HONOLULU (AP) — Shirokiya Holdings Inc. is planning a $35 million Japanese food village for inside the Ala Moana Center.
The company announced Wednesday that the project is scheduled to open on the ground floor of the new expanded Ewa Wing of the mall on June 1, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser (http://bit.ly/1NGHEeF). The village will be more than 55,000 square feet and will be modeled after a traditional Japanese town with about 60 shops.
“Our mission is to introduce various Japanese food selections, Japanese traditional culture and the spirit of Japanese hospitality from Hawaii to the world,” said Shirokiya Holdings project coordinator Daisuke Mori in a statement.
The village will have four main themes: a food court and beer garden with Japanese food, shopping alleys with traditional crafts and artisans, a festival square with carnival games and a guardian spirit sanctuary with statues of the 12 animals of the Japanese zodiac.
Ala Moana is opening its expansion project Nov. 12. The project is expanding the former Sears space and will include the first Bloomingdale’s in Hawaii. About 40 of 60 new tenants will be open in November.
Other additions include the state’s first Zara, Magnolia Bakery and Ted Baker London.
“What we’re doing here is almost building a new regional mall adjacent to the existing mall,” said Francisco Gutierrez, Ala Moana’s senior director of development. “That’s a very large project.”