Japanese Pet Peeve: Shopping

I should preface this by saying that I mostly dislike shopping in general, not only in Japan. I could make a 'pet peeve' list about shopping for any location. However, today I'll focus on shopping in big cities in Japan.

The crowds

Going to a popular shopping spot on a weekend is no joke. Most of them have absolutely ridiculous numbers of people. If you go anywhere near lunch time, people will be sitting outside restaurants, lining up waiting for a place. People will line up half an hour to buy a particularly popular brand of donut or cake.

Every shop you go into will become a labyrinth in which every potential exit is blocked by human bodies. In general, shops are not spacious even when empty of people, so there are an awful lot of logjams. Going in for a casual browse becomes very frustrating.

I've realised how lucky I was in Yokohama to have Mondays off.

Shouting

This is absolutely the worst thing. Unlike in most of Asia, Japanese shopkeepers don't badger you to buy things. However, they do a lot of general, random shouting.

'Welcome!'

'Please look around!'

'How about some takoyaki? It's delicious!'

'Come and see these great specials!'

Girls' clothes shops are the worst in this regard, because there is obviously some kind of shopkeeper training course that teaches girls how to adopt the loudest, most nasal voice possible. I can't convey how awful this is if you haven't heard it for yourself. If you're within 10m of one when she shouts 'irasshaimase!! douzo goran kudasai!', you'll get a fright. Sometimes these girls are so piercing I actually wince in pain; it's all I can do not to clap my hands over my ears.

Food stores are also full of shouting, but are generally less nasal, featuring lots of men bellowing in the most gung-ho manner possible. In food halls, there can be quite a cacophony from competing stalls.

In pretty well every kind of store, the staff will say 'irasshaimase' (which basically means 'welcome' and doesn't require a response) when you walk past them. In some stores, where the staff are busy laying out stock or folding clothes, they will just shout 'irasshaimase' at random intervals, whether there is someone new nearby or not. When you leave, someone will usually say or shout 'arigatou gozaimashita!' (thank you!).

This in itself is fine, it just depends on the manner in which it is said; sometimes it's said in such an aggressive voice that it doesn't make me feel welcome at all!

The music

Another pet peeve is that some stores have their own jingle or advertising slogan, which will be repeated again and again over the speakers. 

'Nanaco de kao kao seven seven! Seven Eleven, ii kibun!'

'One price shop! One price shop de gozaimasu!'

'Tako tako tako! Tako tako tako!'

This is just about bearable if you're in the shop for less than one minute. I don't know how the sales staff can work there without going stark, staring mad.

My current supermarket is quite bad. Most of the supermarket is blessed with a repetitive, perky jingle. Imagine the chorus of 'This is the Day that the Lord Has Made' played on the tin whistle, converted into midi format, and played on loop, all day every day. However, different parts of the supermarket have different annoying jingles. While waiting at the checkout you get to listen to the 'takoyaki odango' song, which I always leave the store singing. -_-

The good

To be fair, there are also good points about shopping in Japan. Indeed, in most cases, I actually prefer shopping in Japan to shopping anywhere else.

Some products are cheaper than back home. In particular, books, shoes and alcohol. ^_^ There are more shopping venues to choose from, and sales assistants are usually pretty helpful. For me as a short, fairly small person, it's easier to find nice-fitting, reasonably-priced trousers and shoes.

When you walk around shopping areas, you can also find a lot of interesting things, like odd food, funny posters, or products you don't find back home. Today I saw a Japanese sword store, with swords selling for around $10,000 each. There are lots of cute gift stores, and food shopping is fun. 100 yen stores have a lot of good stuff with which you can equip your apartment.

The good shopping spots are in interesting hub areas, usually easy to access by train, so when you go shopping you feel like you're in the hum of Japanese life.