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Urban retail in Japanese cities has undergone important transformations as a result of new commercial formats and the decline of traditional retail establishments in central areas. The results of trends in the urban management of city centres have proven somewhat limited. The primary aim of this paper is to analyse the evolution of recent experiences of urban revitalisation and management and to identify a set of results that can be used by those still unaware of the Japanese reality. The argument is that the tendency to adopt foreign best practices has been inadequate, mainly due to problems of articulation between public powers and the civil society. Alternatives seem to exist in cohesive socio-economic activities at the local scale and in integrated operations of sustainable urban revitalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]