Greetings,

I was curious about a particular type of shop in Japan, considering it's a recycling conscious country I assume they exist, but I haven't seen much about them.

What I'm asking about has many different titles so I'll just ramble off a few from Wikipedia - charity shop, (Salvation Army) thrift shop, hospice shop, resale shop - not to be confused with discount shops, 100? stores or 'vintage' stores, I'm just talk'n about good old used stuff/clothes at low cost.

In general are they: numerous, clean, trustworthy, reasonably priced, well stocked/used, etc.


Also, just to round out the topic a bit, are thing like flea markets or garage sales common, or exist at all?

Many thanks!

They are called "recycle shops" in Japan..

Flea markets and garage sales are not so popular.. would be too embarrassing for all concerned and nobody wants old stuff from someone else...

Our man made a video about recycle shops:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToLGXPfRRhw

There are several recycle stores, but you do have to look for them. Most of the bigger cites have them, here in Yamagata-ken I have been to a few such as the one in Yonezawa and Yamagata City. Have to admit they do sell some nice stuff and very good prices. However, as stated in another post most Japanese will now shop at the recycle store.

Depending on what you are looking for house items, clothes, or sporting goods they are a great buy and sometimes in the original box. As an example I paid 300? for a solid wooden computer desk and chair. This may never happen again, but we also found a nice chair for my office of 150?. Depending on where you live the selection is very different.

In Yamagata, one store sells used furniture and appliances only, but you have to have a way to get them home. It is a big saving if you only plan to be in Japan for a short time or if you just need a second refrigerator to store items since they are so small here. I think they are worth checking out.