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Apple Ginza’s temporary location has been open for a long time, and at this point, may as well be permanent. Here’s what it looked like April 2025 when AppleInsider visited, prior to the eventual reopening of the flagship store.
For more than three years, Apple’s Ginza store has been located in a temporary space that occupies four levels in a Tokyo shopping district.
The original Apple Ginza store in Tokyo opened in 2003, about two years after the debut of the Apple Store concept. This made it the first-ever Apple Store outside of the United States.
In August of 2022, the store, in Tokyo’s Ginza shopping district, shut down due to what were described at the time as building renovations. Therefore, the Ginza location moved over to a temporary, multilevel location.
By the summer of 2023, the previous building, known as Sayegusa Honkan, was demolished. The Ginza store has remained at the temporary location.
AppleInsider visited that store on a recent visit to Tokyo, where we found a store that spread its offerings over four floors. This is more or less same as it was when we visited the store back in the spring of 2023.
Back to the old
We were told by store employees that there are plans in place to move back to the spot of the original location, once construction is complete. A building is under construction on the former site of the old Ginza store, although at the time of our visit, it bore no markings of an Apple Store, at least as of yet.
The Ginza Apple Store, full building view – Image credit AppleInsider
Apple’s senior vice president of Retail + People, Diedre O’Brien, visited Apple Ginza in late 2023, on the occasion of the original store’s 20th anniversary. She stated in an Instagram post that “we aim to open Apple Ginza’s new home by the end of 2025.”
The current Ginza store has four levels of retail space, serviced by elevators. Additional levels above those are used for storage, employee break rooms, and other non-public uses. It does not offer Today at Apple classes, although it did at one point in the past.
A new layout
The outside of the Ginza Apple Store features the Apple logo, surrounded but what appear to be wood panels. While some Apple Stores in Japan include bamboo trees in the decoration, the Ginza location does not.
The Ginza Apple Store directory – Image credit AppleInsider
The layout of the store has changed since AppleInsider was last at the store just over two years ago. The basement, street-level floor (B1F) features the Apple Vision Pro, along with iPhone accessories. The second floor (1F) features iPhone, iPad, and iMac. The third (2F) has iPhones, Macs, and Apple Watches, while the top floor of retail space (3F) features the Genius Bar, as well as additional accessories.
Get your popcorn ready
On the first floor, Apple Ginza’s display is very popcorn-centric:
Apple Vision Pro, with popcorn, at the Apple Ginza store – Image credit AppleInsider
Apple Store employees sport masks near the iPhone table:
The iPhone table at the Ginza Apple Store – Image credit AppleInsider
Elsewhere, iPads and accessories dominated the tabletop:
The second floor of the Ginza Apple Store – Image credit AppleInsider
On the third floor, iPads and Apple Watches:
iPads and Apple Watches at Apple Ginza – Image credit AppleInsider
In the AirPods display, the Memjois in one wall decoration also featured a more Japanese look:
The memoji display at the Ginza Apple Store – Image credit AppleInsider
While the product mix isn’t that different between Apple Ginza and most U.S. Apple Stores, the biggest difference is the multi-level layout, as well as certain Japanese accents in the presentation.
An F1 focus
When we visited, as with most Apple Stores in the world, the numerous screens at the Ginza Apple Store featured photos, videos, and other references to the Apple-produced “F1” movie. This was the case on Macs:
Apple’s F1 movie, featured on a Mac at the Ginza Apple Store – Image credit AppleInsider
And also on other monitors in the store:
F1 featured on screen at the Apple Ginza Store – Image credit AppleInsider
“F1 The Movie” opened in Japan on June 27, the same day it launched in the U.S.
A bilingual approach
Also, most of the signage, both in-store and on-device, was in both English and Japanese:
A MacBook display in the Ginza Apple Store – Image credit AppleInsider
This was also the case for the sign explaining the store’s trade-in policy:
The trade-in sign at Apple Ginza – Image credit AppleInsider
The Japanese phrase, per Google Translate, is “Trade in and save on upgrades.”
Accessories on offer
The walls of all four floors featured accessories, including a familiar assortment of iPhone charging pads, power stations, and other accessories:
iPhone accessories at Apple Ginza – Image credit AppleInsider
Mac accessories were also well-represented on one wall, led by drives and adapters:
Mac accessories at Apple Ginza – Image credit AppleInsider
iPad accessories featured chargers, adapters, and a PlayStation DualSense controller:
iPad accessories at Apple Ginza – Image credit AppleInsider
And then there were speakers, including HomePod and Beats Pill:
Speakers at Apple Ginza – Image credit AppleInsider
The HomePod, though, did get its own display:
The HomePod display at Apple Ginza – Image credit AppleInsider
These product assortments aren’t appreciably different from what’s on offer at American Apple Stores, even if the aesthetics are different.
Also on the top floor…
On the top floor, a Genius helps out a customer:
The Genius Bar at the Apple Ginza Store – Image credit AppleInsider
Another thing unique to Apple Stores in Japan: The offering of Paidy, the Japanese payment service that offers “buy now, pay later” options.
The Paidy payment option, offered at the Ginza Apple Store in Japan – Image credit AppleInsider
The Apple Ginza store, once again, remains a temporary one, with much less space than most other urban Apple Stores. But packs a lot into that space, and a return to its old location is on the horizon.
