Best online shopping sites in Japan

Photo credit: Logo vector created by jcomp – www.freepik.com

 

—-Table of contents—-
1. 10 best Japanese online shopping sites
2. Comparison
    Details of each website
3. Rakuten Ichiba, Amazon Japan & Yahoo Japan
4. @cosme
5. ZOZOTOWN
6. Yodobashi Camera
7. Bic Camera
8. Matsumoto Kiyoshi
9. Mitsukoshi Isetan, Takashimaya & Daimaru Matsuzakaya
10. Japanese popular products

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Writer ♡ Japanese and lives in Tokyo, Japan ♡ in her 30s ♡ loves made in Japan products ♡ loves cosmetics floors at department stores

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Photo credit: Business psd created by jcomp – www.freepik.com

There are many people around the world who make the most of online shopping now, and like other countries, there are many online shops in Japan. Out of the numerous shops, I chose the 10 best Japanese online shopping sites on my own judgement.

I believe the most convenient websites for both people living in Japan and people who wish to purchase Japanese products from other countries are Rakuten Ichiba and Amazon Japan.

Rakuten has many services other than e-commerce services such as an international package forwarding service (“Rakuten Global Express“). One of the disadvantages is that not all the pages are available in English on Rakuten Ichiba. Order pages are available in English, but product detail pages are not non Japanese speakers-friendly. 

On the other hand, Amazon has all the pages in English, and it would be easy to use for users who use Amazon’s services in their own countries.

On the whole, there are just a few online shops which welcome customers from other countries, which means the websites are not designed for non-Japanese speaker users. Please see this page if you wish to purchase Japanese products from outside of Japan. 4 ways to purchase Japanese products are explained. 

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Comparison among the 10 online shopping sites is as follows:

<Explanatory note>

Languages

• J: Japanese
• E: English
• 简・繁: Chinese
• K: Korean

Available for people living outside of Japan

• ◯：Available for people both living in Japan and outside of Japan, and some items are eligible for international shipping
• △：Signing up by people living outside of Japan is not explicitly prohibited, but the website is designed for Japanese-speakers. Does not ship internationally, either.
• ×：Does not allow people living outside of Japan to create an account

Website	Deals in	Languages	Available for people living outside of Japan
Rakuten Ichiba	Clothes / Cosmetics / skincare products / home appliances / daily necessities / general goods / groceries etc…	Mainly in J (partially in E & C)	◯
Amazon Japan		J / E / 简	◯
Yahoo Japan		J	◯
@cosme	Cosmetics / skincare products	J	△
ZOZOTOWN	Clothes / cosmetics /general goods	J	×
Yodobashi Camera	Home appliances / daily necessities	J	△
Bic Camera		J / E	×
Matsumoto Kiyoshi	Drugs / cosmetics / skincare products / daily necessities	J / E / 简 / 繁/ K	×
Mitsukoshi Isetan	Clothes / accessories / general goods / groceries	J / E / 简 / 繁	◯
Takashimaya		J	△
Daimaru Matsuzakaya		J	△

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• The top 3 e-commerce websites in Japan
• Some items are eligible for international shipping 
• Available for those who live outside of Japan

Rakuten Ichiba

• Most popular e-commerce website in Japan
• More than 300,000,000 items are put on sale 
• Rakuten has a forwarding service which can be used with Rakuten account 
• Further information on Rakuten Ichiba: Rakuten – Japanese Best Shopping Site

Amazon Japan

Photo credit: https://www.amazon.co.jp 

• The biggest e-commerce website in the world, and many people are familiar with its services
• More than 300,000,000 items are put on sale on Amazon Japan
• All the pages are available in English and Chinese as well as Japanese

Yahoo Japan

Photo credit: https://shopping.yahoo.co.jp/ 

• The third biggest e-commerce websites in Japan
• Available only in Japanese

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Photo credit: https://www.cosme.com/?rmk=1

• The biggest online shop which mainly deals in cosmetics and skincare products
• Cosmetics and skincare products sold at department stores are also available on the shop
• @cosme runs its official online shop on Rakuten Ichiba, and therefore you can shop with your Rakuten account ➡︎ Visit now

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Photo credit: https://zozo.jp

• One of the biggest online shopping sites for clothes
• Services are available only for those who live in Japan

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Photo credit: https://www.yodobashi.com

• Deals in daily necessities, home appliances, general goods and things like that
• Shipping costs for domestic delivery are free on all the products
• Signing up by those who live outside of Japan is not explicitly prohibited
• Does not provide international shipping services

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Photo credit: https://www.biccamera.com/bc/main/

• Deals in daily necessities, home appliances, general goods and things like that
• Bic Camera’s online shop is available only for those who live in Japan, but it has an official online shop on Rakuten Ichiba, and therefore you can shop with your Rakuten account ➡︎ Visit now
• Highly recommended if you wish to purchase home appliances

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Photo credit: https://www.matsukiyo.co.jp/store/online

 

• Online shop of one of the biggest drugstores in Japan
• Deals in skincare products and cosmetics, too
• Services are available only for those who live in Japan

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• Top 3 department stores in Japan
• Deals in cosmetics sold at department stores, clothes from major brands, general goods, accessories, and groceries

Mitsukoshi Isetan

Photo credit: https://www.mistore.jp/shopping

• Partially available in English and Chinese in addition to Japanese
• Online shop specializes in cosmetics and skincare products is also available (ID and password for Mitsukoshi Isetan online shop can be used on this shop, too) ➡︎ https://meeco.mistore.jp/meeco/

Takashimaya

Photo credit: https://www.takashimaya.co.jp/shopping/

• Available only in Japanese
• Runs an online shopping site in Singapore (Shipping within Singapore only) : https://www.takashimaya.com.sg 

 

Daimaru Matsuzakaya

Photo credit: https://www.daimaru-matsuzakaya.jp

• Available only in Japanese
• Suited for purchasing gifts

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