Osaka’s Characters World opens with Pokemon, Nintendo and more
At least outside of Tokyo, there can be few urban centers in Japan whose transformation in recent years can rival the sheer scale and speed of Osaka's Umeda District - a sprawling commercial and transport hub both for the city itself and the wider Kansai Region. Beginning with the addition of a vast sheltering canopy to JR Osaka Station itself back in 2011, the surrounding area has seen one large-scale project after another, from the four towers of Grand Front to the more recent additions including an extended concourse and open grassy spaces.
Among these, one major success story for JR West has been Lucua Osaka - an upmarket retail space connected directly into the station, with separate east and west wings added in 2011 and 2015 respectively. From April 5 of 2026, a major third component has been added in the form of the new Lucua South, taking over seven floors of the South Gate Building that previously belonged to Daimaru.
Driving this new expansion is a strategic shift away from the usual fashion and dining in favor of the kind of retail that becomes a destination in its own right, with "character stores" - shops, cafes or temporary pop-ups based on anime, manga or videogame franchises - making a strong appeal both to younger visitors and the fandom community at large.
This is where Characters World - the city's answer to the ever-popular Character Street in Tokyo Station - comes in. Starting with part of a single floor and five stores, it is set to expand to four levels and over 30 stores around autumn 2026, making it one of the largest centers of its kind in all of Japan and - in a city with solid pop-culture credentials but no single satisfying spot to dive into - likely the place for Osaka visitors to unleash their inner fanboy or girl.
One of Lucua South's greatest strengths is certainly the ease of access from within the station via the "gate bridge" running across the station's platforms and traversable without the need for a ticket. The Characters World part of the development currently occupies the 13th floor and will later include floors 10-13, sandwiched between Daimaru underneath and three additional levels devoted to dining.
Inside, the only floor of Characters World currently already open is attractive and well-lit, with the two flagship Pokemon and Nintendo stores looking especially polished. Overall, the atmosphere had an excited buzz to it at the time of my visit, only tipping over into outright overcrowding as I approached the checkout counters at those two stores.
Both floorspaces were mainly given over to the usual merchandise options like plush toys, t-shirts and accessories, but also featured big screens for gaming and other interactive experiences, reinforcing the sense that this was an attraction as well as a shop.
Outside of its main area, the Pokemon store also comes with two separate areas, the first with a row of what looked to me like Pokemon Mezastar machines - in which two players battle each other for collectable Pokemon in the form of digital tags - while the second is set aside for specially scheduled Pokemon card games.
Joining them are three smaller stores which, though lacking some of the polish and eye-catching interactive features of the two flagships, were certainly drawing their share of customers. These belonged to Capcom, One Piece Mugiwara and Tomica / Plarail - the latter a team up between two popular toy brands specializing in die cast car models and train sets respectively.
While all five of the current stores are holdovers from Daimaru, each of the 29 arriving in autumn are said to be entirely new additions, with Square Enix, Sanrio and Minecraft among those already confirmed.
