100 Yen Shops

100 Yen Shops or the hyakuen shoppu are  the best place to pick up a bargain and you can find some really good value and often very unusual products, and as the name suggest all for only 100 yen which is an absolute bargain.

There are quite a few different chains of the 100 Yen shop throughout Japan, the biggest ones are Daiso, Cando, Seria, Watts and Kyushu which is actually a 99 yen shop. These shops stock just about anything you can imaging paying 100 yen for and some things you can’t believe. Most stock a huge array of clothing, stationery, house wares, toys, food and drinks. The 100 yen store is the perfect place to pick up a few Hello Kitty or Pokemon novelties for your friends back home.

The Daiso Industries Co Ltd 100 Yen chain has over 1500 stores and opens on average 40 new stores every month, so it isn’t hard to find a 100 Yen store, and like all good things are moving to other parts of Asia.

One thing to watch though, the 100 Yen is usually before tax so the purchase is going to cost you another 5% to cover the consumption tax, but either way you are usually getting a pretty good deal for your 100 Yen. The secret of the 100 Yen chains is volume, they sell huge quantities and buy their products from countries like China and Brazil which have low production labour, so with a little bit of mark-up the stores make a great profit and pass on a good deal to their customers. It should be noted some things are not as cheap as you would find elsewhere especially food, but for 100 yen who’s complaining.

Many of the stores are not much bigger than a large convenience store but in some of the major centers they can be multi-storey and as big as any huge department store. You can find them just about everywhere, in a subway, in an arcade, on a corner or in large shopping complexes.

For the traveler the 100 yen shop can be invaluable, its a great place to pick up batteries for your camera or walkman, some cheap souvenirs, some new toiletries and a bite to eat. The stores are usually laid out the same with the things you need like drinks and food up the back of the store so you are guided past all the ’ bargains’ too good to pass off along the way. Who could resist Hello Kitty toilet paper or chopsticks with puppies on them for 100 yen!

Now one thing to watch in many cases you get what you pay for and for 100 Yen you can’t always expect too much quality. Stain removers, well they might just make a stain, detergents might make your dishes greasy and stitching or buttons on your clothing may come loose but there are plenty of good deals to be had.