A Fukuokan's Notes from Sapporo

We don’t have charity shops like Oxfam or CancerResearch, which is a very disappointing aspect of this town.

But we do have some stores or places where you can get your garments for a reasonable price.

One, and probably the most accessible way is shopping at ‘fast fashion’shops.

While walking streets, you will easily find some of them, such as Uniqlo, Honey’s, Shimamura, g.u.(Uniqlo’s downmarket label), etc.

The second way is shopping at outlet malls.

In a way very unfortunately (particuraly because I am out of job), there is a big outlet mall near my flat. Naturally, I have inspected this place several times. My personal verdict; a sightseeing site rather than shopping site for serious bargain hunters.

If you are not a serious fashionista, small outlet stores in local shopping streets may be worth having a look.  

I don’t know how and where the shop masters find their items to sell, but they actually deal with real ‘dead stocks’ which can be as old as 10 years, but unused. The price would usually be less than 50% of the original, sometimes can be a tenth.

As there are, or used to be,  quite a few local fashion labels in Fukuoka, you might found locally-produced fashions (see the label inside of the garment). Plus, you wouldn’t have to feel bad about child or slave labour in third countries where the fast fashion is mainly produced. So in a way, this is a way of ‘ethical shopping’…Am I going too far?

However, because the garments are dead stocks, the size availability tends to be extremely limited- most of the garments on the display are size “7” or “S” (equivalent to your “6” or “XS”, or kids 150, probably). But if you find something you like and can get in, then it is a real bargain!  

Also there are irregularly held local flea markets (sometimes spelt as ‘free market’ because of our great L/R problem, but I like this misspelling!).  I used to assume one day I might find fantastic stuff  almost free, but the reality can be harsh: people were not so innocent as I’d dreamt…After several visits, I came to a conclusion that if you think about cost-effectiveness, you’d better skip it from your shopping trip unless you prioritise being green over the value for money.  Or, if you hope to change the world through buying second-hand clothing, there are some second-hand stores (not charity). 

I guess they know better the value of what they try to sell than amateur shop masters at the free markets.