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One of our favorite places to take new students is the 百均 (hyakkin, or 100 yen store). As you might guess from the name, this store is basically the equivalent of a dollar store in the States. However, the quality and range of items on sale is amazing – these stores are often huge, and have almost everything you could need for daily life. For example:
You may be able to tell just from the EPSON, but if not, these boxes are labelled 詰め替えインク (tsumekae inku, or ink refills)! That’s right, for 100 yen (currently, about 80 cents) you can buy an ink refill pack that holds enough for about 4 refills!
Other things for sale:
The imaginatively titled ロールプレイングゲーム (Role-Playing Game)
One more:
Another great title: SFレースゲーム (SF Race Game)
They also have all kinds of housewares, USB cables, English study materials, and basically anything else you could want.
The main 100 yen store is called Daiso. They now have over 2,400 locations in Japan alone, and while they’re still thought of as a 100-yen store, they also sell 200, 500 and even 1,000 yen items. Most of the items they sell are produced in China specifically for Daiso stores. Their margins, of course, are tiny, so they make their money by selling massive quantities.
There are two big Daiso stores in Fukuoka (as well as a host of smaller ones. One is close to the school, in the Daiei Shoppers building in Tenjin.???If you come to Fukuoka, make sure to stop by! It’s the cheapest place to buy presents for the folks back home, and they’ll never know it only cost you 100 yen…
