World’s Largest MUJI Store in Nara, Japan – My Visit & Review

My wife is a huge fan of MUJI, so at her suggestion, we visited MUJI AEON Mall Kashihara in Nara Prefecture, Japan, which opened in March 2025 as the world’s largest MUJI store. And it was enormous!

We had a great time exploring the store, so I decided to share our experience in this review. If you love MUJI or are planning to visit Nara, I hope this article will help you!

Basic Information About MUJI AEON Mall Kashihara

First, let’s take a look at some basic information about the store.

① Opening Date, Store Size, and Business Hours

MUJI AEON Mall Kashihara opened on March 1, 2025.

The store has approximately 8,200 square meters of retail space, making it an incredibly large MUJI store. It was also very clean and modern when we visited.

I used to live in Tokyo and visited MUJI Tokyo Ariake many times. MUJI Tokyo Ariake, which opened in 2020, is also an impressive store, occupying three entire floors. It’s a paradise for MUJI lovers!

However, MUJI AEON Mall Kashihara is different. Its enormous retail space is spread across a single floor. The moment I entered, I was amazed by how spacious it felt. Even though I was already familiar with large MUJI stores, this one was on another level!

​For the latest information, please check the official MUJI AEON Mall Kashihara website https://www.muji.com/jp/flagship/aeonmall-kashihara/

② How to Get There

MUJI AEON Mall Kashihara is located in Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture, as its name suggests.

However, there is one important thing to know before visiting. The MUJI store is not located inside the main AEON Mall Kashihara building. Instead, it is in a separate shopping area called West Village.

West Village is approximately a 10 to 20 minute walk from the main mall building, depending on your starting point. The two areas are farther apart than you might expect, so make sure you head to the correct location!

​For detailed directions, please visit the AEON Mall Kashihara official access page:https://kashihara.aeonmall.jp/access

1) By Car

If you’re traveling by car, the approximate driving times are:
・From Osaka Station: 40–60 minutes
・From Nara Station: 30–40 minutes

These are rough estimates when using expressways, and actual travel times will depend on traffic conditions.

West Village has a very large parking lot, so finding a parking space should generally be easy unless it is particularly crowded. And here’s another great thing. Parking is free!

That’s always a welcome bonus, especially when you’re planning to spend several hours shopping.

2) By Public Transportation

If you’re traveling by public transportation, one convenient option is to take a train to Yamato-Yagi Station on the Kintetsu Railway network. From there, you can take a bus to the AEON Mall Kashihara West Village bus stop. The bus journey takes approximately 20 minutes.

Since bus schedules and routes may change, I recommend checking the latest transportation information before your visit.

Inside the World’s Largest MUJI Store

Now, let’s take a look inside!

① Store Layout and Map

Image source: MUJI AEON Mall Kashihara official website https://www.muji.com/jp/flagship/aeonmall-kashihara/

You can find maps like this throughout the store. And believe me, you’ll need them!

The store is so large that simply walking around and looking at the products is an enjoyable experience.

There are several different sections, each focusing on a particular aspect of everyday life.

Here are the main areas:

• Books & Café: A bookstore combined with a Café & Meal MUJI café.
• Food: MUJI food products, including curry, snacks, and other popular items.
• Storage: A wide variety of storage and organization products.
• Home: Furniture, home textiles, and household appliances.
• Daily Essentials: Products for everyday living.
• Health & Beauty: Skincare and wellness products, including equipment for measuring body fat and skin age.
• Clothing: MUJI apparel for everyday wear.
• Open MUJI: A community space where visitors can relax and participate in workshops.
• ReMUJI: A section dedicated to reused, recycled, and refurbished products.

With so many different products and sections, you could easily spend hours exploring the store.

② My Favorite Areas Inside the Store

There were so many interesting things to see that I didn’t have enough time to explore everything in detail.

However, a few areas particularly caught my attention. Let me introduce my favorites!

1) ReMUJI – Giving Old Products a New Life

One of the most interesting sections was ReMUJI, located on the left side of the store near the entrance.

ReMUJI is MUJI’s initiative to promote resource circulation by collecting, reusing, repairing, and recycling products.

At this store, the initiative includes five main activities:

1. Resource collection: Collecting used products and recycling their materials.
2. Secondhand product sales: Cleaning, inspecting, and reselling products that are still usable.
3. Imperfect product sales: Selling products with minor stains, scratches, or other imperfections at reduced prices.
4. Vintage furniture sales: Cleaning and repairing old furniture from Japan and overseas.
5. Secondhand book sales: Giving used books a new home instead of throwing them away.

I saw plenty of recycled and redesigned clothing, including garments that had been dyed again or reconstructed. These items had a unique style and character that you don’t always find in brand-new clothes.

There was also a furniture workshop inside the store, where old furniture was cleaned and repaired before being offered for sale. Just looking at the beautifully restored furniture was surprisingly exciting!

But my personal favorite was the secondhand book section. Books that might otherwise have been discarded were collected and sold at very affordable prices.

When I visited, some paperback books were available for as little as 100 yen, while certain hardcover books were priced at around 300 yen. What a bargain! If you’re lucky, you might discover a hidden gem.

As someone who loves reading, I could have spent a long time browsing this section. If you’re a book lover too, I highly recommend checking it out!

Image source: MUJI AEON Mall Kashihara official website https://www.muji.com/jp/flagship/aeonmall-kashihara/

2) Books & Café – A Paradise for Book Lovers

On the right side of the store near the entrance, you’ll find a large bookstore combined with Café & Meal MUJI. The bookstore has approximately 100,000 books, making it a substantial bookstore in its own right.

Next to the bookshelves is a café where visitors can enjoy meals, desserts, and coffee. It’s a wonderful concept. You can browse books, discover something interesting, and then relax with a cup of coffee.

According to the store’s information, visitors can even browse books before purchasing them. Of course, you can also bring books you’ve already purchased. For someone like me who loves reading, this is a very attractive space.

However, there was one small disappointment. There weren’t many seats in the café. When we visited around lunchtime, every seat was occupied, so unfortunately, we had to give up on having a break there.
If you’d like to enjoy the café, visiting outside peak lunch hours might be a better idea.

By the way, I also noticed a large collection of haniwa at the back of the bookstore. Haniwa are ancient Japanese clay figures associated with burial mounds. They are particularly interesting in a historical region like Nara.

There were so many of them that I couldn’t help wondering whether they were all for sale!

Image source: MUJI AEON Mall Kashihara official website https://www.muji.com/jp/flagship/aeonmall-kashihara/

3) Open MUJI – A Relaxing Space for Families

Another area I really liked was Open MUJI, located near the center of the store. This is a community space where visitors can relax, spend time together, and enjoy various activities.

The area features benches and small wooden structures made from Yoshino cedar, a type of wood produced in Nara Prefecture. There is also artificial grass on the floor and comfortable beanbag cushions. It feels more like a relaxing community space than part of a retail store.

One particularly impressive feature is the collection of approximately 10,000 picture books and children’s books that visitors can freely read. This makes Open MUJI an excellent place for families with children. Kids can explore the books and enjoy the space while adults take a short break from shopping.

And it’s not just for children. Adults can use the space too. My daughter was delighted when she discovered Open MUJI and happily ran around the area. Watching her have so much fun made me happy too!

Shopping with children can sometimes be challenging, especially in a huge store like this. Having a comfortable area where the whole family can relax is a really thoughtful idea.

Other Shops at AEON Mall Kashihara West Village

MUJI isn’t the only attraction in West Village. There are several other shops and restaurants in the same shopping area, so you can enjoy more than just a visit to MUJI.

Here are some of the stores that were available when I visited.

There are also many other shops in West Village. And if you head back to the main AEON Mall Kashihara building, you’ll find even more shopping and dining options. You could easily spend an entire day in this area!

Store information may change, so check the official mall website for the latest tenant list.

MUJI Shareholder Benefits in Japan

Before finishing this review, I’d like to introduce something a little different.

Did you know that MUJI offers special benefits to shareholders in Japan?
I’m actually a shareholder of Ryohin Keikaku Co., Ltd., the Japanese company that operates MUJI.

As a shareholder, I can enjoy a 7% discount at eligible MUJI stores. That’s right—I get 7% off every time I shop!
To be honest, this might be the investment benefit that has made my wife the happiest! She loves MUJI, so being able to save money every time we shop there is a big advantage.

At the time of writing the original Japanese article, shareholders who owned at least 100 shares and met the relevant record-date requirements were eligible for this benefit.

Japan has a unique shareholder benefit system known as kabunushi yutai, where some companies offer products, discounts, or other perks to investors. It’s one of the interesting features of investing in Japanese stocks.

Of course, the eligibility requirements, discount rate, and other conditions may change. If you’re interested, please check Ryohin Keikaku’s latest official investor relations information.

Shingo

​For international tourists, this section may not be directly relevant, but I thought it would be interesting to introduce this aspect of Japanese shopping culture!

Final Thoughts – Is the World’s Largest MUJI Worth Visiting?

That’s my review of MUJI AEON Mall Kashihara in Nara Prefecture!
I was genuinely impressed by the enormous size of the store and the variety of things to see and do.

Of course, you can find all kinds of familiar MUJI products, including clothing, furniture, stationery, and food. But what makes this store special is that it offers much more than ordinary shopping.

ReMUJI gives old products a new life, the bookstore and café create a relaxing atmosphere, and Open MUJI provides a welcoming space for families. Personally, I particularly enjoyed exploring the secondhand books and refurbished furniture. My daughter also had a great time at Open MUJI, so it turned out to be a very enjoyable family outing.

Even though we spent quite a while exploring the store, I honestly don’t think we managed to see everything. I’d love to visit again someday!

If you’re a MUJI fan visiting Japan, I think this store is definitely worth considering. And if you’re already planning a trip to Nara, why not add it to your itinerary?

I hope this article helps you plan your visit!

Fin

鳴山シンゴ / Shingo Naruyama

化学メーカー社員／ブロガー | Chemical Manufacturer Employee / Blogger

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世界を旅するブロガーを目指す30代化学メーカー社員。趣味（読書、カメラ、サウナ、旅行、バドミントン）やお金・ライフハック関連の記事を投稿しています！ ｜ English ｜ Japan-based blogger working for a chemical manufacturer. I share real experiences and practical tips about travel, saunas, activities, and everyday life in Japan.