Yokosuka mall offers shopping, fun, Japanese products

It’s time to hit the stores at Coaska Bayside Stores, a new addition to shopping options near Yokosuka Naval Base.

Formerly housing Shopper’s Plaza, the building opened in 1991, but was closed last year for a complete renovation and rebranding to become Coaska Bayside Stores. This 6-story mall was slated for a grand opening in April but due to the state of emergency issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening of its 100 stores was postponed until June.

You’ll find Coaska Bayside Stores at the end of Verny Park with surrounding grounds decorated to look like a French-style park, complete with a fancy water fountain, wood decks and flower gardens. Entering though the main door of the mall with its glass façade and columned balconies reminded me more of a classical opera house than a shopping center.

According to mall spokesman Atsushi Yamamoto, the building was renovated with the streets of Brooklyn in mind.

“Yokosuka is a port city that has a history as a shipyard and the old factories and port facilities of the area coexist with other buildings like they do in Brooklyn. So, this was our model in laying out Coaska Bayside Stores,” Yamamoto added.

I’ve never been to Brooklyn, but walking around the spacious hallways with open, atrium-like spaces amongst various stylish shops, transported me to shopping in the historical market streets of other foreign countries I have visited.

Coaska’s six floors are packed with shopping, entertainment and various dining options. Make this a one-stop-shopping experience on the second floor where you’ll find a supermarket offering various fresh-food and produce vendors to save you time on grabbing groceries. Here, shoppers have access to a variety of products Miura Peninsula (where the mall and Yokosuka Naval Base call home) has to offer, including seasonal vegetables, fresh seafood and meat.

The food court restaurants also take advantage of the location to use local Miura vegetables and Hayama beef in menu items, Yamamoto said. The food court accommodates 11 shops and 15 restaurants serving Indian, Chinese and Italian, and traditional Japanese dishes like tonkatsu, shabu shabu and sushi.

On the fourth through sixth floors, enjoy entertainment like a movie theater, a 36-lane bowling alley, athletic facility and book cafe.

Space Athletic TONDEMI offers activities like trampolines and bouldering for all ages. The Humax Cinema movie theater features 10 screens where you can enjoy various movies with a high-quality audio system in a chic, jazz hall-like theater room.

Coaska Bayside Stores has many clothing and accessory stores as well as a delightful pet shop on the first floor selling standard pets and a number of reptiles if you’re on the market for a pet turtle or lizard.

More activities are planned for the shopping center in the future, including live music to keep with Yokosuka City’s tradition of being known as a “town of music,” thanks to its history introducing new musical acts at the now-defunct EM Club.

Make plans to check out the new Coaska Bayside Stores for loads of fun activities, good food, and super shopping!

Coaska Bayside Stores

Location: 2-1-12 Honmachi, Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture (next to Yokosuka Naval Base)

Total floor area: 6 floors, 1,298,494 square feet

Parking lots: available for about 1,400 vehicles

Hours: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. (some stores are open at 10 p.m.)

Food Court (2nd floor): 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Restaurant (3rd floor): 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.

URL: https://coaska.jp/

Tel: 046-822-2244