Ikebukuro is a good place to buy home appliances

Home appliances are very popular among foreign tourists. The quality is very high. So the price of the products are a little higher, but many tourists want to buy them. Top selling product is as follows according to the salesperson of BIC CAMERA.

Rice steamer
Electric facials
Wrist watch
Camera
Audio instrument
Electric kettle

In my opinion my recommendation is a rice steamer, I love to eat rice, so I use a rice steamer which do not let out the steam. I do not have to be careful for a child to touch the hot steam. The price is around 50,000 yen. When I buy such a little expensive home appliances I go to the electronics retail stores.

Most people go to Akihabara, Shinjuku to buy home appliances. Akihabara is famous for electronics quarter. Shinjuku is a good place for shopping, and does not apply to buy home appliances. If you have enough time to stay in Tokyo It is better to go shopping in Ikebukuro.

Ikebukuro is the fourth station from Shinjuku by Yamanote Line. Ikebukuro is also a big city, and popular among young people. I like to read books, so I sometimes go to Junkudo bookstore. Junkudo is one of the biggest bookstores in Japan. There is a big building of Junkudo bookstore near Ikebukuro station.

Now I think the reason why I recommend Ikebukuro for buying home appliances is the existence of Yamada denki and BIC CAMERA. Ikebukuro area is the best place to buy in Japan home appliances. You will notice that the difference especially about expensive products. For example, a laptop computer that costs 120,000 yen at Yamada Denki in Shinjuku is selling for ¥ 100,000 for Ikebukuro Yamada Denki. Even if it is the same chain, the price will be different.

                                                        Yamada Denki Ikebukuro

                                                         BIC CAMERA Ikebukuro




The reason is that the head office of BIC CAMERA and Yamada Denki is located in Ikebukuro. Moreover, the two electronics retail stores is very close, and it is 1 minute by walk. Each company does not want to lose the fight as the head office, salespersons are likely to reduce the price, and the price will be reduced easily.

I introduce the tips to get a discount.

1. Show the mood to buy home appliances.
2. Negotiate with the elderly salesperson if possible. the elderly salesperson often have the right to decide the discount.
3. It is easy to get a discount on Sunday afternoon. A big quota is often imposed on the salespersons on weekends. As a salesperson, if you come to the electronics retail stores on Sunday afternoon, he/she want you to buy something at all costs.

I am addictive to Meiji super cup in summer

A convenience store is popular with foreign tourists. When it gets hot, both Japanese and non-Japanese seek coolness, and they often go to the convenience store. If you look at the ice showcase, You can enjoy a variety of ice confectionery.  There is so much variety that you can not eat everything even if you eat one by one every day.

In a variety of products there is an ice cream that has been selling for 25 years. It is Meiji super cup. You can see Meiji super cup at any time at the convenience store. There is a big turnaround of the ice cream products at the convenience store. Seven eleven, Familymart, Lawson are always selling Meiji super cup. It means that Meiji super cup is an ice cream much loved by Japanese people.

The price is so reasonable that young people are satisfied by Meiji super cup. The volume is 200ml, it is more than other products. and if you buy Meiji super cup at the convenience store it costs 151 yen but you buy it at the supermarket, the price is lower. I often buy 3 or 4 of Meiji super cup at the same time at a supermarket, and enjoy it at night after taking a bath.

The flavor is vanilla basically. But Meiji releases various flavor products for a limited time only. In this summer Meiji launched mango flavor super cup as a seasonal product. I saw this at Seven eleven yesterday. The price is higher than vanilla.

And this is flavor of a strawberry cake. The price is higher than vanilla. I have eaten this the other day. My family and I could enjoy great dessert time.

You can check about ice cream of Meiji in more detail below in english.
Japan’s top brand for tasty ice cream cups

I think Umaibo is the most famous snack in Japan

Japanese children like to eat Dagashi. Dagashi means Japanese cheap snacks. When I was a child there were a lot of Dagashi stores under individual management. They almost have disappear recently. one of my favorite Dagashi snacks is Umaibo which is a bar-shaped snack that is sold by RISKA Corporation. The standard price is 10yen (excluding consumption tax). It was released in July 1979. The price has not been changed since  the release date surprisingly.

It is a popular snack mainly for children because it has unique flavors and is not expensive. As Dagashi stores under individual management disappear gradually RISKA Corporation began to sell Umaibo at convenience stores, discount stores and supermarkets. It is fun to choose Umaibo from many tastes.

The beginning is only one kind of "source taste". The following year of the launch, the number of flavor became six types in 1980 and 12 types in 82! At that time there weren't many kinds of Dagashi.

Umaibo has a hole in the center. The holes make the texture better and the crispness improves. In addition, it becomes hard to crack up! There is an exception that does not have holes in order to reproduce the texture of "rusk" like the sugar rask taste.

There are some products that have the same taste but the different packages. there are several illustrations and comments. you can enjoy illustrations, colors, the delicious bars are designed to enjoy "Fun" and "Delicious" at the same time.

The reason why Umaibo sells so cheap is the company's efforts and idea. Umaibo was born in 1979, and at that time it was also the time when cheap snacks and sweets were disappearing from Japan because of the second oil shock. Under these circumstances, children weren't able to buy snacks and sweets, so Umaibo was released for 10 yen because of the desire to please children.

The price is maintained by adjusting the length, the size of hole of the snack bar in order to keep Umaibo price cheap. This effort makes it possible for children to buy Umaibo at a cheaper price.




If you want to enjoy all flavors of Umaibo you should go to Umaibo building. It is located in Kinshicho in Tokyo.

In Japan vending machines are selling Oden.

When you come to Japan what you notice is that there are many vending machines in town. All the drinks of the vending machines seem to be delicious, and we can not help but put coins into them. Actually there are reasons for the large number of vending machines to be set in Japan.

Japan is a safe place. Even if vending machines are installed on public roads and parks, they are rarely broken.

When you are walking on the streets of Tokyo on weekdays, you should be surprised at the walking speed of many office workers. Before going to the office or after working overtime, many office workers do not have enough time to go to a convenience store. Therefore, it seems that a vending machine will be useful without going to the convenience store, standing in line in front of the cash register.

Japanese people are much familiar with a vending machine, so the various products are increasing gradually. If you can drop in Akihabara I recommend you to enjoy a number of  vending machine. First you can see Oden sold in the vending machine.

Speaking of oden, it is one of the most popular dishes that represent Japanese food, and it is a food that you miss when it gets cold in winter. There is a place in Tokyo where you can eat such oden easily and quickly by a vending machine. Oden is made by simmering several kinds of ingredients, and unique taste is created. You can buy Oden at convenient stores in winter but in Akihabara you can enjoy Oden in all seasons.

I find the movie of Oden sold in the vending machine.


~Location of the Oden vending machine~


And you can look for various vending machines except for Oden in Akihabara. I have seen toys of beetles, potato chips, toothpaste, salt and so on. I wonder why such products are selling in the vending machines.

Japanese young people are addicted to Ramen Jiro

Do you like Japanese ramen? Ramen is now a japanese soul food, but there is a trend depending on the period. When I was a student Tonkotsu ramen,pork-bone Ramen. Now Ramen Jiro is popular among young people. Ramen Jiro is a ramen chain that is much popular in Kanto area. People who love Ramen Jiro are called  “Girorian” as passionate fans. The amount of ramen Jiro is huge, so there is a rumor that the calorie exceeds 2000 kcal, it is a very powerful ramen.

However, it seems that there are many people who do not know how to Jiro. In Ramen Jiro there are rules for ordering and asking the shop assistance. So I will introduce how to enjoy, eat and arrange, so that anyone can enjoy eating.

First of all, Ramen Jiro is very popular, so you have to queue for your turn. In Tokyo there are some shops of Ramen Jiro, it depends on branch shops but you have to wait for around 30 minutes and over.

As the manners it is not allowed to stand in line by one person for his/her friends. All people who are going to have ramen have to wait together. This is because the shop assistance can not know the number of people who eat ramen. Be sure to have all the eaters in line.When you come to the front of the shop, you will buy food tickets by a ticket vending machine. You have to prepare ready cash. Usually most Ramen Jiro shops do not accept credit cards.

Sometimes the shop assistance asks "What size do you want?" during waiting.Usually, people decide the size, buy a meal ticket and hold it, but it is necessary for the shop assistance to know the amount of noodles to boil, so you will be asked before entering the shop.

There are two answers: "Shou" which means small size and "Dai" which means large size. Please be careful to answer easily. Even Shou is about twice the noodles of normal ramen shops, you have to eat 300g-noodle, so it is safe for beginners to buy "Shou". If you order "Dai" you will suffer from the amount of noodle. It depends on the branch shop, you can also say "less" or "half noodles". If you are not confident whether or not to eat all of noodles, please tell it to the shop assistance.

 You learn how to Ramen Jiro as follows:



You can order topping as follows:
Ninniku (garlic)
Yasai (vegetable)
Seabura (backfat)
Karame (seasoning)
Astonishingly they are all for free, but you must not to get greedy, you have to see the monster ramen like this.

The price is very reasonable in any branch shop. A rumor says that if you eat Ramen Jiro three times you will be addictive to it unconsciously.

Shibuya scramble crossing is a sight worth seeing.

Shibuya ia a popular town among young people alongside of Shinjuku, Ikebukuro. There are famous department stores, which are Seibu, Tokyu, 109, Parco etc. Shibuya is conveniently located in terms of public transportation. There are Yamanote Line, Saikyo Line, Shonansinjuku Line, Narita express,Keio Inokashira Line and several subways at Shibuya station. When you come to Shibuya you will get lost at the platform. Even people living in Tokyo do not know everything of Shibuya station probably.

 

Shibuya ia a date spot for couples. They can enjoy shopping, movies, lunch, dinner and so on. Shibuya station is always crowded by commuters, travelers, young people dropping across Shibuya. Couples usually go to a meeting spot that is called "Hachiko Mae". Hachiko is a dog made by bronze. Mae means "in front of". I do not know the details of Hachiko unfortunately.

You can see Shibuya scramble crossing close by the bronze statue. The scramble crossing in front of Shibuya Station is used by about 500,000 people a day and the number of people can reach 3,000 people during green light time at peak time. It is a natural sight for Japanese who are familiar with Shibuya, but it is strange for foreign tourists to pass without collision. There are many people who come to see this intersection. Along with Times Square in New York, it is "the most famous intersection in the world".



There are several view spots of Shibuya scramble crossing. Most people take pictures from coffee shops around the intersection. it is OK. I recommend you to watch at the route from the ticket gate of Keio Inokashira Line to the ticket gate of Yamanote Line（Tamagawaguchi ticket gate). The route is a part of Mark City Shibuya. It is for free of course.

I recommend you not to go to Shibuya scramble crossing during the festival such as Halloween,World Cup etc. The place is very crowded by young people and chaotic as follows.

Cat cafe, Neko cafe makes me feel very happy

When I was a child, one day my parents brought a small pretty kitten from somewhere. They told me that their friend had a cat, and it bred some kittens, so my mother got one of them for free. I could not imagine that a small kitten would stay at my home every day. I was excited that I knew my family would have a pet. The small kitten got used to my house, but unfortunately one day it went out from my house and did not return to us.

I felt very sad, my sister cried a lot for a while. Probably my pet got lost and could not find my house again. After the incident every time I saw a cat on the street, I remembered a small kitten which my family devoted a lot of attention to.

Now when I want to touch and do petting a pretty cat I usually use a cat cafe which is called Neko cafe in japanese. Neko cafe recently comes to be recognized in Japan. There was not such a cafe a few decades ago. I lived in an isolated house, so my family could have a pet without permission. If I lived in an apartment building I could not have a pet. If I wanted to have a pet in it, I had to get a permission from a landlord. It is too much work for us. In Tokyo it is difficult to live in an isolated house, because it costs more money than living in an apartment building and it means almost you can not have a pet. I have heard that there are apartment buildings which allow residents to have a pet, but I have never seen them with my eyes.

I knew the existence of Neko cafe for the first time on the internet about ten years ago. At that time I lived in an apartment building, and I began to feel excited to see Neko cafe. It was located in Kichijoji. Kichijoji is a big town which is famous for Inokashira park, GHIBLI MUSEUM, various department store which are MARUI, Paruko, Coppice, Tokyu. When I went shopping in Kichijoji with my wife. I saw Neko cafe "calico". I asked her to enter with me.

In Neko cafe you can see a lot of pretty cats!


The price is determined based on dwell time.
30 minutes 700 yen
60 minutes 1200 yen
90 minutes 1500 yen
120 minutes 1800 yen
150 minutes 2000 yen
And you can enjoy various drink at low price.




Calico is very popular among men and women of all ages, so you may stand in line to enter Calico. Calico is safe for all ages, it is rare as Neko cafe. Usually there is age limit for entering Neko cafe. You can enjoy lovely cats with a baby.