r_pendragon's journal

I should preface this entry by mentioning that I'm an English teacher, and I live just outside of Tokyo, Japan.

My apartment has been seeming rather naked, just stretches of bare walls and tatami mats, so I spent today (a national holiday and therefore my day off) wandering around the pseudo-mall that's one train stop away from mine.

Money has been tight recently, particularly since I just returned from a brief excursion to Seoul, so I dodged the throngs of middle-class suburbanites who were frequenting the home stores like "Nitori" (think "Bed, Bath and Beyond"), and wound my way over the the 100 yen store.

100 yen stores (or hyakuenya in Japanese) are quite possibly an even better invention than Swiss cheese, especially for the beleaguered, financially struggling foreigner. Similar in principle to the American dollar store, they're somehow better-- perhaps it's the delight in the different things available (a ramen bowl, noren curtains, or a beckoning cat-- special deal just for you, only 100 yen!), or maybe it's the fact that, in a hyakuenya, you're suddenly anonymous.

It's very common for me to get stares in Japan; all foreigners do, and I have the added bonus of being rather tall. In department stores, everyone assumes you're a tourist, and there's a certain friendly tolerance as long as you buy-something-and-leave-now-please.

But in a 100 yen store, you're clearly a resident-- no tourist would set foot in there, unless they really had need of a pack of 30 lime green hangers or bargain basement ramen bowls. Additionally, you're just one of the crowd, part of a seething mass rifling through a bin looking for a futon cover that isn't _quite_ as abysmally ugly as all the others.

I bought windchimes, poster tack, and some throw rugs.... It was a well-spent afternoon in the sense of time, and definitely well-spent in the financial sense-- only ¥600!

-Rachel