The Least Useful Guide to Fukuoka

A physically close, but for some reasons very distant, maybe more distant from Mars, place to me…

This is probably one of the biggest pawn brokers in Fukuoka, if not in all Japan.

As long as I know, there are four shops around my local underground station. Each of the shops offer different service; pawning, buying, and selling the fortified items.

They deal with everything; a variety of tickets and coupon ranging from plane tickets to stamps, jewels, electric appliances, designer’s bags and shoes—everything that you can forgo.  In fact, I haven’t been there because I have nothing valuable enough to be pawned, and I don’t need  a Louis Vuitton costing some JPY60,000 (I don’t know whether this price is reasonable as a bag in general) to go to shopping for fish or second-hand books on a rusty bike (sour grapes).

I didn’t know pawn shops were so popular in this town. I assumed these kinds were operating their business discreetly, literally out of way. Fukuokan people, however, seem to openly pawn something and buy the forfeited items. In fact this shop offers drive-through pawning service and advertises on TV quite often.

When I was active as a young woman, it was said that young girls got jewels and bags from their male friends, then  pawned the gifts and earned some pocket money unless it was from their true love. Very much bubble age!  Of course I was not one of them…sadly.