Shopping in Japan

Buying Groceries
My wife is Japanese.  We love Japanese food, and we both like to cook for ourselves. We thought that we would have no trouble adjusting in this regard, but we surprised ourselves.  In our first two weeks, I lost about ten pounds. At one point, we went to an American-style family restaurant.  Each item on the menu listed its calories (an average of about 400), and  I chose the one with the most!  We're doing better now, but it was a challenge.

Grocery shopping was the first big hurdle.  First, the markets only carried Japanese food. That sounds silly, but we were used to cooking and eating a wide variety of food, including Chinese, Thai, Korean, Mexican, Italian (well, spaghetti and pizza) etc.  In Japan, foreign (read "imported") food is generally very costly.  If you want tacos, you'd better learn how to make tortillas, because it's cheaper to buy a pizza at Dominos than an "emergency box" of 6 taco shells.  Our budget for grocery shopping is about US$400 a month (for two adults and one small child).  That's a lot more than we spent in the USA, but it's not such a large amount in Japan. Actually, with careful shopping, it's just about right.  In general we don't buy expensive prepared foods, and we stick with pretty cheap types of meat (read: "pork").  

A handful of hamburger sells for 259 yen (about $6 a pound)

Some things that are relatively "cheap" are: ground pork, eggs, Tofu and other soybean products (you can have all the Nato you want), Australian cheese and beef (if you know where to find it -- it helps to read Japanese), potatoes, carrots, and a selection of other vegetables.  Sometimes lettuce is quite reasonable.  This list isn't exhaustive.  People who look around learn which markets to visit for each item on their list.  For instance, the most expensive store in our town is the best place to buy cheap Australian cheese.  Go figure. 

Oreos and Ritz Crackers are available and relatively cheap

Costco.  If you are in range of a Costco, then go there for the best prices on many items.  Meat and cheese prices at Costco are much lower than in most grocery stores.  If you're used to shopping at Costco in the USA, you'll find many of the same items available in Japan, including large containers of Prego and salsa, frozen lasagna, etc.  For more information about Costco - click here .

Cooking note. You will do most of your cooking in Japan on the stove top in a pot, wok or frying pan.  Few people own the kinds of ovens that are common in North America.  Counter-top stove units are standard.  They consists of two burners.  You buy one yourself (they are available used) and hook it up to the gas line in your kitchen.  They work nicely.  You may want to also buy a combination microwave and convection oven.  With a little practice, you can use that to bake cookies and cakes in small quantities.  My suggestion is that you learn how to cook your favorite recipes on the stove.  We recently had an excellent roast (from Costco) with potatoes and carrots all slow cooked on the stove top.  If you like to cook, bring two or three nice pots and pans with you, including a big, heavy pot that you can use as a stovetop Dutch oven.  Collect some recipes off the Internet (or buy a cookbook), and you're set. 

Buying Furniture
Brand new furniture in Japan can be very expensive, and it's usually not cost effective to ship furniture from your home country.  But if you can find a Nitori near you, go there for very reasonable prices.  Nitomi is somewhat similar in style and price to Ikea. (Now they actually have Ikea in Japan, but I'm told it's quite expensive compared with the USA stores.) I also recommend second hand stores (called Recycle Shops).  Recycle Shops are a great place to find furniture and  appliances.  You will probably need a refrigerator, counter-top stove, washing machine, vacuum cleaner, and ceiling lights.  None of these usually come with housing, and they will cost you a small fortune new.  Well, they'll cost you several hundred dollars used, too.  But you'll need them. Most Japanese people buy everything new, which works to your advantage if you don't mind slightly used stuff.  That's why you can usually find some well stocked, affordable Recycle Shops nearby.  By the way, Recycle Shops usually deliver for a fee.  Otherwise, you'll need a way to transport things to your home.  Don't buy a bunch of used furnishings before you decide where to live, or you may have a very difficult time getting it all to your place.  Finally, you'll find loads of furniture and appliances for sale online in the Metropolis Tokyo Classifieds.  This is a good source for people living in Tokyo, especially if you live in the part of Tokyo where the diplomatic community is clustered.  When diplomats and other international workers have to move in a hurry, they have to sell all of their stuff.  Sometimes you can buy all the furnishings and appliances for a house for a single price.  Just be sure you have a way to get it to your home. 

Buying Home Electronics
Most website recommend that you leave your electronic appliances at home and buy what you need in Japan.  I mostly agree.  There are two main issues.  First, Japan runs on different voltage (100v). Second, the Tokyo area runs on different Megahertz (50Mz instead of 60Mz).  The voltage difference won't affect most electronics, but the 50Mz difference will cause certain things to function badly.

Things that run off of batteries (rechargeable things) are definitely fine to bring.  For example, bring your electric razor, electric (or manual...) toothbrush, etc.  If you (or someone in your family) cuts hair (or is willing to learn), consider bringing a cordless hair clipper set.  A cheap hair cut here runs about 3000 yen (around $20 US). 

You can bring a travel hair dryer and iron, etc. with you, but you can also find those things at a reasonable price here.  If you want to bring your fax machine, that's not a bad idea (because they are expensive here).  Just make sure that you don't plug it into an ISDN phone line (that goes for your computer, too).   As I said, some people swear that everything they brought over works just fine (or good enough).  I'm not an expert, so I'll leave there.

Electronics stores, like Post Offices, are everywhere.  I really can't exaggerate this fact.  On the other hand, there are neighborhood electronics stores and large discount stores.  Some people who have lived here for a long time (including, of course, many Japanese people...) like to shop at the local stores.  They do it because they appreciate the service, and if anything ever goes wrong with a product the local store owner will be sure to help you out.  On the other hand, many people are obviously going to the large discount stores.  They also provide service, and usually offer much lower prices than the mom and pop stores.  Before you start buying stuff, I suggest that you visit several stores first and compare both the prices and the people who work there.  Different stores tend to specialize in low prices on certain items.

Finally, be aware that you can buy many home electronics at second-hand stores (called Recycle Shops).  We bought almost all our home electronics used, including our refrigerator, washing machine, heater/cooler units, microwave, stove, and more.  We saved a huge amount of money, and everything was in good condition.

For small electronics, you may save money buying them on EBay despite the shipping charges. For some reason, many items made in Japan can be bought much more cheaply elsewhere.