What Japan Centre does

Japan Centre, founded in 1976 as a London bookshop serving the Japanese community and now operating under Japan Centre Group Ltd, is a UK-based multi-channel Japanese food and lifestyle retailer. The company sells more than 3,000 authentic Japanese grocery SKUs through an e-commerce storefront (japancentre.com) delivering across the UK, two physical 'depachika'-style food halls in London (the Leicester Square flagship at 35a Panton Street and the Ichiba at Westfield London White City), and a B2B wholesale arm (wholesale.japancentre.com) supplying restaurants, bars, hotels, and retail stores throughout the UK and Europe. The group also operates restaurant brands Yokocho (regional ramen above the Leicester Square flagship) and Shoryu Ramen, plus the Ichiba Mochi Donut Bar sub-brand.

The business has no disclosed proprietary technology, patents, or AI/ML capabilities; its operating stack is conventional — a central Wembley warehouse, e-commerce platform, and third-party logistics integrations with DPD, Royal Mail, Deliveroo, PayPal, Apple Pay, and AgeChecked. The Ichiba store at Westfield White City is a joint venture with Cool Japan Fund, a public-private fund partly owned by the Japanese government, which gives Japan Centre preferential access to regional Japanese producers and established brand partners including Kikkoman and Gekkeikan. Logistics, payments, and age-restricted sales compliance are outsourced to standard third-party providers; no developer platform, SDK, or API is offered.

Revenue is generated through transactional one-time product sales across consumer retail, e-commerce, and B2B wholesale channels, with no subscription or recurring software streams. Pricing is unit-based (£0.55 to £20.95 sample range), with tiered UK delivery (free standard over £65, free chosen day over £100). Customer segments split between individual UK consumers (Japanese diaspora, Japanese cuisine enthusiasts, home cooks) and B2B hospitality and retail buyers. The company is privately held, employs 101–250 people, is led by CEO Tak Tokumine, and has no disclosed funding rounds, parent company, or audited revenue.

Name

Japan Centre

Legal name

Japan Centre Group Ltd

Website

https://japancentre.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1976

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Japan Centre is a UK-based multi-channel Japanese food retailer, founded 1976, selling 3,000+ authentic SKUs via e-commerce, two London depachika-style food halls (Leicester Square and Westfield Ichiba), and a B2B wholesale arm serving UK and European restaurants, bars, and hotels under Japan Centre Group Ltd.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Food Retail (Japanese Grocery and Food Hall)

NAICS

All Other Specialty Food Retailers (445298), Supermarkets and Other Grocery Retailers (except Convenience Retailers) (44511)

SIC

Retail-Grocery Stores (5411), Wholesale-Groceries, General Line (5141)

akta.pro primary industry

East Asian (Chinese/Japanese/Korean) Grocery Stores (CRAHAFAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Online Specialty Grocery (Organic/Health/Ethnic/Gourmet) (CRAHAIAE)

Keywords

• Japanese grocery retail
• Asian food hall
• Specialty food e-commerce
• Foodservice wholesale
• Authentic Japanese products

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. E-commerce Retail Sales: Online sales through japancentre.com offering over 3,000 authentic Japanese grocery products delivered to customers across the UK.
2. Physical Retail Store Sales: Revenue from flagship Leicester Square store and Westfield White City Ichiba location featuring food halls, fresh deli, sushi, hot food counters, bakeries, fish & meat counters, and specialist departments.
3. Wholesale B2B Sales: B2B wholesale business supplying restaurants, bars, hotels and retail stores throughout the UK and Europe with Japanese food, drinks and lifestyle products.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Japan Centre sells authentic Japanese groceries, fresh food, lifestyle products and dining experiences to UK consumers and businesses. Its offering spans an online supermarket of 3,000+ products with home delivery, two depachika-style food halls in London featuring fresh sushi, deli, bakery, and specialist tea and sake rooms, plus a wholesale channel supplying restaurants, bars, hotels and retailers across the UK and Europe.

Product overview

Japan Centre operates as a multi-channel Japanese food retailer comprising an online supermarket (offering 3,000+ authentic Japanese grocery products), two physical depachika-style food halls in London (Leicester Square flagship and Ichiba at Westfield White City), a wholesale business for UK/Europe B2B customers, and the Ichiba Mochi Donut Bar sub-brand. The flagship Leicester Square store features a traditional 'depachika' layout with specialist rooms (tea and sake), open kitchens, dine-in courtyard, fish & meat counter, and bookstore. The Ichiba store is Europe's largest Japanese food hall, a joint venture with Cool Japan Fund, offering groceries, homeware, books, beauty products, and freshly made food. Yokocho restaurant above the flagship serves regional ramen. The online store integrates with Deliveroo for hot food delivery and offers various delivery options through DPD and Royal Mail couriers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ichiba: Europe's largest Japanese food hall located at Westfield London White City. Features grocery, fresh food, bakery, homeware, books, sushi, deli, and mochi donut bar. Joint venture with Cool Japan Fund.
• Yokocho
• Ichiba Mochi Donut Bar

Products and services

• Japan Centre Online Store E-commerce platform offering over 3,000 authentic Japanese grocery products for home delivery across the UK, with standard delivery (3-5 working days), chosen day delivery (Wednesday, Friday, Saturday) and small parcel shipping via Royal Mail. Targets UK consumers seeking authentic Japanese ingredients, snacks, drinks and lifestyle products.
• Japan Centre Flagship Store (Leicester Square) Traditional 'depachika' (basement food hall) style Japanese retail and dining destination featuring open kitchens, a central dine-in courtyard, specialist tea room and sake room (with sommelier guidance), fresh deli, sushi and hot food counters, bakery, fish and meat counter, and a bookstore. Located at 35a Panton Street near Leicester Square, London. Targets individual consumers and visitors seeking an authentic Japanese food hall experience.
• Japan Centre Ichiba (Westfield London White City) Europe's largest Japanese food hall, jointly operated with Cool Japan Fund (a public-private fund partly owned by the Japanese government). Located at Level -2, Westfield London White City, it offers grocery, homeware, books, beauty products, sushi, deli, theatrical kitchens, and brand destinations for Kikkoman and Gekkeikan. Targets individual consumers seeking authentic Japanese products and regional produce sourced through Cool Japan Fund's artisan supplier network.
• Japan Centre Wholesale B2B wholesale business supplying restaurants, bars, hotels and retail stores throughout the UK and Europe with authentic Japanese food, drinks and lifestyle products. Operates through a dedicated wholesale website (wholesale.japancentre.com). Targets foodservice and retail operators needing reliable, authentic Japanese product supply.
• Ichiba Mochi Donut Bar Fresh mochi donut counter located within Japan Centre Ichiba at Westfield London White City, using Japanese mochiko rice flour to make donuts in flavours such as matcha, yuzu, Biscoff and Oreo. Paired with tapioca bubble teas and matcha/vanilla soft serve ice cream. Targets visitors to the Ichiba food hall and Westfield shoppers.
• Yokocho Restaurant Japanese restaurant located above the Japan Centre Leicester Square flagship store, serving legendary bowls of regional ramen. Targets dine-in customers of the flagship food hall and walk-in diners in central London.
• Japan Centre Grocery Range Authentic Japanese grocery product assortment sold via the online store and physical food halls, including rice, noodles, miso, sake, dashi, soy sauce, matcha, snacks, confectionery, fresh produce and Asian specialty items. Targets both consumer shoppers and wholesale buyers sourcing authentic Japanese pantry staples.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 3,000 authentic Japanese products available
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Cool Japan FundcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJapan Centre Ichiba at Westfield London White City is the first joint venture between Japan Centre Group and Cool Japan Fund, a public-private fund part owned by the Japanese government which helps support businesses to promote Japanese products, food and culture overseas. The fund's partnerships with local and artisan suppliers across Japan allows Japan Centre Ichiba to offer authentic products and rare regional produce from some of the best producers and farmers exclusively to the UK.
• KikkomancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWell-known Japanese brand of soy sauce partnering with Japan Centre Ichiba. Partnership enables exclusive access to authentic Japanese soy sauce products as part of the destination offering where customers can truly taste Japan.
• GekkeikancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWell-known Japanese brand of sake partnering with Japan Centre Ichiba. Partnership enables exclusive access to authentic Japanese sake products as part of the destination offering.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• SeeWoo Foods: Long-established London-based Asian supermarket and wholesaler operating large-format retail plus B2B distribution across the UK. Directly comparable as a multi-channel ethnic grocery specialist serving both consumer and foodservice customers in the UK.
• Wing Yip: UK chain of large Chinese/Asian supermarkets with on-site food halls and a wholesale arm. Comparable to Japan Centre as an ethnic-grocery specialist combining retail food halls with restaurant supply across the UK.
• Loon Fung: London-based Chinese/Asian supermarket and foodservice supplier with retail stores and a wholesale business. Comparable as a UK-headquartered specialist ethnic grocer running parallel retail and B2B distribution.
• JFC Japan Food Corp (UK): UK arm of Japan Food Corp, a Japanese food importer and distributor serving restaurants, retailers and consumers. Closest direct peer on the wholesale side, supplying the same UK/European foodservice market with authentic Japanese products.
• Oseyo: UK-based Korean/Asian supermarket chain with physical stores and online grocery delivery. Comparable as a UK ethnic-grocery specialist combining retail stores and e-commerce around an Asian cuisine vertical.
• Atari-Ya: UK-based Japanese food importer and supplier serving both consumers (Sushi Daily retail kiosks) and foodservice operators. Comparable as an authentic Japanese supplier operating across retail and wholesale channels in the UK.

Broad incumbents

• H Mart: Large North-American Asian supermarket chain with growing international footprint. Comparable as a broad Asian-grocery incumbent with deep SKU ranges and multi-format retail, though primarily US-based.

Emerging players

• Tatami: UK online specialist retailer focused on Japanese pantry and snacks. Comparable as a Japanese-grocery e-commerce specialist targeting UK consumers, though lacking Japan Centre's physical food-hall presence.
• Japan Larder: UK-based online Japanese grocery specialist selling authentic pantry and fresh products. Comparable as a pure-play Japanese-grocery e-commerce competitor addressing the same UK consumer demand.
• Sous Chef: UK online retailer specialising in Japanese and global specialty cooking ingredients. Comparable as a digital-first Japanese and Asian-pantry specialist, though broader in cuisine focus than Japan Centre.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/japancentre
• Facebookfacebook.com/japancentre
• Instagraminstagram.com/japancentre
• TikToktiktok.com/@japan.centre?lang=en
• Pinterestuk.pinterest.com/japancentre
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/japan-centre

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Japan Centre