3. Baby stuffs preparation: what,where and when to buy? PARTI: Where to shop for Baby/Children's daily necessities and clothes?

As you may know, Japan is one of the most expensive cities to live in the world, and coincidentally, everything about the baby here is expensive. I mean really everything - from clothes, toys, milk, baby foods, nappy, etc. One thing I am happy about the babies here is that manufactures never stop searching for new discoveries for the comfort of the parent- one of my favorite is Pampers nappy indicator - A yellow indicator which stretches from the front to the back of the diaper turns green once the undergarment has been soiled. It was 4 years ago so at the present time, there should be more new stuffs.

Anyway, I would like to share some information on shopping infant/childrens daily necessities and clothes. The following are the biggest retailers of infant/childrens goods in Japan.

• Babies R Us/Toys are Us
• Akachan-honpo
• Nishi-matsuya

In Tokyo, you can also find Babies R Us and Akachan-honpo in most of the shopping malls like in Olinas-Kinshicho (Babies R Us), Ario Mall - Kameari or Nishi Arai ( Akachan-Honpo), Funabashi Lala Port, and so on. I find the stores of Nishi-Matsuya to be not so accessible - I think most of them are bit far from the train stations.

Personally, I find Babies R Us a bit expensive but they have wide range of imported products. Nishi-Matsuya clothes are very cheap- you can buy from as low as 380yen and they have wide selection of Cars(Pixar), Anpanman and Disney designed clothes at a very affordable price. It depends on your choice of clothes. As for the baby foods, milk, skin item, etc- I think Akachan honpo is cheap but it is also worthy to check the drugstores near to your place. I find Papaso drugstores’ price, particularly milk and baby foods, to be almost the same as Akachan honpo. Wise thing is to shop when these stores are on sale. Make sure to registered as a member you that they would send you fliers on this months/season’s sale and to gain points too.


Pictures: A Next Next clothes for infants, below is Nishi Matsuya Chain Store.
Online shopping service is available at Babies R Us/Toys are Us and Akachan-honpo. I did use these services to order infant water (for milk), diapers, wipes and other heavy stuffs when my elder son is still a baby and we have no car that time yet.

You can also check Ikea for their product line up for children. They have products from bedroom (beddings/baby cribs/curtains) to toys and kitchen utensils (bibs/mugs/plates/etc). I like their products as they are very colorful which you can seldom find in Japanese stores. Their toys are mostly made from wood - indeed a European style!

You may also want to check Costco where you can find baby/children clothes, diapers, wipes, milk, English books, toys,etc. Diapers are in bulk and I think only Pampers, Kirkland and Unicharm (Disney designed) are available. Clothes are usually Osh Kosh and Carters signatures and very cheap compared to Osh Kosh boutique in Makuhari Outlet - although design/style are one season older.

As for the baby's clothes, I also recommend the following boutiques:

• Uniqlo infants/kids - this is where I bought most of the infant clothes I used for my elder one - and still was able to use by my younger one. Mostly made of cotton and I find them durable with a sense of fashion. Very cheap too! Their infant clothes are usually 3pcs in 1 pack.
• Gap Kids - shop when they are on sale (usuallly after every season). You can find good stuff as low as 500yen!
• Next Next - a brand from UK and based in Omotesando. I think the price is almost the same as Gap or maybe cheaper but the style is completely different! I prefer girl’s clothes though. Their infant clothes are usually 3pcs in 1 pack and light in colors (gray, white, light pink, light green and light yellow). They also have my favorite color – purple, lavender – related color for girls!
• Ginza Isamiya - is a store name rather than brand because they sell Rag Mart, FO Kids signatures - same price range as Baby Gap but very durable clothes. When my elder one enrolled to nursery when he was 10months- i bought size 90 shorts as his pants - and 3 years later - he could still use them. They have branch near our place - their main branch is in Ginza (right beside Mitsukoshi).
• United Colors of Benetton - more expensive than all of the above but their summer clothes and accessories are really lovely! Their Omotensando mega-boutique has wide collection of children's clothes and accessories.
• Zara kids - Surprisingly they have wide selection for toddlers too. I have never bought here in Japan -as it was in Manila (Zara Rockwell branch) where we shopped, but a friend told me that when Zara Japan goes on sale - clothes could be as low as 500yen too.

I heard
COMME CA ISM
children clothes are also affordable – this is a family of five fox with COMME CA DU MODE FILLE and ARTISAN as its high-end brand, I have never bought clothes from them because they are mostly gray and black in color.

If you want to buy baby clothes of international brand, I recommend that you shop during the winter and summer sale. I always do my shopping at Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi because there are wide variety of children boutiques such as Ralph Lauren, Burberry, JPress, Chloe, Bebe, Miki House, Yumi Katsura, Familiar, Diesel and others.Celine is available at Ginza's branch, Tommy Hillfinger and other European brands could be found in Ebisu branch.

Make sure to grab a 10,000yen "fukubukuro" on Mitsukoshi's new year’s sale (especially Bebe, Castelbajac and Miki House) - You'll be surprised to know that the clothes inside the fukubukuro could be no less than 25,000yen worth of clothes. High-end brands like Ralph Lauren doesn’t have “fukubukuro” but a clearance discount for as low as 50%.

Happy shopping!