Cha Cha Town Kokura

Cha Cha Town Kokura (チャチャタウン小倉) is a shopping and entertainment complex in Sunatsu, Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by Nishi-Nippon Railroad (Nishitetsu), the major private railway and retail group of Kyushu, and opened on 23 November 2000 on the former site of the Nishitetsu Kitakyushu Line Sunatsu depot. The facility is commonly shortened to "Cha Cha Town" or "Cha Cha." The center is arranged around a central circular plaza, with food court and store tenants facing the plaza. Its most recognizable feature is a bright red Ferris wheel on the roof, equipped with 36 gondolas and illuminated at night in more than 50 patterns. The first floor houses a supermarket, fashion stores and food and beverage tenants; the second floor is devoted to fashion, sundries and information-appliance tenants; and the third floor is an amusement floor combining a cinema (multiplex), an arcade game center and the Ferris wheel boarding area. The name was chosen from 9,387 public submissions and derives from the Kitakyushu dialect sentence-ending particle "cha." The complex functions as a regional shopping center for the Kokura area, with tenants including ABC-MART and a cinema that has been operated under the Cinemaplex and later Lawson United Cinemas banners. The official website publishes event information, shop topics and news, and currently carries a notice that the Ferris wheel is temporarily suspended for maintenance. As a Nishitetsu commercial facility, Cha Cha Town Kokura sits within the broader Nishitetsu Group, whose interests span railways, buses, real estate and retail in northern Kyushu. The center has been a fixture of Kokura's retail landscape since 2000, and its planned second phase, provisionally called "Second Cha Cha Town," was long discussed but delayed; the planned municipal manga museum that had been considered for the area was ultimately sited elsewhere, at Asano in Kokurakita-ku.

Cha Cha Town Kokura opened on 23 November 2000 as a shopping center built on the former site of the Nishitetsu Kitakyushu Line Sunatsu depot in Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture. It was developed and is operated by Nishi-Nippon Railroad (Nishitetsu), the Kyushu private railway group with extensive retail and real estate interests. The name was selected from 9,387 public submissions and is derived from "cha," the sentence-ending particle of the Kitakyushu dialect. The center was designed around a central circular plaza, with food court and store tenants arranged around it, and a bright red Ferris wheel with 36 gondolas installed on the roof. At night the Ferris wheel is illuminated in more than 50 patterns. The first floor contains a supermarket, fashion stores and food and beverage tenants; the second floor houses fashion, sundries and information-appliance tenants; and the third floor is an amusement floor with a cinema (multiplex), an arcade game center and the Ferris wheel boarding area. A second-phase development, provisionally named "Second Cha Cha Town," was planned for parts of the bus depot and the former Asahi Shimbun Seibu head office site across the front road. Kitakyushu City had considered locating a municipal manga museum there, given the city's association with manga artists including Leiji Matsumoto. However, from autumn 2008 the economic downturn slowed tenant recruitment, and the overall facility design, including safety measures for the bus center, fell behind the original schedule. With the plan postponed, the city reconsidered the museum location and on 15 February 2010 selected the former Laforet Harajuku Kokura site, the Kokura Kosan No. 21 building (now Aruaru City) in Asano, Kokurakita-ku. The cinema within the complex has changed operators and names over time. It was operated as Cinemaplex Kokura by Kadokawa Cinemaplex and then Cinemaplex; following a merger effective 1 June 2013 it was transferred to United Cinemas Co., Ltd. but continued to operate under the Cinemaplex name. After the company changed its name to Lawson United Cinemas Co., Ltd. on 1 March 2024, the cinema was renamed "Lawson United Cinemas Kokura" in July 2025, and IMAX Laser was introduced at the same time. Cha Cha Town Kokura remains an active Nishitetsu commercial facility in the Kokura area, publishing event information, shop topics and news through its official website and social media channels.

• Cha Cha Town Kokura opens on the former Nishitetsu Kitakyushu Line Sunatsu depot site.

• Economic downturn slows tenant recruitment for the planned Second Cha Cha Town, delaying the project.

• Kitakyushu City selects the former Laforet Harajuku Kokura site (now Aruaru City) for its manga museum, moving it away from the Cha Cha Town area plan.

• Cinemaplex Kokura is transferred to United Cinemas Co., Ltd. through a merger but continues operating under the Cinemaplex name.

• The cinema operator changes its corporate name to Lawson United Cinemas Co., Ltd.

• The cinema is renamed Lawson United Cinemas Kokura and IMAX Laser is introduced.

A Nishitetsu-operated regional shopping and entertainment destination in Kokura, anchored by a Ferris wheel and cinema.

• Shopping center tenancy (floors 1–3)

  First floor: supermarket, fashion stores and food and beverage tenants; second floor: fashion, sundries and information-appliance tenants; third floor: cinema, arcade game center and Ferris wheel boarding area.

• Red Ferris wheel

  A bright red Ferris wheel on the roof with 36 gondolas, illuminated at night in more than 50 patterns.

• Cinema (Cinemaplex / Lawson United Cinemas Kokura)

  A multiplex cinema within the complex, renamed Lawson United Cinemas Kokura in July 2025 with IMAX Laser introduced.

1. 1ショッピングモール チャチャタウン (official website)chachatown.com
2. 2チャチャタウン小倉 - Wikipedia (Japanese)ja.wikipedia.org
3. 3Cha Cha Town Kokura - Wikidatawikidata.org