Japan's new shopping centres shrink as neighbourhood formats replace regional malls
Eighteen shopping centres opened in Japan in the first half of 2026, more than a year earlier but each one smaller, as developers favour compact, dining-led neighbourhood formats over big regional malls.
Eighteen new shopping centres opened across Japan in the first half of 2026, eight more than in the same period a year earlier, according to a press notice from the Japan Council of Shopping Centers (JCSC) dated 5 August. Despite the higher count, the newest wave of malls is markedly smaller on average than the batch that opened the previous year, the trade body said, describing the shift as a move away from large regional destinations toward compact, neighbourhood-format centres.