BEAMS JAPAN marks ten years by chasing pilgrims, not shoppers
For the tenth anniversary of its craft-and-culture business, BEAMS JAPAN is opening a twelfth permanent "GATE STORE" on Kotohira shrine's approach and temporary shops inside Senso-ji's grounds and at Hakone-Yumoto Station — a bet on pilgrimage and hot-spring footfall over city flagships.
BEAMS marked the tenth anniversary of BEAMS JAPAN, its business promoting Japanese craft and culture launched in 2016, with three openings timed for this autumn: a twelfth permanent "GATE STORE" on the approach to Kotohira shrine (Konpira-san) in Kagawa Prefecture, and temporary shops inside Senso-ji's grounds in Asakusa and at Hakone-Yumoto Station, the company said.
The Kotohira store opens 31 October on the shrine's stone-step approach and will be run by Deco, a Kagawa-based franchise partner with more than 40 years in the area, according to BEAMS. It will sell local crafts, regional souvenirs and goods made in collaboration with Kotohira shrine, and offer free rental of walking sticks made from upcycled local bamboo with lacquered handles. Deco's representative, Ujike Takeshi, said the store is meant to bring energy to the Kotohira area while serving both residents and visitors.
The Asakusa shop opens 26 September on a new plaza west of Senso-ji's main hall and runs for five months, through 28 February 2027, selling Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate)-themed merchandise and regional products sourced from across Japan. The Hakone shop opens 9 October in the concourse of Hakone-Yumoto Station, outside the ticketed area, and runs for three months, through 11 January, selling Hakone souvenirs and Hakone yosegi marquetry crafts.
BEAMS itself turns 50 this year and operates around 165 stores across Japan and Asia, according to the company. Both BEAMS and Deco received "Japan Heritage Official Partner" status from Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs in 2025.
Rather than mark ten years with a city-centre flagship, BEAMS JAPAN is putting two of the three new stores into temporary formats on some of the country's busiest pilgrimage and hot-spring routes — a shrine approach, a temple ground, a station concourse — where footfall already exists independent of BEAMS' own retail draw. It is a Place bet that regional craft souvenirs can earn shelf space on inbound-tourism corridors that a fashion retailer would once have left to omiyage specialists alone.