IIIIIIIIIKEAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Tini Ismail
May 5
2 min read

Star Wars Celebration would be incomplete without a trip to IKEA. One of my mission statements in life is to "conquer" every IKEA store in every country I visit. Naturally, the moment I checked into my hotel room, I looked for IKEA near the area I was staying in.

I was delighted to discover there is indeed one at Tokyo-Bay. It is only 26 minutes by train on the Keiyō Line (towards Tokyo) from Makuhari Messe. With a sales floor area of 44,000 square meters, IKEA Tokyo-Bay is the largest store in Japan (I became breathless writing this!!), with IKEA Yokohama (IKEA Kohoku) being the second with 25,024 square meters.

Failed Attempt

IKEA failed to launch and had to retreat in 1986.

"The first attempt’s failure rested on everything from a lack of capital to a serious lack of insight into Japanese society. Only later did IKEA realise it was very hard to sell three-seater sofas and tall bookcases to city folk living in small spaces. To then expect them to transport their furniture home and assemble it themselves… Well, to many Japanese people, that was an insult."

One of the many reasons I love IKEA is, not every IKEA store is built equal. Even across Japan's 13 stores, not everything is on the menu. I learned this when I first visited IKEA Cheras in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I noticed that the furniture and items are unique to Malaysia. So, it is not surprising that the furniture and menu in IKEA Japan are exceptional to Japan's way of life.

Strawberry Fest

I LOVE strawberries, so I considered myself to be at the right place at the right time when their annual Strawberry Fest was on the holiday-inspired menu. This gave me all the all-the-more-I-must-go to IKEA to try their tray of strawberry desserts.

**Strawberry special assortment at ¥890**

Only in Japan

After a quiet fika, I decided to walk around the store to see what items I couldn't find in both Stockholm and Singapore. Nothing too drastic in terms of the furniture sections, perhaps smaller in dimensions, considering apartments and houses in Japan are not as big as those in Singapore and Stockholm. However, I did find some interesting food items so interesting that I texted one of my Swedish friends to confirm if he had seen the Tea Lingon in Stockholm.