Clothes Shopping in Japan

Clothes shopping in Japan can be very difficult.  As a foreigner at 176.5 cm (5' 9.5"), I have a difficult time finding clothes long enough or big enough (I HAVE HIPS) to purchase in Japan.  I have had luck, however, at Uniqlo.  

NOTE: I have NOT shopped in store (or online) at Uniqlo in the States, so please let me know if something is the same there that I don't know about.  

Trying on clothes in Japan is a little bit different than the States.  

The same: 

1. Inside there is a row of fitting rooms

2. They want to know how many pieces of clothing you want to try on (you get a number) 

3.You go into your own cubicle to try the clothes on  

Different: 

1. There is only one fitting room, so men and women use the same one.  

2. There is a slightly raised platform in the cubicle and you have to remove your shoes before you stand on it, as if you were going into someone's home. It makes perfect sense.  It keeps that area where people are in their socks cleaner.  Those same socks will be touching their floor at home later that day when they leave.  

3. I went to try on a dress (yay for dresses that are supposed to be long on Japanese women!) and they gave me this: a face covering. On one hand it makes perfect sense: many women wear make up and I have seen foundation on clothes that I have wished to try on in the States and I have been grossed out.  On the other hand, I felt ridiculous! 😂

4.  This is where I don't know if Uniqlo in the States uses this technology for check out; if they do, that's awesome!  If they don't, then here's a little video.  I checked out in less than a minute.  It might have been even faster if I had their app (I should probably download it, since it seems to be my go-to store for clothes now). 

My basket of clothes.  This was filmed in winter, thus the jacket.  

SIDE NOTE: In the States, fire extinguishers are in glass boxes mounted on a wall.  In Japan, they are just sitting around in stores, sometimes not even in a holder like this one.  Why do you think this is different?  In the States it seems that there is a smaller degree of trust in individual people and so I would assume that they are behind glass so that no one uses them at the wrong time.  But in Japan trust seems to be put more in people, like people leave their shopping carts in a parking area after paying for things at Costco and waiting in line to buy food,  AND NO ONE TOUCHES ANYTHING. They also leave crane toy prizes ON TOP of the machines NOT LOCKED UP and NO ONE TOUCHES ANYTHING.  Any ideas as to what the difference is?  It's got to be cultural and perhaps based on the individualism in the States versus doing things for society as a whole in Japan.  

So what do you think of clothes shopping in Japan? Do you think the differences make for a better experience? Let me know!

Nagoya City Science Museum

We took the subway into the city to the science museum on a Japanese holiday, sports day. 

Here there are four of us crammed into a spot meant for three people.  

Outside the museum.  There is a video at the bottom of this post with a compilation of the videos I made, including the fountain.

There were a lot of interactive displays in the museum, with so much to see.  These were all on the first and second floor.  Philip and I went up alone to the higher levels as the kids were getting tired.  It's nice that they are old enough to wait by themselves now. Not pictured is the area talking about different kinds of homes and the area talking about the human body.  There was so much to see and do!

When you rubbed your hands flatly together, it felt smooth.

Mirror fun.

Bubble fun!

Metal maze.  It was similar concept to playing operation.  There is a video in the compilation at the end. 

Making bubbles in a viscous medium.  

Shooting water.

This looked like a giant hamster wheel, so we all had to try it.  It wasn't easy.  

 More mirror fun!

There was so much to see and do, we would need to visit several times to properly see everything. 

Spider Lilies in Handa

I was planning on meeting a group called CCEA at a train station to go to Handa to see the Spider Lilies and have lunch, but I got confused on the train.  Poor planning, getting on the wrong train, and getting on the train going in the wrong direction... if something could have gone wrong on a train, I did it that day! As one of my friends said, "I don't get lost, I go on adventures!"

By the time I got there, they were already done seeing the spider lilies (I was THAT late!) so I went by myself.  They had guides in orange vests taking people to the Spider Lilies, so that was nice.  The one who spoke to me knew English.  Handa also has a fox as their thing.  I believe there is a story to go with it, but I don't know it.  

First look at the Spider Lilies.

The fox slide at the playground. 

One of my favorite pictures of the day. This grandma was walking her bike along the path.  Bikes are very common here. 

Dare to be different!

 

Butterfly! I took a couple of short videos of it.

Off to the great unknown...

Rice paddies nearby.

The fox slide and snail in the distance along with this cute couple all in black.  

I thought this hollowed out log was neat.

I opted not to do any of the other activities the group had planned, but just go back home.  It was a bit of a trick getting back to the correct station.  I stupidly went into the same station I came out of.  Usually there is a way to get from one station on one side to the other.  This was so tiny, though, I didn't see any stairs to go under the tracks (that's usually the way to do it), so I went out using my Manaca (IC/train) card. Or at least tried to.  The card was mad because it knew I hadn't gone anywhere.  It buzzed at me and closed the exit.  I tried again and finally just went out. I walked to the other side and used my card to go into the station and the same thing happened.  It buzzed at me and closed the gate.  There was something that said I should use the call button, so I did.  I asked in Japanese if there was anyone who spoke English.  The answer was no. So I tried to explain in broken Japanese that I went to the wrong station "chigai eki" and IC (my Manaca/train card) wasn't working. "IC kado chigaimasu." He asked me where I was or perhaps where I was going. I told him both.  At that time a lady who spoke a little English came up behind me and talked to him.  She told me she was also going to Nagoya and that he said to just go through.  He had turned off the IC card reader/gate.  I went in and this lady and I rode to Nagoya station.  She and I had conversations in broken English and broken Japanese, including where I was from and showing her pictures I'd taken.  It was one of the few times I have had where I truly had to try and speak Japanese, even though I don't have a large vocabulary.  It felt good to try, though.  I got to Nagoya station and she had a problem leaving the station because she had gone through without using her card since it was turned off, but she quickly took care of it, there was a place right there where she paid.  She forgot her card after she paid, so someone came running after her with it.  They do that here in Japan, I have seen that more than once.  

It was a rough trip, but I got through it and got some photos out of it.  I learned a lot about the trains.  I am not afraid to ride them by myself, that's for sure! I just need to plan better! The cute station leaving Handa.