Tsuruya Department Store

photo by 663highland · CC BY 2.5

photo by おんさき · CC BY 3.0

Since 2015 the only department store in Kumamoto: 76,592 m² across four buildings.

It stands at the 通町筋 crossing, where the tram stops and the two arcades turn their backs on each other, and it takes up four interconnected buildings: you go in from the 下通 arcade and come out on the other side without noticing that you have changed building. In the basement, the food hall sells sake and shochu, the Japanese spirit, next to the sweets: that is where commuters stop on their way home.

Founded in 1952, it is the last department store left in Kumamoto: its long-standing rival, which stood not far away, closed in 2015, and since then the city has had only one. The four buildings – 本館, 東館 (テトリアくまもと), WING and New-S – together have 76,592 square metres of sales floor, seventh place in Japan among independent department stores, that is, those that do not belong to a national chain. On the sixth floor of the main building, next to the children's department, there is an indoor play area.

ℹ️ Open 10:00–19:00. The basement has a dining area, open 10:30–19:00 with last orders at 18:30. Kumamoto tram: 通町筋 or 水道町, one minute; from Kumamoto Station it is about twenty minutes. Earthquake of 28/07/2026: closed on 28 and 29 July for safety checks and reopened on the 30th (source toshoken.com, updated on 27/08/2026). ⚠️ Its 八代 branch, on the other hand, was still listed as closed on the same date: it is a different place from this store and should not be confused with it.

🚉 Suidocho · 3 min walk

Sources: ja.wikipedia.org · kumamoto.guide · tsuruya-dept.co.jp · toshoken.com

All series · Open the map