Japanese Costco

New Years line at Costco

Many of us buy our food from Costco but what do Japanese people usually buy food from? Surprisingly they go to their local super market everyday unlike most Americans who go to Costco a few times a month. However, there are some Japanese people who love Costco especially those who know about America or like American culture which is the reason why Japanese Costco is always super packed with people.

※You can use your American Costco membership when you go to Costco in Japan. All you need to do is sign something after you purchase your products. (You might not have to sign anything now since I did this over 9 years ago)

Japanese people prefer fresh over frozen. They also prefer to buy small every single day rather than buy in bulk and eat for a long period of time.

Whether you are just visiting Japan for travel or you live in Japan, I recommend to go to Costco. They have foods and snacks that you can buy in bulk only in Japan. Japanese snacks like Market O Brownie, Jagabee, or Black Thunder can be bought in bulk and you can easily share it with your friends/family when you return home.

Unfortunately there are no locations in Tokyo but the closest one is in Kawasaki which is on the edge of west Tokyo. However, it is one of the least convenient locations and one that I do not recommend to go to. The reason for this is that after getting to Kawasaki station, it takes about 40 minutes to walk to Costco or you can take a bus for about 2 dollars. This makes the transportation time longer and fee higher than some of the other costco locations. Just for your information, all Costcos in Japan are similar and vary very slightly in their products.

I live in Japan so I go to Shinmisato Costco once a month to buy various household goods and frozen foods. I recommend going to this store for various reasons. It also depends on where you are coming from but if you are coming from Tokyo Station or East Tokyo, it is the cheapest and fastest to get to. When you are there, I highly recommend buying the frozen food “Chiki Chiki Bon”. If you are here only for travel then it might be a hassel bringing it home but they might sell it at your local super market. It…