Moving to Japan for School, how do you purchase bigger items ?

[Mark_USA1]

Hello

Moving to Japan for School, Yokohama area.

I am confused on how purchasing bigger items works also how groceries works in Japan.

Let me explain, I live in the USA. If I want to purchase a Bed or Appliance.

I drive to the store, pay for it, I put in the back of my truck or car and drive it to my house.

How would this work in Japan, I have no Car/Truck. I can't carry it several miles to my apartment.

Second question, almost the same.

When we purchase groceries in the USA, we drive to the store, fill a cart with many bags of groceries, roll these
to our car. Put them in the car and drive home.

In Japan, I have no car. Maybe the grocery store it several miles away. Do I walk down the sidewalk with
bags in hand ? Can I load bags on buses or trains ?
My though is people in Japan purchase less items at one time ?
We usually have about 10 bags of food/water/toiletries loaded into our car at one time.

Thank you for any help on this.

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

First, if you're in the Yokohama area, it will be exceedingly unlikely that the nearest grocer is several miles away.
When I lived in Japan, there was a grocer in easy walking distance, and I would just buy enough to walk home with. You'll find that the shopping carriage is smaller than you're used to. Also, refrigerators, etc. You certainly won't want to buy so much stuff in a single outing.
I don't know your living arrangements, so it's important to know. If you're going there as a student, I assume your school will set you up with a place to live? That's the most likely scenario. It's important to know, because if you're on your own for finding a place to live, you need to be aware that apartments in Japan do not come equipped with refrigerators, cooking ranges/ovens, curtains, light fixtures, etc.

Is this your first time outside the US? Relax, you'll be fine. It will be different than you're used to, but Japan is about as safe a place as I can imagine.

 

[mdchachi]

Will you be alone or are you bringing a family? Regardless I suggest looking at the used market. There are always short term residents coming and going and if the timing is right you can get some good deals for things like couches, tables and beds and just about everything else. I'm not sure where the listings are these days. Probably there are Facebook groups. If you buy large used items the person you're buying from should be able to help you arrange delivery. There are a variety of delivery services. (Of course I didn't realize all this when I first moved there and I actually bought a used fridge -- about 3.5 feet high -- and carried it on the train for quite some ways to transport it back to my apartment.)

If you do decide to buy large items at a store, they can arrange delivery and even set up for you.

As for groceries, there will be plenty of places to buy groceries between the train station and your home. But yes, you can carry groceries and luggage on the train. In general you'll get used to buying less items at a time but buying more frequently. The advantage is that you'll have fresher food and no real need to "stock up" two weeks at a time. Again, if you do buy in quantity, you can get items delivered. For example, for my limited earthquake preparedness, I kept cases of liter bottles of water on hand I had 3 or 4 cases delivered at a time.

Depending on your living arrangements they may not have some of the things we consider built-in fixtures. For example, ceiling lighting and heater/air conditioner are often not included. Just FYI since you might not think to ask.

Will you have some control over where you will live? Or is it something like a dorm that you will be assigned?

 

[Majestic]

Pro tip. Learn (or copy down) your address in Japanese. Or carry it around with you on a piece of paper while you wait for your official documents (resident card, etc.) to come through. Every Japanese furniture and appliance store ships directly to customers' houses.

Groceries: as above, people don't do a week's worth of shopping and throw the mountain of food in the cargo space of the Toyota Suburban. They buy a day or two (or three) worth of food and carry it back with them, be it on a bicycle or on the bus or subway system (if they live that far from the supermarket). They buy what they can carry.

And if you know anything about Japan, you know that there is a conbini (convenience store) on every corner, and the conbini is much better than you can imagine from looking at convenience stores in the States. In the first place, the conbinis in Japan are immaculately clean and safe. There is no atmosphere of repressed criminality, or of an impending armed heist. There are no locked cabinets full of liquor and vape products. The Japanese conbini are bright and full of food and desserts and household items, and now even fresh produce. If you don't want to buy bulky items at the grocery store and carry them home, you can buy them from the nearest conbini (Lawson, Family Mart, Seven Eleven, etc...) which will probably be 200 yards or less from where you live.

Japanese live in rather compact and tidy places, and their shopping habits reflect this. Nobody has huge trucks, and most students don't have cars (or garages) and so when any big purchase is made (like a bed or a fridge) it gets delivered to the address of the student. There are options for you to have delivery made even if you are not at home to receive the package. In the worst case, if you are gone when your package arrives at your door, your delivery will get taken back to the local distribution center, which is probably a mile from your house, and the delivery company leaves a note with the details and the options available to you. You can arrange to have the item delivered later that day or the next day. Its too complicated to write down all the possible options, but suffice to say you needn't be too worried about this stuff - the store clerk should be able to help you out, especially in Yokohama. While they may not speak perfect English, you should be able to communicate well enough.