Nishibori Rosa

Nishibori Rosa, Chuo-ku, is a shopping arcade that started in 1976 called “Largest Underground Mall on the Sea of Japan Coast”.   that had symbolized a hub of socializing at cafes, clothing trends, and great restaurants. The name Nishibori Rosa means The Romance that Goes West with Nishibori meaning the west or to go west, while rosa means rose and is connected to romance or courage. In the Heisei era it was a starting point for many trends and crowded with young people and was a place where young people could show off their expressions of fashion. Part of its appeal was from those who had shopped at Mitsukoshi Department Store and Daiwa Department Stores. 

 

It was compared and judged as better than the Yaechika (Yaesu Chikagai) arcade underneath Tokyo Station, the above mall in Tokyo Station, as it is still compared today, but with the thought of what happened that made it fall behind when being compared again in 2020s. Because of this it came to the conversation why the Nishibori Rosa isn’t as elegant or as entertaining as the mall in Tokyo Station and as a whole the area is compared to that part of Tokyo. The decline happened after Large-scale stores moved into the area and customer traffic and the Japan Bubble Burst. At its peak the annual sales were over 5 billion yen (34 million dollars) and fallen to 250 million yen (2.5 million dollars). Nowadays its in need of structural rebuilding.

 

Masao Kaneko (64) works for Niigata Underground Development Co, which had previously operated Nishibori Rosa and is connected to the area as a place he grew up and works to revitalize it back to its strongest times from his time. The company had borrowed 900 million Yen and were not able to pay it back, so the company would be disbanded, so it is seen that part of this could have been the Pandemic. In 2024 October tenants would be directed to move out and find other places as the company would close its doors as was explained to its private meeting to its shareholders. 

 

There is however Taichi Nagai (35) works for an advertising company and for another company that works at solving Local Issues that adapted the Nagoya Fushimi Underground events that raised interest in Pubs and Eateries with a Next-generation appeal.