In Japan, the top floor of a department store may lead not to another sales area, but to a garden, a shrine, or an event space.
This usually does not seem especially strange in Japan. Department-store rooftops have long been used as places to spend time beyond shopping itself.
The idea goes back a long way. In 1907, Mitsukoshi opened its rooftop to customers as an “aerial garden.” It included flower beds, wisteria trellises, a pond, a fountain, and a shrine connected with the Mitsui family.
At the time, tall buildings were still unusual. Simply going up to the roof and looking out over the city could be part of the attraction.
From there, rooftop use became more elaborate.
Department stores began adding children’s play equipment, rooftop amusement areas, small zoos, stages, and other attractions. At Matsuzakaya, for example, a children’s swing was installed in a rooftop garden in 1910, and later the rooftop developed to include a zoo, an aquarium, and amusement facilities.
For many families, a trip to a department store could become more than a shopping trip. They might eat there, let the children play on the roof, and enjoy the view. The department store itself could be a place for a family outing.
Rooftop shrines, however, have a somewhat different background.
The Mitsukoshi rooftop shrine, for example, was not simply created as entertainment for customers. The Mitsui family had a long historical connection with Mimeguri Shrine, and that relationship was carried into Mitsukoshi. A Mimeguri Shrine is still located on the rooftop of Ginza Mitsukoshi today.
In cases like this, the shrine reflects an older connection between the store, the family behind it, and the shrine itself.
Large rooftop amusement parks are much less common today. But many department stores still use their rooftops for gardens, rest areas, beer gardens, seasonal events, and other temporary attractions.
Japanese department-store rooftops were never simply unused space.
They became places where people could take a break from shopping, look out over the city, let children play, or enjoy an event. In other words, the rooftop developed into another part of the department-store experience, separate from the sales floors below.
References
National Diet Library, “Department Stores: The Excitement of Buying and the Pleasure of Exploring — Watching, Eating, and Playing”
Matsuzakaya Historical Archives, “The History of Matsuzakaya Rooftop Amusement Areas”
GINZA OFFICIAL, “Exploring Ginza Inari Shrines: Mimeguri Shrine and Shusse Jizo on the Rooftop of Ginza Mitsukoshi”
