Mitsukoshi Department Store at EPCOT

Mitsukoshi Department Store in EPCOT’s Japan Pavilion is one of those rare Walt Disney World shops that is worth visiting even if you have no intention of buying anything.

It’s big, bright, colorful, and packed with an unusual mix of merchandise. One minute you’re looking at Pokémon, anime characters, and Japanese candy. A few steps later, you’re looking at kimonos, fans, sake sets, traditional housewares, and samurai swords.

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That combination makes Mitsukoshi more than another World Showcase gift shop. Walking through it offers a small look at both modern and traditional Japanese culture—and it’s simply fun to browse.

Where Is Mitsukoshi Department Store?

📍 Location: EPCOT | World Showcase | Japan

Mitsukoshi occupies much of the large main building on the right side of the Japan Pavilion. From the World Showcase promenade, walk into the pavilion, and the main building runs the full length of the right side.

The store is large enough that a quick walk-through can easily turn into a much longer stop once you start looking around.

When Is Mitsukoshi Open?

Mitsukoshi is open during EPCOT’s regular park operating hours, making it easy to work into a walk around World Showcase.

What Is Mitsukoshi?

This isn’t a Disney-created department store with a Japanese theme. Mitsukoshi is a real Japanese department-store company with a history stretching back more than 350 years.

The business traces its roots to 1673, when Mitsui Takatoshi opened the Echigoya kimono shop in Edo, now Tokyo. Over time, the business developed into Mitsukoshi and became one of Japan’s best-known department-store names.

Disney describes the EPCOT location as the only Mitsukoshi store in North America.

That helps explain why shopping here feels so different from walking into a normal Walt Disney World merchandise location. Although you’ll find plenty of fun souvenirs, much of the merchandise is Japanese rather than simply Disney merchandise decorated for the pavilion.

What Will You Find Inside Mitsukoshi?

The exact merchandise changes constantly, which is part of the fun. Instead of treating this as a checklist of specific products, it is more useful to think of Mitsukoshi as several very different kinds of Japanese shopping gathered under one roof.

Japanese Pop Culture

This is probably the most immediately noticeable part of the store.

You can find merchandise associated with Japanese characters, anime, manga, games, and pop culture. Depending on current inventory, that can include brands and characters such as Pokémon, Hello Kitty, and other Sanrio characters, Studio Ghibli, and many others.

There are plush toys, figures, clothing, collectibles, model kits, stationery, and plenty of things that may leave anyone who isn’t immersed in Japanese pop culture wondering exactly what they’re looking at.

That’s part of the experience.

Traditional Japanese Merchandise

Keep walking and Mitsukoshi changes character considerably.

During my most recent visit, the more traditional side of the store included kimonos, Japanese fans, samurai swords, chopsticks, and other merchandise that felt worlds away from the brightly colored character displays elsewhere in the store.

This side of Mitsukoshi is especially worth exploring because it gives the store some cultural depth. You’re not simply moving from one collection of souvenirs to another.

We’ve made several purchases from this side of the store over the years, including Japanese fans, and a sake set. Those have always struck me as more interesting souvenirs than something that could just as easily have come from a Disney gift shop somewhere else.

A Familiar Stop for Military Families Who Lived in Japan

For military families who were once stationed in Japan, Mitsukoshi can have a little extra meaning. The foods, household goods, traditional items, and even some of the everyday merchandise can bring back memories of time spent living there.

It can make a walk through the store feel less like browsing an EPCOT shop and more like briefly reconnecting with a place that was once home.

Housewares, Tableware, and Gifts

Mitsukoshi is also a good place to look for Japanese items you can actually use at home.

Selections can include chopsticks, bowls, dishes, tea and sake items, kitchenware, serving pieces, decorative objects, and other household goods.

If you’re looking for a souvenir from EPCOT that doesn’t necessarily say “Disney” on it, this is one of the better places in World Showcase to browse.

Japanese Snacks and Candy

The food section can be an attraction all by itself.

Mitsukoshi carries a changing selection of Japanese candy, cookies, crackers, packaged snacks, drinks, and other imported foods. Some will be familiar to American shoppers, while plenty of others may not be.

Inventory changes often, so I wouldn’t go into the store expecting one particular snack unless you have seen it very recently. Instead, this is a good place to browse and pick something interesting to try.

For families, that can also turn into an inexpensive little EPCOT experience: let everyone pick one unfamiliar Japanese snack and try them together later.

Jewelry and Pearls

Mitsukoshi also carries jewelry ranging from relatively accessible pieces to very high-end Japanese jewelry.

In 2026, the store has continued to carry Mikimoto pearl jewelry, including pieces costing many thousands of dollars. But you certainly don’t need to be shopping at that level to enjoy looking through the jewelry area.

Pick-a-Pearl

Mitsukoshi’s Pick-a-Pearl, also known as Akoya Pearls, has long been one of the best-known experiences inside the store. Guests select an oyster, a Cast Member opens it, and the pearl is revealed, measured, and presented with a small ceremony. The pearl can then be taken home as-is or placed into a jewelry setting for an additional cost.

Its recent operating history has been inconsistent.

Pick-a-Pearl returned in 2023 after its post-COVID closure and was operating again in late 2025. However, when I walked through Mitsukoshi in February 2026, I did not see the experience operating. Part of the jewelry-counter area was roped off at the time.

Later visitor reports indicate that Pick-a-Pearl was operating again by summer 2026.

The practical takeaway: Pick-a-Pearl was operating again by summer 2026, but I would not build an EPCOT plan around it without checking at Mitsukoshi when you arrive. Its recent history shows that the experience can be temporarily unavailable even when the store itself is open.

How Much Time Should You Allow?

If you are just walking through, you could see Mitsukoshi in 10 or 15 minutes.

But that’s not how I would approach it.

If anyone in your group enjoys Japanese food, anime, Pokémon, Hello Kitty, traditional Japanese goods, cooking, unusual souvenirs, or simply looking at things they don’t encounter every day, allow yourself enough time to wander.

A half hour can disappear very easily here.

And because the merchandise changes, Mitsukoshi rewards repeat visits. Even if you’ve walked through on a previous trip, there is usually something different to see.

Is Mitsukoshi Worth Visiting?

Absolutely—and you don’t have to be a shopper.

World Showcase has plenty of stores that are pleasant to browse, but Mitsukoshi is different. The sheer variety makes walking through it an experience of its own.

Modern Japanese pop culture is everywhere, with bright colors, characters, collectibles, toys, and foods. Then you encounter the other side of Japan through kimonos, fans, swords, tableware, sake sets, and traditional goods.

That contrast is what makes the store interesting.

You won’t come away with a complete understanding of Japanese culture from visiting a department store in EPCOT, of course. But Mitsukoshi does give you a fascinating glimpse at the mixture of tradition and modern culture that visitors to Japan itself encounter.

Steve Says

Make time to walk through Mitsukoshi even if you’re not shopping. It’s large, colorful, sometimes strange, and genuinely fun to explore. In a few minutes, you can move from modern Japanese pop culture to kimonos, fans, samurai swords, and traditional household goods. Mitsukoshi is one of those places in World Showcase where browsing is part of the experience.

Bottom Line

Mitsukoshi Department Store is much more than the gift shop for EPCOT’s Japan Pavilion.

It’s the only Mitsukoshi location in North America, part of a Japanese retail tradition dating to 1673, and one of the most unusual shopping experiences at Walt Disney World.

Come for Japanese snacks, Pokémon, anime merchandise, housewares, kimonos, jewelry, or a memorable souvenir. But even if you’re buying absolutely nothing, step inside and take a look around.

It’s well worth the stroll.

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This article was written by Steve Bell, founder of Military Disney Tips.

Steve is a retired U.S. military member who has been visiting the Disney Parks since 1971 and writing about Disney military discounts and vacations for the military community for over 18 years.

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