Apple Marunouchi is the company's biggest outlet in Japan. Here's what to expect when visiting Apple's largest retail space in Tokyo.
In 2019, Apple opened a massive store in Tokyo's Marunouchi business district. The two-level store is Apple's largest in Japan.
Apple's first store in Tokyo was the original Apple Ginza, which opened in 2003 as the first Apple Store outside of the United States. Shuttered in 2022, and replaced since then by a temporary location, the original Ginza is soon set to open in a new building in its original location.
Located just 1.6 kilometers (about a mile) from the current Ginza location is Apple Marunouchi, which takes up the first two floors of the Mitsubishi Building.
The architecture was a collaboration between Apple's Jonathan Ive and Foster + Partners. It was named one of the most beautiful Apple Stores in Asia by Prestige Online.
We had a chance to visit the Apple Marunouchi store during a July trip to Tokyo.
A bustling store in a bustling place
Situated directly between Tokyo's Imperial Palace complex and the Tokyo Station, the two-level Apple Marunouchi couldn't be more different from the four-level Ginza location. At the time of its opening, Apple touted that the store had over 130 team members, who spoke 15 languages.
A bustling crowd in the Apple Store in Tokyo
With its large floor plan, the Marunouchi store somewhat resembles the interior of the Fifth Avenue Apple Store in New York, minus the cube.
A very Apple-like design
The design includes, in the words of Apple's announcement when the store opened, "two-story vitrine windows made from specially cast aluminum to obtain three-dimensional rounded corners."
The view from the outside of the Marunouchi Apple Store
Aside from the Japanese-language signage, the Marunouchi store has one distinctly Japanese signature when one enters: Bamboo trees, visible through the tall glass.
The Apple Marunouchi's bamboo trees
The Apple Store in Macau also features bamboo trees, although with a different variety.
On the inside
Upon entry to the store is a large atrium, which was hosting a Today at Apple class during our visit. The Ginza Store, a mile away, does not offer Today at Apple classes.
A Today at Apple class at the Marunouchi Apple Store
The two-level structure includes some unique views from the second floor down to the first:
The view from above at the Apple Marunouchi store (Stephen Silver)
On the second floor, several major displays of Apple products look different from how they do in most Apple Stores.
Large displays
The store features a rather unconventional array of AirPods, headphones, and other Apple audio products:
The AirPods display at the Marunouchi Apple Store
One of those is for Apple Arcade:
The Apple Arcade display at the Marunouchi store
Another is for the HomePod, featuring the devices appearing to stick out of the wall:
The HomePod display at the Marunouchi store
Apple TV is featured in a corner of the store:
The Apple TV display at the Marunouchi Apple Store
And there is a significant Apple Music display as well:
The Apple Music display at the Marunouchi Apple Store
Also upstairs is the store's Genius Bar, which was very busy at the time that we visited:
The Genius Bar at the Marunouchi Apple Store
Other features in the store are a bit more traditional.
What's on the table
Some of the product displays are rather familiar, if not for the Japanese accents:
The Mac display table at the Marunouchi Apple Store (Stephen Silver)
The MacBook table also looks the same as in most Apple Stores, and like most Apple Stores at the time, it was heavily featuring the Apple-produced movie "F1."
Apple's MacBook display (Stephen Silver)
The store also features a wall of Mac accessories:
Mac accessories at the Apple Store in Tokyo (Stephen Silver)
AppleInsider also wrote about the new store around the time of its opening in 2019.
