SHIGA SURVIVAL GUIDE: THE GUIDE-shopping and entertainment:shopping

Being one of the major economic powers in the world, there is no shortage of places to buy and spend your money in Japan. In this section you will find some highlights of the shopping on offer in the Shiga and Kyoto area.

DEPARTMENT STORES

OTSU:
Parco:5-minute walk toward Lake Biwa from Keihan Zeze Station or JR Zeze Station. Inside you will find Tower Records, Kinokuniya Book Store (a selection of English language novels, texts. dictionaries, and Japananese language learning materials), Otsu 7 Cinema (the largest theater in Shiga), along with the latest in fashion for young poeple.
Seibu: "Classiest" department store in Shiga. Across from Parco. Houses a good food selection, which includes some imported foods. Body Shop. Raplph Lauren.
Opa: Across the street from Hama Otsu Station. Selection of fast food stores and take-out. Inexpensive Italian restaurant (Cappriciosa) with portions large enough for two. Grocery with imported foods.
Aquas:Between Keihan Shimanoseki Station and Hama Otsu Station, next to the Biwako Hotel. Variety of entertainment facilities and restaurants (several Asian restaurants). Cinema. Bowling. Karaoke. Large rental CD/video store.

KUSATSU:
A Square: 5 minute walk from Kusatsu Station. Fast food restaurants (Subway, Lotteria, McDonald's) and an excellent Italian restaurant (Giornata). Jeugia Music Store. Dio World, a large home supplies store with about everything you may want to buy. Fashion.
Kintetsu: Outside Kusatsu Station. Body Shop. Fashion. Grocery.

MINAMI HIKONE:
Viva City: Across from Minami Hikone Station. Fashion. Karaoke. Bowling. Cinema. Toys'R'us.

Inside the Kyoto Station Building you will find a maze of stores and restaurants, and even the occassional art exhibit. The area around Keihan Sanjo Station in Kyoto also provides excellent shopping, restaurants and nightlife (see the entertainment section for more details).

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MUSIC

The most popular music in Japan is domestic and music imported from the United States. However, many music stores provide a selection of popular music from around the world. Tou can find a store selling (and almost as many renting) CDs in almost any town, but the following offer a larger selection:

Tower Records: Inside Parco Department Store near Zeze Station. Also inside Vivre Department Store, on Kawaramachi, near Keihan Sanjo Station, in Kyoto.
Juegia: Inside A Square, near Kusatsu Station.
Virgin Records: Near Keihan Sanjo Station in Kyoto.

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BOOKS

There is a bookstore on every corner in Japan. However, if you are interested in books that are written in your language (i.e. not Japanese), you may have to travel a bit further than just around the block to find them. Nevertheless, there are a number of stores selling books in English in the Shiga area.

Maruzen: The Mecca for foreign book searchers in Japan (in Kyoto on Kawaramachi, near Keihan Sanjo Station). Provides an excellent selection of books in English, and a smaller selection of books in French, Spanish, German and other languages. Also houses a wide range of Japanese language textbooks and learning materials, as well as books on Japan.
Avanti: Behind Kyoto Station, on the 6th floor of the Avanti Department Store. Houses a small, but interesting selection of foriegn books.
Seibu Department Store: 5-minute walk toward Lake Biwa from Keihan Zeze Station. a small selection of books.
Kinokuniya: On the 5th floor of Parco Department Store, a 5-minute walk toward Lake Biwa from Keihan Zeze Station. A moderate selection of novels, magazines, reference books, and Japanese langauge study materials. There is also a Kinokuniya Book Store in Osaka located in the Hankyu Umeda Station which features a much larger selction of books.
Muse Import Booksellers: Books are sold at US prices, converted to yen at the daily rate. Near Kitashirakawa Betto-cho and Kitashirakawa Ko Mae bus stops in Kyoto.
CB World: In Hikone. Has a small selection of books.

Ordering books by mail can be a convenient, inexpensive way of purchasing reading materials. Many publishers of English textbooks will send you a copy for your perusal free of charge. Some of these publishers include Oxford, Cambridge, Prentice-Hall, Regents and more. Charles E. Tuttle and Company and Kodansha are two of the major publishers of books in English about Japan.

Foreign Buyers Club offers a selection of items, including books, through mail order. The FBC Bookstore Hotline telephone number is 078-857-9005. They are reletively cheap, have books in stock, and can deliver in about a week.

And for shopping on the web, there are many options. Perhaps the best known is Amazon.com. Books are sold at US prices. Shipping of course must be paid in addition to book prices,however, this is a good option for books that are hard to find in Japan, and prices still work out to be cheaper than in Japan if a larger quanity is ordered at one time.

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HOUSEHOLD GOODS

Household goods can be purchased in any department store near you. The major department store chains in Shiga Prefecture are Heiwado, Seiyu, Jusco, Saty, Seibu, A.L. Plaza, Parco, Dio World and Ayaha Dio. Heiwado and Seiyu are the most widespread and one will be found in almost any town. At Dio World (located in the A Square in Kusatsu) and Ayaha Dio (located behind Parco, near Zeze Station and many other locations in Shiga), one can find any kind of household good (excluding food items), including furniture, bicycles, repair tools, cosmetic and hygiene supplies, outdoor and indoor plants, electronics, and much more. Major department stores will include all these items in addition to groceries. Heiwado and Seiyu tend to be the most economical. Ask around to see if there is a 100 yen Shop near you, as these are becoming more widespread and can save you a lot of money in stocking your apartment.

At Heiwado you can have a HOP Card made, and at Seiyu and Seibu, you can have a Saison Card made. These will be made at the customer service desks. Whenever you make a purchase at these stores, just present the cashier with your card and your account will be credited with points according to the value of your purchase. When you reach a certain number of points, you will recieve a gift certificate for that store. Additionally, you may recieve extra points for bringing your own grocery bags. Just tell the cashier, "Fukro o motte imasu" (I have a bag) when you check out.

Shimamura is a discount store for clothing and home items and can be found in many towns. Uni-Qlo is a store featuring current fashions at discount prices and stores can be found throughout Japan (Kusatsu, Omihachiman, and Nagahama have stores in Shiga). Nakamura Super Discount is found in Yokaichi, Kibukawa, Kosei, Tehara, Ritto, and other places. It is very cheap compared to other stores.

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USED AND SECOND HAND SHOPS

Is there something you need, but you just don't have the money to spare? Try and find it at a lower price in second hand shops and flea markets. In addition, if you have something taking up some valuable space in your apartment that you'd rather have free, you can take it to these shops and markets and try to get a few yen for it. There are many second hand, or recycle shops and flea markets, each handling different types of products and articles. You can also arrange to sell articles in a small space at flea markets. The following is a list of some of the shops and markets in the Shiga area.

OTSU-SHI: Otsu Recycle Center Seiran 1-6-12 Tel: 077-533-3757
Kurashi no Takarajima Ooe 3-25-17 Tel: 077-543-0946
Recycle shop Liberty Bamba 1-4-39 Tel: 077-524-3307
Recycle Power Center Sugiura 6-40 Tel: 077-533-3151
Little Mama Hon-Katada 4-15-25 Tel: 077-574-5550
KUSATSU-SHI: Blue Ribbon Hirai 4-15-25 Tel: 077-574-5550
MORIYAMA-SHI: Puku Puku Recycle Shop Umeda 12-6 Tel: 077-583-3789
MEW Moriyama 6-9-8 Tel: 077-581-3777
RITTO-CHO: Recycle Center Shiga Anyo-ji 1-3-2 Tel: 077-553-7329
YASU-CHO: Miefa Yasu-cho Koshinohara 2176-6

KOKA-CHO: Ohara Ohara Ichiba 28-2 Tel: 0778-88-6255
Ecology Chuo 4-54 Tel: 0748-72-3525
For You Iwane 1264-4 0748-72-2400
MINAKUCHI-CHO: Free Market & Recycle Paroparo Akatsuki 5-33 Tel: 0748-63-1147
Recycle House Arashin Misuzino Chuo 72 Tel: 0748-63-0678
SHIGA-CHO: Atarashiya Yao 1958-11 Tel: 077-592-2611
NAGAHAMA-SHI: Shiga Yukabussigen Recycle Center Minami Tafu 32-4 Tel: 0749-62-2170
HIKONE-SHI: Sun Flower Hirata 892 Tel: 0749-23-4617
Yamagen Hirata 569 Tel: 0749-26-9222
KOTO-CHO: Atarashiya Koto-cho 1950 Tel: 0749-45-0955
RYUO-CHO: Recycle Terashima Ryuo-cho 855-1 Tel: 0748-57-1145

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ELECTRONICS

As Japan is one of the world's largest producers of electronics, it provides a plethora of new and exciting gadgets. Electronics can be found in all major department stores, although, before you make a purchase, it is best to shop around for the best price. There will be an electronics store in almost any town, but the best prices will be in the larger cities in Shiga, and Japan for that matter. On the nationwide scale, the Akihabara District (although for camera equipment it is best to check out the stores in Shinjuku) in Tokyo and Nipponbashi (Den Den Town) in Osaka are bursting with electronics stores with low discount prices. As Osaka is within two hours from most places in Shiga, it might be wise to check out Nipponbashi if you are planning on making a large purchase. You find everything there, from computers, stereos, portable CD and Minidisk players to washers and dryers.

Bargaining can be done to certain degree, depending on your people/Japanese abilities, though often, if you simply ask for a discount, if it is possible, one will be given (usually about 10%). You can have large items shipped to your home. Converters are available if you plan on taking purchases back to your home country. In addition, VCRs with dual systems, which play Japanese (and North American) tapes and PAL are available. For somewhere a little closer to home, one can purchase electronics in the district in Shijo (near Takashimaya Department Store in Kyoto).

Note on Computers:
Top of the line computers can be purchased at competitive prices in Japan, at a significantly lower cost than many countries in the world (slightly more expensive than America, however). If you purchase a computer at the average store in Japan, the system will, of course, be in Japanese. If you prefer an English (or other language) operating system, you will either have to have one specially ordered for you, or find a store that deals in foriegn language systems. There are stores that specialize in "international" computing systems that can be found in Nipponbashi, Akihabara, and in advertisements (Mercantile Co. Ltd. in Kobe is one such company) in English-language magazines (Kansai Time Out, etc.). For more information visit the computer section.

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FOOD SHOPPING

The local grocery/department store will offer you the most convenience in your daily shopping needs. Guide to Food Buying in Japan, by Carolyn Krause, can assist you in shopping at your local supermarket. This book can be purchased at Maruzen or Kinokuniya. Also, if you are vegetarian, AJET offers the Guide to Being and Remaining Vegetarian in Japan. It can be purchased through AJET or Tengu Foods, a mail order company. If you are looking for a certain specialiaty dish, ingrediant, or favorite snack from home, and can't find it at your local supermarket, you can try the following locations.

Liquor Mountain As the name implies you can find a wide variety of aclcoholic beverages and mixers here, however, one can also find a wide variety of foriegn (and Japanese) food here. Stores can be found around Shiga (Torahime-cho, Kusatsu-shi, Kosei-cho, Ohmi-cho, Otsu-shi). The prices are slightly cheaper than Meidi-ya
Kent Boys Eclectic store in Sanjo-Kawaramachi are in Kyoto. More European food than is found at most other import stores. It is located across from the cinemas on a side street off of Kawaramachi.
Meidi-ya The Mecca of import foods in Japan. Located in Kyoto, near Keihan Sanjo Station (just across the bridge toward Kawaramachi). This store has a wide selection of imported food items, but can be expensive.
Foreign Buyers ClubThere is a 1,500 yen membership fee. Perishables take about a week to arrive, where as non-perishables take about one month. It is advisable to order with a group of friends, as most food items come in bulk. Phone: 078-857-7944 Fax: 078-857-0559 e-mail: mail@fbcusa.com Address: 5-15-3f Koyochonaka, Higashinada-ku, Kobe 658-0032
US Direct As the name suggests, from US wharehouses directly to your house. You don't have to order by the case from US Direct. Tel: 0120-02-3460 (Toll Free)
Tengu Foods Many natural products, delivered to your door in two days. Tel: 0429-85-8751, Fax: 0429-85-8752, e-mail: tengu@gol.com Address:Umehara 50-2, Hidaka-shi, Saitama-ken 350-12.

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computers

entertainment