Takashimaya Osaka turns its rooftop into a pop-up pickleball, mölkky and teqball court

Takashimaya Osaka is turning its 8th-floor rooftop into a pop-up court for pickleball, mölkky and teqball for five days over the autumn holiday, according to the department store's own announcement. The "World's New Sports" experience event runs 19–23 September, with each sport taking its own slot across the run.

Pickleball sessions run 19–21 September, 10:30am to 5pm, in roughly 30-minute slots for one to 12 players aged middle-school and up, at ¥550 a head, cashless only, Takashimaya said; reservations open on the store's website from midnight on 10 September and go to walk-ins if space remains. The court is run with Rackhousing Pickleball Base Osaka, and sits alongside a separate pop-up on the 6th floor's Rose Patio selling paddles, balls and accessories from Gamma, a US racquet-sports brand, also open 19–21 September.

Mölkky, the Finnish wooden-skittle game, takes over 22 September, free and walk-in, for groups of up to six; teqball, the football-crossed-with-table-tennis format, runs 23 September, also free and walk-in, for up to four players at a time. All sessions are subject to cancellation in rain, the company said.

Pickleball has become a fixture on Japan's department-store activation calendar this year, turning up on rooftops and hotel event floors as reliably as a wine fair. But stacking it with mölkky and teqball, plus a branded paddle shop underneath, is Takashimaya betting the appeal is broader than one racquet sport: less "try pickleball", more "come try whatever's trending in casual sport this month", with the pop-up retail there to catch anyone who leaves wanting their own gear.