Tokyo has always been known for its good food, pop culture, and efficient public transportation, making the megacity friendly to tourists— professionals and first-timers alike.
As you get the hang of the train lines or enjoy this urban jungle while you walk along its wide pavements, it's impossible to miss shops selling various items, from toys to luxury items.
Here are some tips on where you should go to spend some of your hard-earned cash to buy personal goods or gifts for your family and friends back home.
Before we start, it's important to always bring your passport with you. This is necessary if you want to avail of the tax-free products.
Almost everybody who visits Japan will tell you to go to Don Quijote. Popularly known as DonKi, it is a discount store chain that has over 160 branches in Japan. There's even a saying going around the internet that you haven't really enjoyed Japan if you didn't go to a DonKi more than once and got its catchy theme song stuck inside your head.
You can find a variety of items –from food to gadgets to jewelry— you name it. For pasalubong, you can buy fridge magnets, shirts, and various flavors of KitKats.
Japanese people resell their items. The good thing is they take good care of their belongings, so when you buy one, you can expect it to still be in good condition. You can purchase pre-loved items (including luxury brands) from Bookoff, Hardoff, Second Street, ABC Mart (for a mix of new and pre-loved), BIC Camera (for tech stuff), Daikoku-Ya Brand-Kan (for pre-loved Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel, and Hermes), or the stores in Ueno, Shibuya, and Akihabara. These stores ensure the items are in good condition before they accept them. They also test (for gadgets) and clean them before reselling them.
I can attest to the excellent working condition of the Nintendo Switch games I bought from Bookoff in Akihabara. It felt like the original owner had one playthrough and then sold the game. I also saw two tourists buying two PlayStation 4 units worth just over ₱7,000 in total.
If you are a fan of Pokémon, the highest-grossing media franchise in history, you can climb the 6th floor of the Shibuya Parco for the Pokémon Center. You can find the famous statue of a sleeping Mewtwo inside a glass tube by the entrance. Inside, you can choose from a wide selection of plushies, clothing items, games, phone accessories, and other merchandise based on the different creatures in this series.
On the same floor of the Shibuya Parco, you can find the Nintendo World, which sells different merchandise based on the characters created by this video game company, including the ever-popular Super Mario franchise.
If you want new branded items, go to the Gotemba Premium Outlets. Almost everything is there, from Rolex, Coach, Prada, and GAP. It's going to be a long journey, though. It took me over three hours to get there (one train to Kozu, transfer to another to Gotemba, and a free shuttle from the Gotemba station that leaves every 15 minutes until 40 minutes after the shops close).
The trip is worth it because they sell the goods at discounted prices. I was able to buy a pair of Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 38 and a pair of Nike Air Max 90 SE for just almost ₱6,000 in total.
The bonus is you can also enjoy a view of Mount Fuji as you go around Gotemba.
A reminder: When you buy tax-free goods in Japan, especially food and medicine, avoid consuming them in the said country.
Just do it
Finally, the slogan of the famous shoe brand is the same thing I can advise to all those who want to visit Japan— Just do it.
Your hotel will have the necessary toiletries. If not (which rarely happens), the nearest Konbini, the local term for convenience stores, will have them.
You can get by in Tokyo with food from Konbini (7-Eleven, Lawson, and Family Mart). If you want, you can look for the nearest Matsuya or Yoshinoya for cheap but good set meals.
There are not many fluent English-speaking people in Japan. Even so, it's not difficult to communicate with them. They use their hands to point or make gestures to make things easier. There are also signs you can point at if you want certain services, like heating your food in the microwave. At the end of it all, they're willing to help you with a smile.
It's good to have everything planned out to the dot, but following just a general guideline is part of the adventure, too! That's what I did.
What's important is you enjoy your trip.