Lala-Okaya
This is Okaya City, Nagano Prefecture. In front of Okaya Station stands a building called Lala-Okaya, which is now closed. It was a commercial facility opened in 1984 as part of Okaya City’s urban redevelopment project.
At its opening, it was a commercial facility owned by Suwa Bus and local landowners, operated with Ito-Yokado Okaya Store and Matsuden Store Okaya Ekimae Branch as its anchors.
Looking at photos from that time, the tower section in the upper right of the photo displayed the “Ito-Yokado” sign, while the wall surface in the upper left of the building displayed the “Matsuden Store” sign.
However, as Okaya City’s commercial appeal declined, Ito-Yokado withdrew in July 2001, and the former Matsuden Store (renamed Apple Land Okaya-ekimae Store) also withdrew in June 2002.
After that, only a few retail stores, financial institutions, the bus center, and the Okaya City Office Okaya-ekimae Branch continued operations.
From 2004 to 2007, Okaya City acquired facilities previously owned by Suwa Bus and began using them as event venues. At this point, the city had acquired approximately 90% of the entire facility.
Around 2015 to 2017, plans were considered to rebuild the complex into a mixed-use building incorporating condominiums as part of a redevelopment project. However, the project could not be implemented due to insufficient projected investment returns.
The city proceeded to acquire the remaining portions of the facility, and the management association decided to decommission and demolish the facility in 2019.
The commercial building closed in December 2022, and by 2024, Okaya City had completed acquiring all rights to Lala-Okaya, leading to the complete closure of the building.
However, over the subsequent five years, demolition costs ballooned to three times the initial estimate—reaching 1.5 billion yen—due to soaring prices and asbestos removal expenses.
The city council allocated funds for survey and design costs toward demolishing Lala-Okaya during its September session this year.
The city plans to carry out the demolition in 2026.
Lala-Okaya as seen from the station front.
Let’s walk around the building.
This is the northwest corner of the building. The entrance area is fenced off to prevent access.
The rooftop served as a parking lot, with vehicles ascending and descending via a ramp.
Walking east along the road. There was a staircase on the wall and an entrance facing the road, but it’s blocked by a fence.
The ramp leading to the parking lot. The parking lot ceased operation in 2021.
Reached the east side of the building. The ramp visible on the right leads up to the parking lot.
The flat area on the left appears to have been a delivery entrance for contractors and such.
Shifting your gaze left, you see a separate building connected to the main building at the first floor level. Here, the first and second floors were shops, while the third to fifth floors were used as apartments.
South side of the store and apartment building. The red object on the right is a work by Kusama Shigeki.
My visit coincided with the Suwa-no-umi (Lake Suwa) Art Festival 2025. Mr. Kusama served as the festival’s Art Director.
Incidentally, the bicycles on the far wall, the wall posters, and even the graffiti are all part of the artwork.
The road south of Lara-Okaya. Follow this road further to reach Okaya Station.
The walls along the passageway are painted.
This was also created as part of the art festival, a participatory project involving citizens. Work began on August 30th, and over four days, more than 100 people participated in painting the walls.
It’s an activity meant to create new connections through the process, also serving as a farewell to the building slated for demolition.
You might notice small white plates here and there on the walls. Each individual work created has been given its own title.
On the day, I also listened to an artist talk by Mr. Kusama, who spoke not only about the paintings at Lara-Okaya but also about the festival’s activities, such as the “Folk Crafts Series in the Shopping District.”
Both the festival’s exhibition content and the talk venue had a pleasant atmosphere that conveyed a strong sense of community engagement.
As mentioned earlier, Okaya City plans to demolish the building of Lala-Okaya in 2026.
Plans for the site afterward are currently under consideration.
To determine the city’s future vision with resident participation, workshops were held monthly from June to September this year, with another scheduled for January 2026.
I will see how the city changes.
[Reference]
“BEN-TEN│Suwa-no-umi (Lake Suwa) Art Festival 2025” Official Website (2025 Suwa-no-umi Art Festival Executive Committee)