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.