End of an Era on the Canal: Kansai's First H&M Closes July 26
The H&M Ebisubashi store on the Dotonbori canal closes for good on July 26, 2026. For 16 years it sat in the Ebisubashi Building directly opposite the Glico Running Man sign, one of the most photographed retail corners in Osaka. Its closure ends H&M's presence in the Minami district and leaves a three-floor, roughly 900-square-meter flagship sitting empty on one of the busiest pedestrian stretches in Kansai.
The store opened in March 2010 as H&M's first outlet in the Kansai region. At the time, fast-fashion flagships on canal-side lots were still a novelty in Osaka, and the Ebisubashi location was treated as a statement of intent by the Swedish brand. The shop drew local shoppers and tour groups in roughly equal measure for most of its run, and the corner entrance became a regular meeting point for people gathering in Dotonbori.
The Shinsaibashi store went first
The Ebisubashi closure is not an isolated move. H&M shut its Shinsaibashi store in December 2024, after which the ZARA Shinsaibashi store opened in the same building. With Ebisubashi now gone, H&M has no remaining locations in the Minami shopping belt. The brand is not leaving Osaka entirely, but its footprint in central Osaka has shrunk to a single city store.
After July 26, the remaining H&M stores in Osaka Prefecture are the Umeda store and five outlying outlets: LaLaport EXPOCITY, LaLaport Kadoma, Rinoas Yao, LaLaport Sakai, and LaLaport Izumi. In other words, H&M in central Osaka is now synonymous with Umeda. Anyone staying in Namba or Shinsaibashi who wants the brand has a one-line trip north on the Midōsuji subway to Umeda Station, or an online order.
Why the canal-side flagship is closing
The closure fits a global pattern. H&M Group reported a net reduction of 128 stores in the year to May 31, 2026, part of a multi-year restructuring under CEO Daniel Ervér that has shuttered more than 600 locations worldwide since 2022. The Monki brand was closed entirely in 2025. The company frames the cuts as an "omnichannel" shift, closing underperforming physical stores while pushing the app and online sales. Pressure from Shein and Temu on price and speed has accelerated the rethink.
The Ebisubashi store is a textbook case of the sort of location that gets cut: a large multi-floor footprint on expensive canal-front real estate, in a district where foot traffic is increasingly dominated by food, drugstores, and souvenir retailers rather than apparel. Rents on the Dotonbori riverbank are among the highest in Osaka, and a 900-square-meter fashion store no longer pencils out against what a restaurant or a specialty retailer would pay for the same space.
What happens to the building
The Ebisubashi Building sits on the corner of Ebisubashi-suji and the Dotonbori riverwalk, directly across from the Glico sign. No replacement tenant has been announced. Given the precedent set by the Shinsaibashi H&M site, which ZARA took over, a comparable international fashion or lifestyle brand is the most likely occupant. Real estate watchers in Osaka have also floated the possibility of a restaurant-anchored mixed-use conversion, since the ground floor has direct riverwalk access and the canal-side terrace is the more valuable asset than the upper retail floors.
For shoppers, the practical effect is minor in the short term. The closure matters more as a signal that the retail mix of Dotonbori is tilting further away from fashion and toward food, entertainment, and experience-driven tenancies. The canal-front block that once hosted H&M, Bershka, and other fast-fashion names is being re-tenanted with restaurants and specialty stores aimed at both domestic and inbound visitors.
Practical Details
- Final day: July 26, 2026
- Venue: H&M Ebisubashi store (H&M戎橋店), Ebisubashi Building, Dotonbori / Ebisubashi area, Chuo-ku, Osaka
- Nearest station: Namba Station (Midōsuji Line), about 5 minutes on foot
- Remaining H&M in central Osaka: H&M Umeda (only city store after July 26)
- Category: Retail closure
- Website: H&M Japan (hm.com)