Apple Stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. are characterized by their elegance and extravagant in both exterior architecture and interior design.
The unique feature inside this store is the availability of Genius Bar for customer service. The Genius Bar provides all of the supports for new products. And I doubt you will get the support for products that are considered out of date.
Obviously, the cult of Apple holds the most important role in distinguishing between Apple Stores and other neighborhood stores. As you can see from several photos after the jump.
Just a quick information from Wikipedia, Apple currently has opened 10 stores outside US, Canada and UK, including 7 stores in Japan, 1 store in China, 1 store in Italy and 1 store in Australia. In future, Apple will expand its Apple Stores to Mexico, Germany, and Switzerland. Even though I'm not living in one of those countries, I am still looking forward to the day those stores being opened.
After seeing the Apple Stores in Japan, you may also want to look at Apple Stores at other places, like China, Italy and Australia. In each of these countries, there is only one Apple Store that is opened directly from Apple Inc.
Let's see those stores from either far outside or even zoomed inside after the jump.