Nov 09, 2022
Buying Holiday Decorations, Wrapping Paper, and Lights in Tokyo
The holidays in Tokyo are a bright and colorful affair! If you are looking for decorations, lights, or other holiday materials, there are a few good sources you should know about.
Costco (Wholesale Warehouse)
If you have a lot of gifts to wrap, you will need a lot of paper, and the best place to buy a lot of anything is Costco. You can get decorations and paper there, but you are looking at bulk sizing and a small selection. Unless you buy something expensive like a lawn reindeer, you may be better served elsewhere, but they stock such things. Please note this is a membership required to shop at Costco.
TheFlyingPig.com
Reasonable prices on imported groceries and general merchandise in Japan? When pigs fly! But that was before Costco Wholesale opened its doors here. Afterward, two problems were left: not everyone can get to a Costco warehouse easily, and Internet ordering isn’t available. In a nutshell, TheFlyingPig.Com was launched to overcome these issues.
100 Yen Stores
There is a range of budget stores across Japan; the most popular ones are Daiso, Seria, and Can Do. The name refers to the price of many of the items. You can find Christmas decorations in most of these stores beginning from Halloween ends, including small Christmas trees, decorations, stickers, and other trinkets.
The Daiso
Daiso is most people’s favorite, as they tend to be much bigger than other shops and offer a wider variety of goods.
Seria
While not as big as Daiso, these are still pretty big and offer a wide variety of goods.
Lawson 100
These are the low end of the scale. They offer significantly fewer small items; instead, they offer cheap foods. You can get some good seasonings and pre-packaged mixes there cheaply.
Shimo Jima (Variety, Office Supply, Stationery)
Shimo Jima is a wrapping materials wholesaler who provides consumer products such as stationery, store decoration merchandise, and wrapping goods. The Fushimi/Marunouchi area shop is many floors and holds a good chance of getting the decorations you are looking for or a great option if you are looking for “materials” like boxes, ribbons, etc. They are pretty cheap to top it all off!
You can find Shimo Jima Stores in multiple locations in Tokyo, www.shimojima.co.jp/eng/stores
IKEA
Sweden’s answer to cheap furniture and knick-knacks also stocks Christmas decorations of every shape and sort to make your home holiday-ready. You can probably find it here, from candles to baubles and light strings if you or the elves need it.
Don Quijote (Cheap Variety Store)
Don Quijote stores are huge and seem to stock everything. Christmas decorations may be touch and go depending on which shop you try, but you can assume they will have SOMETHING for you.
You can find Don Quijote Stores in multiple locations in Tokyo, www.donki.com/en/store/shop_list
Loft (Variety Store)
It is a great store and a fantastic place to kill a couple of hours and find decorations and Christmas lights. There are many locations; look for a super LOFT near you!
Tokyu Hands (Variety Store)
I found Tokyu Hands described as “the description-defying Tokyo institution that sells just about everything you could ever need and is loved by everyone who visits,” and I have a hard time arguing that. It is a great store and a fantastic place to kill a couple of hours. There are many locations around Tokyo and Japan; choose one!
Home Centers
Home Centers, more often referred to as “home improvement centers” or “hardware stores” outside of Japan, are where you buy home and garden stuff. You can find tools, plants, kitchen utensils and appliances, furniture, and other items for use in or on your home or apartment. You can find lights, displays, and other assorted holiday decorations at many stores around the holiday season. There are many around Nagoya.
Google Maps List of Home Centers in Tokyo
Image by katsrcool (Kool Cats Photography) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
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