Mammoth US-style shopping malls have popped up all over Japan over the past five years, luring locals through their doors with the convenience of one-stop shopping and gleaming new facilities.

As a result, the shotengai, the traditional main shopping streets in many city centres, have withered away. Corner shops have shut their doors, unable to compete with leading retailers such as Aeon and Ito-Yokado. Worried that the explosive growth of massive stores will exacerbate the "hollowing out" of regional city centres, the government is set to implement legislation that will make it more difficult to establish large shops in the suburbs.