Amazon

One of the greatest things about living in Japan is having access to Amazon. While it might not quite match up to the one in the US in terms of goods available I still find it the most convenient way to shop. They deliver directly to my door with almost no shipping costs (although at times it depends on the items). They have the best selection of books, both English and Japanese, available anywhere. I set aside about $100 each month to buy books for my own education and think it’s money well spent as they allow me to share what I learn with my students at Smith’s 英会話 in Hirakata. Sometimes it’s a funny story, sometimes interesting trivia, and sometimes tricks to learning. As a child I must admit that I was less than enthusiastic about reading (my father was always the reader) but these days I’m amazed just how many great ideas are out there. And with Amazon, tracking them down makes it a snap.

And for those people who are not interested in picking up some books, I still recommend checking it out if you haven’t already. Along with books they also offer baby goods, toys, music, DVDs, computer games, electronics, health goods, sports gear and much much more. Best of all, for those people who can’t read Japanese they have a button which allows you switch the menu to English. So what’s not to like?

Adrian