Bandai Announces Osaka’s First Official Gundam Base Store to Open in 2027
Image by Charlotte DavisOsaka is getting its first permanent THE GUNDAM BASE, with Bandai announcing a large new official Gundam store that will open directly above JR Osaka Station in February 2027.
“THE GUNDAM BASE OSAKA” will occupy the 11th floor of LUCUA South and become one of the largest Gundam retail spaces in western Japan, covering around 1,227 square meters.
The permanent location will sell Gunpla alongside a much wider selection of official Gundam merchandise, including apparel, stationery, accessories, everyday goods and food products from across the franchise.
Bandai is also planning special exhibitions and Gunpla-building experiences inside the store, with the new location being developed around the idea of experiencing Gundam through buying, viewing and building.
THE GUNDAM BASE is BANDAI SPIRITS’ dedicated network of official Gundam stores, combining extensive Gunpla selections with limited merchandise, displays and activities intended to offer more than a conventional hobby shop.
Its main Japanese locations currently include flagship stores in Tokyo and Fukuoka, alongside an Annex at New Chitose Airport and smaller Satellite locations in Nagoya, Kyoto, Sendai, Hiroshima and Kanazawa.
The arrival of a permanent Osaka store fills one of the most noticeable gaps in that network, particularly given the city’s position as one of Japan’s largest shopping and tourism destinations.
Osaka has already hosted THE GUNDAM BASE on a temporary basis, with “THE GUNDAM BASE POP-UP WORLD TOUR in OSAKA” operating inside Daimaru Umeda from April through October 2025.
The new store will turn that temporary presence in the city into a permanent location while providing considerably more room for merchandise, exhibitions and building activities.
Its position inside LUCUA South also places THE GUNDAM BASE OSAKA immediately alongside several other major Bandai and Bandai Namco stores that are scheduled to open across the building between late 2026 and early 2027.
Gundam fans will not even need to leave the 11th floor to find another major franchise store, as Bandai’s Gundam fashion label STRICT-G is opening its own permanent location there in November 2026.
The approximately 66-square-meter “STRICT-G” store will specialize in Gundam-inspired clothing and accessories, covering everything from character and mobile suit graphics to more understated apparel designed for everyday wear.
The same floor will then welcome “TAMASHII NATIONS STORE OSAKA” in December 2026, giving BANDAI SPIRITS’ figure brand its second permanent Japanese flagship store after TAMASHII NATIONS STORE TOKYO.
At around 236 square meters, the Osaka store will carry figures and robot products from lines including S.H.Figuarts and Chogokin, making the 11th floor a particularly strong destination for Bandai collectors once THE GUNDAM BASE joins it two months later.
One floor below, “THE★JOJO WORLD OSAKA” will open in December 2026 as a 584-square-meter permanent experiential store dedicated to JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.
Unlike the Tokyo location and its stronger focus on the series’ protagonists, the Osaka store will center its experience around “evil,” using JoJo’s villains as the inspiration for its interiors, attractions, mini-games and other themed features.
Together, the openings will give LUCUA South a particularly concentrated selection of permanent anime stores, with Gundam alone represented through both THE GUNDAM BASE and STRICT-G on the same floor.
“THE GUNDAM BASE OSAKA” is currently scheduled to open in February 2027 on the 11th floor of LUCUA South at 3-1-1 Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka, with further details about the store, its opening lineup and special exhibitions set to be announced closer to launch.
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