Japanese retail differs from that in America in that most each city has their own, individual department store. In Kumamoto, that would be Tsuruya. In an interview, the company president, Fukuoka Tetsuo (福岡哲生) sounded upbeat, touting this time of corona as an opportunity to revamp the store and increase online sales. Kumamoto really cannot afford to lose such an anchor retailer. Plus, they have a beer garden on the roof which is now open. Those with local knowledge will recall the Taiyou Department Store fire of 1973, which killed 104 and injured another 124 and drastically altered Shimotori, where it was located (the space is now occupied by Cocosa, which my wife says people are afraid of entering, such is its horrid history). - William https://kumanichi.com/articles/245332