Observations of Japanese Stores

So after living here even just a few months you begin to notice that some Japanese stores have names written in Romanji (Japanese sounds in Roman lettering). Some stores have name in English; and this is sometimes hilarious. There is a second hand store called Hard Off. I've seen a few in different locations so I guess its a chain store. In a town near Misawa there is a Hard Off located next to a Wonder Goo. Japanese people get their hair cut or taken care of about once a month. There are a TON of "Cut and Perm" stores. I've even seen a Cut And Parm.Anyway, I like the second hand stores. Most new clothes and items are very expensive so its a good idea to shop at a second hand store. There is one that Anthony and I go to a lot called Game Suko. They have a large clothing section and video games, books, music, toys, action figures and a whole other mess of stuff. The other store we frequent is the Daiso. Its a lot like Big Lots or the Dollar Tree. I love that Japanese have smaller plastic and glass containers than American stores. Sometimes you only have a cup or half a cup of left over food and if you're putting into a seemingly huge container you're more likely to just throw it away. Wasteful.

The stores inside malls and mini-malls sometimes do not have walls separating them, so you have to be careful to look for little partitions sticking out from the ceiling. I've seen many puzzles of all kinds for sale at stores, along with the frames for the puzzles. I think it must be a very popular past time. There is a pet store in the local mall. You would not believe how expensive pets are in Japan. When people buy a pet from a store like that they are really making an investment. I guess it would deter people from purchasing a pet and not taking care of it.I saw a little munchkin kitten that was over $1000!!  

There are a lot of Pachinko parlors here. There is one near our house called Jam Friend Club. It looks like a big disco or something. Adults go to play games. I think its like gambling but I've never been in one because they allow smoking and sometimes it feels like all Japanese men and a good part of the Japanese women smoke cigarettes.  Although the contents aren't as potent as American cigarettes, I still don't like the smell or the lack of good clean air.