Venus Fort is a shopping mall that could only have been conceived during Japan’s economic bubble. The exterior is nothing to look at, but the interior is designed to look like a medieval Italian walled town in the twilight. Plazas, fountains, old buildings, churches and town halls … Except they are all fake, just like in a theme park.
Venus Fort is designed to attract women shoppers, who apparently are a strong driving force of Japan’s economy. When we visited, nearly all the stores are focused for women: women’s clothes, jewellery, accessories, children’s clothes and toys.
The plazas are named Fountain Plaza, Olive Plaza, Church Plaza etc. and the streets are named Green Avenue etc. Predictably, there is a “Cafe Plaza”, but surprisingly there is also a mock casino floor with casino tables.
The shops often have cute names like “Sweet Romantic Garden” or “Labrador Retriever” (no, not selling pet supplies but clothes with a retriever theme). But there are also chain stores like Pet Paradise and Kiddyland. We even found a LEGO store here.
I liked the concept a lot, but I found the interior a little too dark. I suspect brightening it up would have spoiled the illusion of wandering in a town, and the fakeness of the buildings and artificial sky will be apparent.
But still, it was a fitting end to our trip to Japan! I was sad to discover a few years after our visit the mall fell into hard times, and was even closed for a while. Thankfully, it is back open, but the 3rd level is now an outlet floor.
