Value Village ／ Before you come to Japan
This answer is a draft. It stays unpublished until legal review and source verification are complete.
Visitors photograph convenience stores and depachika food halls, but the ordinary neighbourhood supermarket is where residents shop, where prices are lowest, and where a few unwritten rules catch newcomers out.
| Feature | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Evening markdowns | Stickers of 20–50% off (割引 / 半額) on sushi, bento and fresh food from roughly 18:00–20:00 |
| Bagging | You pay at the till, then pack your own bags at the sakkudai (bagging table). Plastic bags cost ¥3–5 since the July 2020 charge |
| Self-checkout | Common in chains; many have "semi-self" tills where staff scan and you pay at a machine |
| Point cards | Offered at most tills; declining ("kekkō desu") is normal |
| Baskets | Take a basket, not a trolley, for a small shop; trolleys hold baskets |
| Opening hours | Typically 9:00 or 10:00 to 21:00–23:00; some 24 hours |
[Verify] Store counts with the Japan Supermarket Association and Japan Franchise Association; bag-charge date with the Ministry of the Environment.
They are more expensive — you pay for the location and hours. For a week's food, the supermarket is the budget choice.
At most supermarkets the cashier puts items back in a basket and you bag them yourself at the table behind the tills. Standing at the till to pack holds up the queue.
Prices must be shown tax-inclusive (since April 2021), so the shelf price is the till price. Some stores show both; the larger number includes tax.
Tasting counters (shishoku) are common at weekends, and fruit is often sold by the piece so you can buy one. Squeezing fruit is frowned upon.
The deli section (sōzai) sells ready meals — fried chicken, croquettes, salads, grilled fish — that are what many households actually eat on weeknights, and they are what gets discounted after 18:00.
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https://www.super.or.jp/
https://plastics-smart.env.go.jp/rejibukuro-charge/
https://www.nta.go.jp/english/taxes/consumption_tax/
⚠️ Editorial note: the source URLs above were identified by search. Our working environment cannot reach go.jp domains, so the contents have not been checked against the text. Verify every source before publication and record who checked it and when.
What we share here are ideas and everyday practices passed down among people living in Japan, together with general information drawn from public sources. They are not official recommendations, and they are not professional instruction. Practices vary between households and regions.
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