The 13 Best Products to Buy at Daiso

Hyakkin literally means “one hundred yen” (in Japanese, hyaku-en, and also represented as ¥100 or 100円). Hyaku means “one hundred,” and “yen” is the English pronunciation of the Japanese currency, en. In a hyakkin store, all items are selling for only 100JPY. 

Despite earlier reputations, hyakkins are no longer places known as where you can pick cheap and junk stuff at. It’s also most like “convini” and “home center” in Japan. This is the place where you must go when you need something to buy. In my previous article, “How to Enjoy a Hyakkin,” I mentioned how different hyakkins are in Japan compared to overseas.

It goes without saying that Daiso is a pioneer in this industry. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Daiso ingrained the word which is Hyakkin to people in Japan. There are a lot of competitors in this day and age. Daiso makes the difference with the variety of items to them. They offer their own unique items, too. Today I’m going to talk about my recommendations for Daiso. Let’s get started!  

Check Out Large Stores!

You might know Daiso is here and there but I suggest that you should go to “large stores(大型店)” instead of ordinary ones. Large stores have many selections you choose from. You can spend a couple of hours there for fun. The company’s homepage offers English versions translated automatically, so it might not be that accurate but you can find it. The feature is to have themed displays like summer activities, Christmas holiday, camping, for emergencies and things like that. This is one of the marketing strategies in the retail industry. It’s easy to find seasonal items for consumers because of themed displays. Let’s say, themed shelves for seasonal products, like going camping, are really popular in Japan. The items in selves consist of those items that are potentially needed when you go camping. Actually, each item might be selling on each shelf in its categories but it will take a lot of time to get all the items.   

So you can save time by buying it there. Generally speaking, it’s good to know for you what the trend items are in Japan now by checking those shelves. 

*Going camping is big in Japan now.

1. Kitchen Timer 

*You don’t have to go to other shops to get it if you want a kitchen timer. And, there are hi-end models for 550 JPY if you want more function. These are still cheaper than other stores.

2. Tongs

*When you cook the meal like stakes, it’s convenient to use. You can find it at Daiso.

3. Lunch picks

*It’s not only used for kids’ lunch boxes, which is called “obento.” You may use them to decorate your own obento quite nicely! Decoben (you can google as デコ弁) is one of the Japanese unique things that you use to decorate your lunch to make it look cute. Lunch picks help them look kawaii instantly.

4.Shoe keepers

*As far as I know, a wooden shoe keeper is only sold at Daiso. Oh, please don’t say that it’s not 100 JPY. It is only 200 JPY, still a great deal, I’d say. I can see plastic-type at other hyakkin stores but I’ve never seen  the wooden one. It would be priced at 1,000JPY, at least.
Of course, you should buy a decent shoe keeper for your favorite but that’s an option for other shoes.

5. Gloves

*When you carry something, gloves are really helpful. It prevents stuff from sliding out your hands while carrying it.

6. Boxes for Organizing  

*Speaking of hyakkin, the first thing that I come up with is these boxes for organizing. Around two decades ago, the design wasn’t good enough. So I didn’t want to use it at my house, but it’s getting better now.

7. Parts 

*If you like DIY or making your accessories, Daiso is the perfect place for you. There are a lot of parts to make or fix something. So you might want to go here first, and then you can go to other stores. It might be a good alternative.

8. Super Glue 

*There are a variety of glues in the store that you can choose that it depends on where you use.

9. Pochi-bukuro

*Pochi-bukuro (ぽち袋) means small envelopes that you put money into this and pass to your kids or relatives on New Years in Japan. Nowadays, it doesn’t only used on New Years but also use many occasions. It is used to show your small gratitude to others.

10. Colored pencils 

*You would be amazed by many options.

11. Innovative items 

*These are mirrors with clips. They are designed to be used easily for people applying make-up. They also won the Good Design Award 2021.

12. Sticky notes 

*Every single company—and not just Daiso!—is working so hard to improve the convenience of the sticky notes despite a limited budget, so there are a lot of shapes and sizes.

13. Japanese souvenirs

*sensu(扇子)

*origami

*If you want to buy as many Japanese souvenirs as you can at a reasonable price, Daiso would be an ideal place. It’s not made in Japan but designed by Japan.

Changing people’s minds 

*Daiso is collaborating with Convini now.

Since I’ve been looking at Daiso for many years, I think Daiso helps us find alternatives for something. Japanese people recognize that Daiso is a place that offers something useful than the one selling junk stuff. Nowadays there are Daiso shelves at Convini, although it’s limited season. Case in point, Daiso is recognized by the retail sales industry. I have to tip off my hat to their hard-work to improve the quality of value as only 100JPY by the company. They always research and develop for the demand that people live in daily life. That’s it all for today. Why don’t you go to Daiso this weekend? Thank you for taking your time to read my article. See you next time! 

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2 Comments on “The 13 Best Products to Buy at Daiso”

  1. Hello, Kazu san!
    The Daiso in your article must be a huge one!
    I will be able to spend all day at the Daiso.
    There are too many products at Hyakkin to decide which one is the best, but my recent favorites are the cat shaped finger cot at Daiso and the LE CREUSET-ish lunch box series at Seria.

  2. Hi Akiko san, sorry for my late reply! Thanks for your comment. Yeah, you have a good point. I also love Seria too.

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