Book Off

There is a popular used bookstore chain in Japan called “Book Off“.

Actually, they buy and sell more than just used books and magazines…they also buy and sell used CDs and video games.

The name of the store might sound funny to you…but it makes sense to Japanese people because “off” in this sense means (in Japan) “discount” (as in: a certain percentage  off of the price).

This company has become so successful that they now have stores that sell other various used things. For example, they have stores called “Soft Off” that buy and sell used computer software. Likewise, there’s “Hard Off” for used computer hardware, “Garage Off” has car parts and accessories, and “Hobby Off” is a used hobby shop.

They have a few other types of shops, as well…but you get the idea.

While I was out yesterday, I passed by this “Book Off” branch and thought I’d write a blog post about this chain of stores:

With the world’s economy the way it is, stores like these and ¥100 shops, like “Daiso” (click here to read my post with a video of “Daiso” at the end), are becoming more popular.

So I looked at the “Book Off” website, and was surprised to learn that they have overseas branches in 韓国 (Korea), Canada, Paris, New York, Hawaii and four stores in California!

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since I learned that the Japanese book store 「紀伊国屋書店」 (Kinokuniya) has branches in many countries including Singapore, Australia and America, and the Japanese ¥100 shop 「ザ・ダイソー」 (The Daiso) also has branches in Canada, America and other countries (click here to read my post about Daiso‘s overseas stores).

Have you ever been to a Japanese store such as Book Off, Kinokuniya, The Daiso, or another one in a country outside of Japan? Is it the same as the original store in Japan?

Bike ride…

Yesterday we went on a bike ride to a park not too far from our house.

At the park, my kids caught 蛙 (frogs) and 蝉 (cicadas).

They’re girls and they’re teenagers…but they’ll still go out with their parents. And they still wanna catch bugs.
I’m glad! As their father, they’ll never grow up…in my mind!

Here’s a video of my second daughter holding a couple of 蝉 (cicadas) she caught. At the end, she asks me 「もういい？」 (“Enough?”):

There’s a Japanese style garden at the park.

(A wooden lantern)	(Looking thru a stone lantern)

Here’s a couple of shots of the river near the park:

And here are a couple of videos that I took of trains going over the bridge:

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One the way home from the park we stopped at 「ザ・ダイソー」 (“The Daiso“) for a couple things.

Do you know “The Daiso” (usually just called “Daiso”, or 百均 (Hyakkin (which is an abbreviation for 百円均一 (Hyakuenkinitsu), or 百円ショップ (¥100 Shop))?

There are other ¥100 shops…and even a ¥99 shop. But Daiso is almost synonymous with ¥100 shop.

Daiso is basically the Japanese version of the American One Dollar Store. (¥100 is almost equal to US$1)…but Daiso sells better merchandise. Better quality and more useful.

So, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to learn that they’ve expanded overseas.

There are now Japanese Daiso stores in Korea, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, and the west coast of Canada and America (among other countries)!

Here’s the Daiso website.

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It’s obvious by their manners…but now it’s official:
Japanese travelers are the best tourists.