100-YEN SHOPS

100-Yen Shops in Japan: Daiso, Seria and Can Do Compared

Written in Japan. Most items are 110 yen including tax, which is roughly 75 US cents at 150 yen to the dollar.

The base price is 100 yen plus 10 per cent consumption tax, so almost everything rings up at 110 yen. Larger stores also stock 220, 330 and 550 yen lines, clearly marked. Quality surprises visitors, and for a shopping trip this is the highest-value stop in the country.

Which chain for what

Fifteen finds under 110 yen worth the suitcase space

Chosen because they are flat, light, and hard to buy at the same price at home.

1. Sticker sheets, including seasonal and regional designs
2. Sticky notes in shapes and sizes not sold abroad
3. Chopstick rests in glazed ceramic
4. Blotting paper booklets
5. Fine metal grater for ginger and daikon
6. Sesame grinder
7. Silicone bento cups and sauce bottles
8. Small ceramic dishes for soy sauce and pickles
9. Nail files in multi-packs
10. Tenugui cotton cloths with printed patterns
11. Bag clips and food sealing clips
12. Folding shopping bag that packs to a pouch
13. Hair clips and sectioning clips
14. Drawer dividers that fold flat
15. Lens and screen cleaning cloths

Seven stationery buys that weigh almost nothing

Stationery is the category where Japan is genuinely different, and it slips into a laptop sleeve instead of eating luggage space.

• 0.38 mm gel pens. The fine tip is standard here and unusual elsewhere. Sold singly and in sets.
• Erasable gel pens. Widely available; the refills are the cheap part.
• Sticky-note tabs in translucent film, for marking pages without damaging them.
• Washi tape. Flat, light, and the patterns rotate seasonally.
• Slim notebooks with grid or dot rulings.
• Clear folders with regional or character prints. They also protect receipts and boarding passes.
• Mechanical pencil leads in 0.3 and 0.5 mm.

Eight beauty tools worth trying first at 110 yen

The point of buying these here is that you can test a shape or a format for 110 yen before paying ten times as much for the same thing at home.

• Makeup sponges, wedge and teardrop
• Small brushes for powder and concealer
• Sectioning clips for applying treatments
• Eyelash curler — pack it in a checked bag
• Eyebrow razors and trimmers — checked bag only
• Nail files and buffers
• Blotting paper
• Cotton pads, including the thin layered kind used for lotion masks

Tools only. This page does not cover Japanese medicines, and cosmetics are discussed on the drugstore page.

Ten kitchen tools that beat bulkier Western versions

These are here because they do the same job in less drawer space. Prices run from 110 to 550 yen, about 75 cents to $3.70.

1. Flat metal grater that lies in a drawer instead of standing in a cupboard
2. Slim Y-shaped peeler
3. Sesame grinder
4. Silicone lids that fit several pan sizes
5. Stackable rectangular food containers
6. Rice paddle that stands on its own
7. Drop lid for simmering, in silicone or aluminium
8. Slim ladle and slotted spoon set
9. Egg piercer and cooking timer
10. Narrow bottle brush for water bottles

What to leave on the shelf

Suitcase space runs out faster than money does, so the honest answer is that some of the best items are the ones not to buy.

• Ceramics and glassware. Heavy, easy to chip, and a poor use of a kilo. Mugs and bowls are the classic mistake.
• Liquids. Cleaning products and detergents leak in a suitcase and some cannot fly at all.
• Anything you already own. Folding boxes and storage bins are excellent and also sold everywhere at home.
• Aerosols. Pressurised cans are limited by airlines. Check before you buy.

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Next: konbini snacks and prices and the drugstore beauty aisle.