This Saturday marks the opening of Apple Shinjuku in Tokyo, delivering Apple’s latest retail design to the country where Apple opened its first international store. Since opening in Tokyo’s Ginza neighborhood in 2003, Apple has welcomed 70 million visitors to its stores across the country.
“Apple has a long and special history in Japan, and Shinjuku marks the first of several new stores we’ll open in Japan in the coming years,” said Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail, in a statement. “We can’t wait to welcome the vibrant community in Shinjuku to experience all the best Apple has to offer.”
Revealed for the first time Thursday, the store is just blocks from Shinjuku Station in Tokyo’s famous shopping, business and entertainment district. Apple Shinjuku connects seamlessly to the street outside with an expansive 37 meter glass storefront lined with local Longstock Holly trees and features new store design elements including the Forum, with a dynamic 6K video wall, and Avenues, with interactive displays for visitors to get hands-on with third-party products and accessories.
At the heart of every Apple store is the desire to educate and inspire by providing gathering places for the community to connect, learn and unlock their creativity. Apple Shinjuku will offer free daily Today at Apple sessions covering art and design, music, photography, coding, activity and more. Participants can start by learning the basics in Quick Start and How To sessions, then dive deeper into their creative interests with Music Labs, Sketch Walks and Photo Walks, including evening walks to capture the iconic neon lights of Shinjuku. Anyone can take coding sessions to learn to code with Swift Playgrounds or program robots, and during Studio Hours all are welcome to bring in a personal project for advice or use the space to work alongside others.
Today at Apple sessions are also offered for teachers, kids and entrepreneurs. Each week kids can create fun, hands-on projects at Kids Hour, and in Teacher Tuesday sessions educators learn new ways to incorporate technology into their classrooms. Entrepreneurs can try sessions just for them to explore new tools and apps.
Apple Shinjuku will open Saturday at 10 a.m. To register for Today at Apple sessions, visit apple.com/jp/today.
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MacDailyNews Take: Congrat and enjoy, Tokyo!
I looked it up on the map. This is a great location. Smack in the middle of fashion shops and restaurants. This is east Shinjuku. Decades ago parts of it were rather seedy. Now it is nice, at least where the Apple store is.