NAHA, Okinawa Pref. (Kyodo) The new $80 million Kadena Shopping Center opened Friday at U.S. Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture, becoming the second-biggest shopping mall in a U.S. base worldwide.
On the second floor of the 30,000-sq.-meter mall, visitors can shop for clothes, home electronics, musical instruments and foreign luxury goods, among other things. There is even a 99 cent shop similar to local ¥100 stores.
The new shopping complex was built because the existing mall, which was built in the 1950s, was starting to show its age. The mall is several times bigger than the former one, and second in size only to a complex in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The U.S. shouldered the cost, and host nation support was not used for its construction.
U.S. soldiers and their families formed long lines before the mall's opening Friday morning.
The home electronics section, particularly its computer and camera areas, was crowded with shoppers.
"I had been waiting for the mall to open," said a 34-year-old female soldier who visited the mall with her daughter. "I can shop as if I'm shopping in the States."
Former sumo grand champion Akebono, who attended the opening ceremony as a guest, said, "It's a great mall and I'm envious."
