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One of the most unique aspects of Japan is that you can spend an entire day inside a shopping mall and have the best time! If it’s raining and gloomy or the air is hot and humid, there is always a sanctuary inside giant shopping centres. And in Kyoto, the best one is Kyoto Yodobashi! Inside you’ll not only find interesting shops to explore, but you can also eat at some delectable restaurants, have a gourmet coffee and play like a kid in the arcades!
Yodobashi Camera Co. was a Japanese electronics chain founded by Terukazu Fujisawa in 1960. It was one of the first kind and would be the blueprint for the modern-day electronic store. They were the first to let the general public see and touch cameras, which they would take out of the box and put on display. This way, before spending thousands of yen, buyers go to touch and play with these high-end items. It made purchasing them more understandable and relatable to new customers.
Nowadays, Yodobashi sells more than cameras (although their selection is still pretty impressive). They sell home goods, hundreds of electronics, toys, cosmetics and more! One of the strategies Yodobashi employs is to build their locations near train stations, making it extremely convenient and visible to customers who travel by train weekly.
The Kyoto branch of Yodobashi was built in 2010. Four of the six floors are occupied by Yodobashi, and the rest are rented out shops, restaurants, cafes and a bookshop. There is even a British Style Pub on the first floor with an outdoor patio that is EXTREMELY popular with local Japanese residents.
The interior of Kyoto Yodobashi can be quite a shock. The lights are extremely bright, and the music is always at a 10! Signage with discounts, deals, and more screams out at you from every direction and finding your way around is almost impossible. The design of the store is made to ensure you wander and see everything before finding what you need. The best thing to do is explore each floor and see what you come across.
If you’re hungry but want to save money, head down to the basement level (B2.) Down here is where you can find the food court and supermarket. You can get everything you need for a picnic or a quick snack!
Along the exterior perimeter of the 1st floor is where you’ll find a few small cafes, and inside is the place to try out all the newest iPhones and mobile phones in Japan. The iPhones might be synonymous with the rest of the world, but there are various kinds of cell phones exclusive to Japan that are worth looking at, if only to admire.
Their selection of cameras is still very impressive, and I had to restrain myself from buying one! There were such wide varieties and options we never saw in Canada. They came in neon colours, and many were designed to look like vintage cameras but with modern interiors. I would consider saving up to purchase one for my next trip out here.
The selection of watches in Yodobashi is also extremely comprehensive. Even though everyone has a “watch” on their phones these days, and it might seem like something that has gone the way of the dinosaurs, watches have seen a resurgence in fashion in the last few years. You can find great styles and brands at competitive prices and even search for great deals!
If you’re not from Japan and spend a certain amount at Yodobashi, you are eligible for a tax-free purchase. Be sure to bring your passport and ask the cashier; they will help ensure you don’t have to pay any of the tax, another way to get a significant saving on a high-priced item!
On the 2nd floor is their extensive selection of PC peripherals. While this might seem a little mundane, you have to check out the headphones aisle, where you’ll find HUNDREDS of styles, brands and colours of headphones. There are some absolute stunners, so if you want to jazz up your PC at work, you can find a unique set of headphones here.
The 3rd floor of Yodobashi is where you can find toys, craft materials, stationery and hobbyist goods! This was my favourite floor. Adults collecting toys isn’t frowned upon in Japan; it’s pretty much part of being an adult over there. These collectables are incredible works of art to be treasured and allow the kid inside all of us to live on.
We became obsessed with the “Pose Skeleton” figurines. These toys are super popular in Japan, and you can collect hundreds of sets. They are completely posable and come with furniture, outfits and even pets. There is something both morbid and delightful about these smiling skeletons living on despite being long dead.
Their craft selection was heaven. There were so many different kits in brightly coloured pink packages, and I tried my hardest not to take them home with me. This is a MUST-SEE part of the store for anyone interested in crafting.
My favourite Japanese art collections were the “decora” sets. Each came with different cakes and miniature food items that you could decorate with ‘whipple creme,’ gems, plastic bows and tiny fruits. Japan is obsessed with miniaturization, perhaps because their living spaces are becoming smaller, and there simply isn’t room.
The main arcade is also located on the 3rd floor. This arcade was slightly different than others we’d visited since it had game machines that required physical cards, wands and other toys to operate the game. Players here were dedicated to their game of choice and brought special accessories to compete. The bright colours and flashing lights drew me in, but I never took the time to understand how any of these games worked.
Their gachapon centre had some of the best selections in Japan. We wandered up and down the aisles, looking for the strangest ones.
The fashion boutiques are found on the 4th and 5th floors, and a huge sports store is on the 5th floor. The fashion stores are worth checking out since they have little gems to discover.
The 6th floor is where you’ll find Yodobashi Dining. Here you’ll be able to eat and drink your way across continents! They have an entire floor of restaurant featuring everything from Western cuisine to Chinese and, of course, Japanese.
We had a coupon we found in a local newspaper for a Shabu-Shabu restaurant and decided to give this a try for dinner. Shabu-shabu is a Japanese version of a Chinese hot pot where you cook thinly sliced meat and vegetables in water. The name Shabu-shabu is onomatopoeia because of the sound you make when stirring the meat inside the cooking pot.
After the meat and veg are cooked, you dip the ingredients into a sauce of your own creation made with any combination of soy sauce, sesame paste, ponzu sauce, spring onions, and Japanese pickles and then you eat it over rice.
We had such a good time cooking our food and making different combinations of flavours! There was a buffet full of options to put inside your shabu-shabu. Different greens, a variety of mushrooms, hot dogs (!), onions, rice cakes, noodles and more! You had to request the meat from the server, and only after you finished one plate of meat could you be served a second. This might seem like a big effort, but it significantly reduces waste, and the servers were always very quick to bring you over to the next plate.
The environment was so exciting; huge groups of people were gathered around these steaming pots, laughing, drinking and enjoying each other’s company while they ate. They even had a huge ice cream bar, which was all-you-can-eat, so we had to try every flavour.
After a heavy meal, we decided to walk off all that meat with a perusal of the 6th-floor bookshop and cafe. Many people sat reading outside the shop, enjoying a delicious coffee. There were so many unique books and magazines inside the bookshop. They even had a small English selection with great books on tourism around Japan.
Beside the coffee shop is a small arcade with Purikura photo booths and UFO catchers to spend the last few yen you have in your coin purse. We were obsessed with the Purikura booths; by this time on our trip, we had gotten pretty good at designing the final prints.
This is a great low-key option if you’re looking for somewhere to eat, shop, or pass the time on a bad weather day. Being so close to the train station, it’s also great to grab last-minute souvenirs before heading out to the airport!
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