SHOPPING

 

Sayama

Shopping in Sayama can vary from the big department stores like Saty, located near Iruma river, to the "warehouse" style supermarket Big A.

Near Big A, situated in Irumagawa, is a department store called Daiei. Opposite the west exit of the station is Seiyu, another large store. A second Seiyu can be found in Sayamadai, on the way to the Education Centre. Nearby are the Coop and Value Price supermarkets. Turning left out of City Hall, and going straight for about 10 minutes (by bicycle) you will find Maruetsu department store.

Maruetsu has a selection of foreign foods on general sale, Saty, Seiyu and Daiei may occasionally sell imported items. Daiei however, does have a good choice of foreign wines, whiskies, liqueurs and beers.

Big A is the cheapest overall but the choice is less than in the large stores like Daiei, Maruetsu, Saty and Seiyu.

There are many small fruit and vegetable shops that often have lower prices than all the above mentioned stores, including Big A. One to look out for is opposite Daiei in Irumagawa. Its choice and prices usually puts the large store it faces to shame.

Part of the Sayama Station building complex is the Station Biru that has several floors of food, gifts, clothes, records and an Outlet shop on floor 3.

Shopping for electrical goods in Sayama means going to department stores like the ones mentioned above or more specialist shops like Nojima, Kojima or Matsumoto Denki. They have branches around the city.

There are several "Recycle Shops," second hand shops that sell a variety of goods. One of these is situated near City Hall and there is another near the Central Post Office. There are more dotted across Sayama.

Saitama and Tokyo

In Saitama, stores within reasonable reach of Sayama include:

The Garden in Shin Tokorozawa. It has a wide selection of foreign foods and alcohol and you might be able to find that something you’ve been missing. From Shin Tokorozawa Station (west exit) take a 3 minute walk to the Parco building. In the basement you will find The Garden.

Facing Honkawagoe and Tokorozawa stations respectively are the large department stores, Ito Yokado and Seibu. Part of the Honkawagoe Station building houses Pepe, another large store.

Roger’s Discount Store, a brisk ten minute walk from Kawagoe Station, is a warehouse style chain that sells everything and more. Stay calm amongst the pushing and shoving!

From Omiya's west exit you can see Sogo Department Store. In the basement there is a small selection of foreign foods. At Lumine Department Store nearby, Sony Plaza, on the first floor, has international foods and goods. There are many Sony Plazas located across the Kanto region.

Isetan, generally a clothes and household goods store, in nearby Urawa, has a selection of spices and so called "ethnic" food.

Large stores that specialise in imported goods like National Azabu or Kinokuniya can be found in the Things Foreign section.

Meidi Ya Foods sells an international selection of foodstuffs and is located in the Tokyo area, like the two mentioned just above. The nearest locations are Roppongi Crossing (take the Hibiya subway line to Roppongi Station). Alternatively there is another branch at Hiroo Crossing (take the Hiroo subway line to Hiroo Station) and in Ginza.

For clothes, big sizes are often hard to come by and so you might want to take a trip to Rism Outlet Shopping Centre. The centre has many different shops, including some brand name stores from abroad that offer a wide range of styles and sizes. There are sporting and outdoor shops, boutiques for women, casual and formal stores for both men and women, and a shoe shop. Prices are very reasonable for Japan. There is also a large food section in the basement that has a good selection of imported wines at discounted prices.

To get to Rism Outlet, take the Tobu Tojo Line from Kawagoe Station and get off at Fujimino Station, the third stop along. From the west exit it is about a 3 minute walk.

Tokyu Hands is a hobby department store and more. It has branches across Tokyo including, Shinjuku, Shibuya and Ikebukuro. It sells many unusual items that are difficult to obtain elsewhere, for example, transformers for converting electricity from one voltage to another.

Souvenir Shopping

Fancy a few Japanese souvenirs? Below are a few places to shop at for them.

Asakusa

Besides the temple, Asakusa is well worth a trip for another reason, its endless number of souvenir shops. You will find unusual momentos not sold elsewhere in addition to the usual fare.

Kawagoe

It has many old buildings dating back hundreds of years so it is not a surprise to find out that it possesses some good shops that sell the more unusual type of souvenir and less of the obvious mass produced types. Walking along the mall area that takes you to Kawagoe Station from Honkawagoe Station, a small unobtrusive shop on the right hand side sells many beautifully decorated boxes and Japanese papers such as wagami and zemuriya, as well as dolls and hand made wallets. There are similar shops dotted about the city.

Fine Arts Fuji

Located in front of the American Club, near Roppongi, this shop specializes in lacquarewares, porcelain lamps, antique furniture and other similar goods. It also has some smaller souvenirs. Call 03-3582-1870.

Oriental Bazaar

Oriental Bazaar is famous amongst the ex-patriot community for its floors of Japanese gifts. It sells anything from antiques to cute stickers and from T-shirts to kimonos. From Harajuku Station it is about a fifteen minute walk. Call 03-3400-3933 for more details. There is a Narita Airport branch too in Terminal 1.

Sophia

This is located on Floor B1 of the Sonic City Building, on the west side of Omiya Station. It sells various Saitama made goods that are ideal as gifts such as hand made dolls, materials and foods. Call 048-647-4043.

Seibu and Maruhiro

The department stores Seibu and Maruhiro often sell souvenir type goods like fancy photo stands, Japanese style decorated address books or fans. Check out your nearest store.

 

More is available soon in Nippon Living about:

Home Economics
Clothes Care
Sizes
Men’s Wear
Chest Measurements
Waist Measurements
Women’s Wear
Imperial / Metric Conversions

 

Household Cleaning Products

The problem of buying products if you cannot read Japanese is quite clear. As in any shop, products are usually grouped together so nobody should be mixing up their coffee with the bleach. Common sense also says that different products are put in different shaped containers. It is very unlikely that cocoa would be put in a large blue plastic bottle with a handle and half inch cap. This would tell you it is something used for cleaning, either clothes or surfaces. Another hint is to observe the labelling on the product for diagrams etc, to get some idea of what it is and how it is used. Some examples of cleaning products are listed below.

Clothes

  • 1. Washing up powder Available

    2. Clothes softener in

    3. Wool Washing the

    4. Stain removers cleaner and brighter Nippon Living

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    Kitchen and Bathroom

    Some of those listed below might be familiar to you from your home country as they are made by Nippon Lever, the Japanese subsidiary of Unilever or Procter and Gamble.

  • 1. If

    2. you

    3. return

    4. to

    5. Nippon Living

    6. you will

    7. see more!

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    Medicines and Treatments

    See the you know what for more...

    Treatments

  • 1. Painkiller Guess

    2. Colds what

    3. Sore throats you

    4. Heartburn need

    5. Diarrhea and Stomachaches to

    6. Irritated eyes return to

    7. Sty for

    8. Sore muscles loads

    9. Cuts more

    10. Insect bites information

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    If you are really desperate for a washing up powder, kitchen scourer or medicine etc from home then you could try Kinokuniya which stocks imported goods including cleaners, fluoride toothpastes, washing up liquids etc.

     

     

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