Oriental City was a major shopping centre in Colindale, North London, England, originally built as a luxury Japanese shopping centre called Yaohan Plaza by the Yaohan retail company of Japan. After Yaohan filed for bankruptcy in 1997, the centre became a lower-end mall specialising in various oriental foods and items, while also containing health and social services for the East Asian community. Opening in 1993, the 141,000 sq ft complex was located at 399 Edgware Road with a dedicated car park and two floors.
As Yaohan Plaza, the shopping centre played a short but significant role in promoting Japanese cuisine and culture in London. Later, as Oriental City, it was referred to as London's "real Chinatown". Oriental City received about 10,000 visitors weekly as of 2006. The complex was closed for redevelopment on 1 June 2008 and, after several changes of ownership, was demolished in August 2014. In July 2017 the smaller Bang Bang Oriental Food Hall opened on the site, comprising 32 food kiosks, massage and beauty therapy suites as well as shops and a cultural centre.
Yaohan Plaza
Background
During the rapid growth of the Japanese economy in the 1980s, many Japanese businesses established operations and partnerships in the UK. Honda formed a partnership with British Leyland in 1979 and Nissan opened its first European factory in Derby in 1986. Such activities caused a significant increase in Japanese living in the UK. This renaissance of Anglo-Japanese exchange culminated in Japan Festival 1991, a four-month festival celebrated across the UK with both traditional Japanese arts such as kabuki and noh as well as contemporary Japanese rock. At this time, Japanese department store Yaohan began plans to open a large shopping centre in London.
Yaohan estimated that over 40,000 Japanese lived in the vicinity of the planned shopping centre, and further cited the 1991 Japan Festival as evidence of growing interest in Japan. They planned the shopping centre with the dual-aim to serve the large Japanese community and introduce Europeans to Japanese food and culture. Yaohan was in the process of pursuing a plan of overseas expansion and had already established operations in Hong Kong, Singapore and the United States.
Opening
Yaohan invested £50 million (£87 million in 2021) in the construction of a Japanese-themed department store in Colindale with 10,134 square metres of space dedicated to retail, additional office space and parking for 800 cars. The building would combine a modern shopping centre with traditional Japanese architectural elements such as a tile roof. The interior would do the same, and featured traditional Japanese facades on many of the shops, similar to the Edo-Koji shopping area at Tokyo International Airport. Yaohan Plaza, London opened as a high-end Japanese shopping centre on 28 August 1993 with the slogan: "All Japan under one roof." Chindon'ya performers from the Chin-don Tsushinsha group were flown in from Japan to promote the opening.
Yaohan Plaza featured a grand entry hall with a wooden frame supporting a large ceremonial banner and knot, covered by a traditional tile roof. The north wing was a single storey and housed the full-size Japanese supermarket and food court. The south wing was two stories and housed shops and restaurants. At the back was a multi-storey car park. In total, Yaohan had 15 directly-owned retail operations, 47 third-party stores and 11 restaurants. The supermarket sold a wide range of Japanese foods including a full range of Japanese dry goods, freshly made sushi and obento, fish, and Japanese-style meats for the purpose of dishes like yakiniku and shabu shabu. Fresh fruit was flown in from Japan, and a Japanese-style bakery was operated on site. Yaohan Plaza's supermarket offered over 70 varieties of sake and 40 kinds of miso. Prices were considered high relative to Japan due to import costs, but 10-20 per cent lower than smaller Japanese shops in central London. The New York Times reported in 1993 that a 1.5 litre bottle of cold Japanese tea cost £4.99 (£8.69 in 2021). Yaohan's sushi kitchen operated 24 hours a day and supplied Waitrose, Selfridges, and Harvey Nichols.