Vodafone’s New Shibuya Megastore

On April 1, Vodafone Japan opened its 5-floor, 890-square-meter flagship megastore in Shibuya and we were there to cover the event and take a peak at some of the goodies on hand. Japan Wireless Watchers will know that Shibuya makes or breaks fashions for Japan’s youth market, and i-mode is commonly said to have been popularized in Shibuya. For Vodafone, the new store is part of a public relations blitz to complete the rebranding of J-Phone amongst Japan’s vital teens and tweens market ahead of a big 3G terminal push later in the year. We were a bit disappointed that Vodafone didn’t have anything really new on offer in terms of new services or handsets to coincide with the big opening, but as a rebranding tool the store — located centrally on one of Shibuya’s main drags — is probably worth a thousand billboards. Full Program Run-time 6:04