyo that's really cool is Venus Fort in Odaiba. That Toyota History exhibit is so fascinating and well done.

Nothing better than a Japanese shopping video with Norm!

Great way to spend a rainy weekend for sure.

This made me miss going to a mall. There are big shopping malls here in the philippines and some of the big ones in the city have large arcades too although only if you see two different arcades side by side as one thing. I've seen two malls with arcades huge enough to even have a rides in it but one has closed and I'm not sure of what happened to the other one.

Love Japanese malls. Especially the newer ones. They are all have wide walkways and lots of areas where you can sit down to take a break. Also I noticed that most shops do not have a display window/space, but their entrances are wide open so that you are more likely walk into the shop feeling welcomed. Amenities are abundance and well designed. Thanks for the video!

Japanese malls are so cool! I come back to this video every now and then so I can pretend I’m there 😅 I used to spend almost an entire day at the malls in Japan going into all the stores, speaking with the staff (I barely speak any Japanese but I pretended I understood for practice), eating food, buying so many cute accessories!! The bathrooms are so great usually, the pretty big and clean and they don’t stink.

Something I never see enough of are shopping malls in other countries. These places really show an insight into the community that you can’T get elsewhere, and I’m so interested in seeing the different stores that I never see here in America. That Hide and Seek store would have absolutely sucked me in as well, I totally understand, Norm!

This is one of my favorite videos! I never thought about the differences in malls between countries. Theres a small arcade in my medium town's mall in the midwest, but I never went in as a kid because my parents said it was too expensive and I hardly go to the mall as an adult so I don't know if it is even open anymore. I wish we had more arcades like this mall does! It makes me want to travel to a big city and go shopping haha

So I noticed there were some lockers on the first floor and decided to look it up. Turns out they're refrigerated lockers for your groceries so you can pop produce in there and continue the rest of your shopping. Now that's just civilized! P.S. my favorite dagashi is umaibō, I try to get them any chance I can. 😋

I love this video because I remember going to a mall like this near Tokyo when I lived there for about six months. I would love for you to do a video just on the food section of a department store

I miss Muji! We used to have a ton of them here in the Bay Area but a lot of them closed up due to the Pandemic. Really love these types of videos of your’s! Keep up the great work!

having such a huge mall for such a small city is amazing. I thought that since alot of japanese are moving to the big cities there wont be alot of interest to invest into such a big mall for such a small city.

I'm from the UK but have spent quite a bit of time in the Philippines, and there are more similarities with shopping malls in the Philippines, but not much similarities with the UK 😊🛍️ However in some UK supermarkets I've seen a few gashapon machines by the checkout counters 😀. I had no idea these were a big thing in Japan until I watched your video!

I love shopping malls. When ever I go to a new state or country, the first place I head to is a mall. You can tell what people wear, eat, and like to shop for all from a mall. Malls are dying in many areas due to online shopping, but there are still some advantages a well run mall has. The ability to have an item now, and the ability to see if the item truly is what you want or need. Clothing being number one. Online shopping for shoes or clothes is just horrible. Electronic goods as well need to be seen in person. Thank you for spending time showing us this place.

Keep up the videos!! Hehe I love the shopping malls in Tokyo!

This has to be the biggest mall I've ever seen! $600 for a school kid's backpack??!! That's absolutely insane. You can buy a backpack here in the US for your kid for $30-$40. A lot of shopping malls in the US are shutting down or just empty. It seems people are buying more on Amazon and having it delivered.

thanks so much for this, made me actually miss my usual AEON mall in japan

Great video as always! Would love to hear about the Akiya situation in Kyushu.

Sweet thanks for this norm I've been bored lately so I've been bingeing Tokyo lens and as always a new one is very welcome

I went to a huge mall last time I was in Japan. In the morning, they open level by level , it was so cool! Every shop greets you with a bow at the front of the store. It felt soo different but soo japanese! Never thought going to a simple mall would be so memorable for me!

I'm from Mississauga but I've been to shopping malls in Dubai and to a sort of mall in Tokyo. I think they all have a familiar feel in each country. I like it.

I haven’t been to AEON in Tsukuba, Ibaraki and it’s quite smaller. We didn’t encounter any arcades but shopped in bookstore, DHC and their supermarket on the ground floor, ate at marugame seimen (to feel the difference, since we have ‘em in our home country) and traversed several clothes shops throughout for like two hours. I feel like we were the last people leaving the mall right before it closed for the night 😅 It was something else! So much memories! Thank you for your video and thank you for the awoken memories ❤

Love the food courts and the clean your own table stations.

Thanks for virtual shopping!

Ok, did not check the running time. 🤣 ALL the long format 💜 Sooo much more to see, and I think this is why I've avoided going into the malls. I know impulse control would definitely be a thing. And yes, another dagashi haul/vid, please.👍

What a great shopping mall thanks for taking us along really enjoyed it cheers from Linda in Australia 🍹😊

Loved seeing the Japanese mall. Hide & Seek really caught my interest. My grandkids would be in heaven. Could spend the whole day just looking at all the mini vending machines. Would like to see a walk through of Aeon grocery. Always enjoy seeing how other countries shop. Thank you for another fun video.

I was amazed to see the full on Grocery store inside the mall, mid mall at that too. Very cool and very large!

Awesome job bro I love your thrid store keep up

I would LOVE to see another grocery store video!

Japanese malls look so nice and open, like a fun place to spend a day, so many malls in the US feel gross and cold or just boring. Dagashi is one of the things I'm looking forward to the most when visiting Japan, I just want to find a little dagashi shop and try everything!! I loved the dagashi bar video you did with Sharla, it's been on my want-to-go-to list ever since!

There were fairly few malls around where I live but since 2018 they just started disappearing and now the malls that do exist are full of vacant shops. The malls I went to were fairly small and tiny compared to the mall in Calgary, which I went to in 2014.

Man, i love watching those videos. In my city on Argentina the shopping mall has 1 floor and we dont even have starbucks or anything that major cities usually have, just a cinema, local food stores and a couple of clothing stores

i am genuinely addicted to watching your content and not sleeping.

The way the mall is set up with Aeon taking part of the floor reminds me of how The Bay was at Eaton Center Toronto in the 90s, they occupied the entire PATH space and there was a confectionery, restaurant, health and beauty goods and such. Department stores were a lot of fun back then.

absolutely love Japanese malls, they're the best ever. and also just love muji always go into them wherever I am.

Ooh this takes me back! 3 coins was one of my fav stores, got a few things from there. Japanese food courts are a little lackluster compared to Australian ones, but they have us beat for gaming centres and interesting shops 😂 and we don't have Pringle vending machines 😭😂 never knew I needed that in my life before now. We do have a Muji in the Sydney CBD though! Down the stairs from a Kinokuniya and near a Daiso. We have a lot of Japanese places here these days. And as a fellow adult who never really grew up, I'm so glad you're so drawn to the toy sections 😂 as always, thanks for the adventure!

Game centers will always surprise me, one of the malls in my city used to have one until it closed down around this year. Im fairly young so I didn't get to experience it but seeing sega rally, crazy taxi, DDR and many more all in one place ready to try was amazing, also an amazing bonding place for anyone who liked games, will definitely miss that one like the JP folks also miss the ones that are closing over there

I took my mom to some mall when we were in Japan during a heatwave. It was fun to do during the hottest hours of the day. My mom loved to see all the brands we don't have at home. I love the crafting and stationary stores, sometimes I picked up gifts at these shops. One thing I would tell people that are visiting is to check out the foodcourt and DONT FORGET THE CAFES! Some have amazing views and the food is priced really well! As I do love to stay cool, I do prefer the fleemarkets~! That would be a cool video.

I feel like I could spend hours just exploring everything I love it

The last time my parents took me to Japan was back in 2019, and I was still a teenager back than, since than I moved to UK and I don’t think I will have another chance to go until I’m older. Missing this so much rn.

Well, first of all it looks a lot more prosperous than most malls that I’ve seen in the US. All the stores you showed looked full of products, well-organized, clean, and well-lit. Malls I’ve been to in the US are half empty, dark and unkempt and not looking very healthy. It was nice to see a thriving mall. Thanks!

Shopping malls are dying in America and I have found memories as a child meeting my grandma and having lunch as well as shopping but mostly because we just felt special and loved. It was about the time and not the stuff. Rest her soul.

Love going to shopping malls in Japan. AEON malls are pretty awesome! This was a lot of fun! Instantly made me miss Japan! Also not eating is not a bad thing or unhealthy! I fast regularly. Autophagy is amazing! Grocery store tour? Yes please!

The mall looks amazingly open and clean

yes please go back that video was so much fun to watch! :)

Thanks for the tour, I’ll never make it to Japan , But it’s cool to see how people live over on that side of the planet & your the perfect person to go along with lol Thanks

Had a pretty bad day today, but a new Tokyo lens vid will help bring a smile to my face.

I love these kind of videos. Would love to see also other Shopping Malls and Super Market 😁 Well done Norm 🤓👍🏻 Guess it's around Nishimochida / Aira ?🤔

Would love an in depth supermarket walk around!

Honestly, at first I thought it looked similar to malls here in Aus (even with all the massage parlours) but the more you went exploring the more fun this mall got and just seemed to go on and on. I love how there seems to be vending machines (and shops!) for basically everything too. I'd be in trouble as I can quite easily see myself buying waaaay too many snacks there for how cheap they are haha.