Yawata City, which lies just along the northeastern border of Osaka prefecture, is host to one of the latest Costco stores to be opened in Japan. Tons of people will be flocking to the store today to get a glimpse of the latest addition to the Costco Japan family.

Roads leading into the Yawata Costco will most likely be jammed with cars as members and visitors head to the store to shop on Opening Day.

Locals have been anticipating this day for a long time and have hopefully prepared themselves for the traffic that will now be something they have to deal with on a daily basis. Granted, it might not be as bad as it most likely will be today, but nonetheless, from now on, anyone living near Costco Yawata will have a lot more traffic.

Locals, like myself, will most likely walk or ride their bicycles to beat the traffic. Anyone going by train will have to take a bus or taxi in order to get to the store since JR Matsuiyamate station is not a close walk away. But even though the store is not a short walk away, today, anyone going by train might want to consider walking. It might be actually faster!

I’m heading there by bicycle now…

Costco Yawata will open December 9th!

If you are not a member yet, get your membership now before the doors open at a 1000 yen discount. Go to the store to sign up.

View Kyoto Costco Yawata in a larger map

Well, get ready because we may have found out the day it will open!

Locals in the Yawata Costco area have heard, either from a little bird or from those who work or will work at Costco there that the new store will open on Dec 8th, in time for Christmas and right after something else in the area happens on the 7th. Whether this is fact or not still remains to be seen. But this is what we’ve been hearing and it would be smart on Costco’s part to open before Christmas.

By the way, if anyone reading this article is not a member yet, now is the time to get a membership. If you go to the Yawata store and buy your membership, the annual fee is around 1000 yen cheaper right now before doors open.

Costco has picked out a nice sized piece of land, however the roads leading to this property may cause traffic congestion.

Residents are excited about the new store opening in their neighborhood because many already shop at the Amagasaki store an hour and a half away. However, most people on the east end of Yawatashi are are worried that traffic may worsen. Residents already experience bad traffic conditions on a daily basis as people go back and forth to work on a two-lane city road. In order to curb further traffic problems, Kyoto will have to create a new route into the area and/or widen current roads.