Clothes Shopping
One of the many things Japan is famous for is its fashion. If you can fit the Japanese standard size in clothes then you will have a field day shopping in Japan. Thrift shops are popular for people on a budget, but if you go to a full size mall you will be spending a lot of money on clothes and accessories. Japan has a lot of nice clothing and styles to choose from so definitely shop around. You can usual tell what kind of clothes a store is selling just from looking in from the outside. Find your target store and go right on in. You could easily spend 10000 yen (100 USD) in one store.
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| Popular clothing store in Japan, Uniqlo. |
Arcades
The arcades in Japan are money pits. If you are a fan of video games or arcade games then you will have a blast at the arcades in Japan. They have your typical racing games, fighting games and shooting games at the arcades, but rhythm beat games are extremely popular. Another game at the arcade is a taiko drum game. It's really fun, especially when you find a Japanese song you know in the song selection. But these games are not what empties your wallet. The claw or UFO machines are the money eaters. If you see something you really desperately want in that machine, you can bet you'll easily spend 2000 yen (20 USD). Fair warning, it will be very hard to pry your hands off the machine. It's very addicting.
Food
You'll probably spend the most money on food unless you're on a diet which then my question to you would be, why are you on vacation then? Japan is very well-known for their food, as it is very different from any other food in the world. Not only does Japan have their own food but they also like to try and improve or alter other foods from around the world. This fact makes it very difficult to pass anything food related up. Because everything is so different you want to try it all no matter if it's regular food or desserts.
Another thing that makes it hard to resist food in Japan are the very realistic food displays in the restaurant windows. Not only does it confirm that the food looks delicious but it gives you that urgency of wanting to try that food now! So be prepared to empty your wallet on food. Not because of how expensive it is but more like on how much you'll be eating (even when you're not hungry).
Video Game Shopping
For all the game collectors out there, Japan has a big gaming market. If you are looking for nice, reasonably priced video games then I have two stores for you to check out. I want to mention my favorite first, Book-Off. Book-Off is a discount store that sells used books and video games. When I found out about this store I just went nuts. I bought so many books and video games. The video games I bought were mostly Nintendo DS games since they aren't region locked. To make your video game shopping stress free, please research before going to Japan which consoles/handhelds aren't region locked so you know what games you can buy in Japanese. It's amazing how much you can buy in this store for so cheap. Love it!
My second recommendation is Super Potato, a popular store in major cities of Japan. I went to the less crowded store in Osaka. Here you will find more retro games than anything else for a fair price (I say this because in America they overprice many of the retro games). Depending on your age, you will take a trip back to your childhood in this store with all their tributes to older games. If you don't want to buy, it's still worth just looking around for the feels.
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| Inside the Super Potato store on the second floor. |
Souvenir Shopping
Whether it's for your or someone else, souvenir shopping will get to your wallet (especially if you're going to Japan for the first time). I remember going to Japan for the first time and I bought so much stuff for myself: umbrella, bento box, folding fan, and a bunch a trinkets. The places that'll get you are the tourist sights and attractions. They have streets lined up with shops specifically for tourists. What makes it harder from not going into these shops is that it is usually an open shop space; there's no door to walk into. So with these shops you can already see everything and that's how they catch you. I'm always a sucker for these stores, even now after visiting Japan so many times.
I know this wasn't as helpful as a "how to save your money" kind of blog post, but I thought it would be fun to mention all the cool stuff you will most likely blow your money on while in Japan. I always make sure to bring a separate amount of money just for leisurely spending. And who knows, maybe this will help you because now you know ahead of time all the dangers your money will be in.
Thanks for reading as always! I really appreciate it. For more Japan content, follow me on social media: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Until next time!
I know this wasn't as helpful as a "how to save your money" kind of blog post, but I thought it would be fun to mention all the cool stuff you will most likely blow your money on while in Japan. I always make sure to bring a separate amount of money just for leisurely spending. And who knows, maybe this will help you because now you know ahead of time all the dangers your money will be in.
Thanks for reading as always! I really appreciate it. For more Japan content, follow me on social media: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Until next time!