Sep 27, 2019
Costco run before Japan's tax hike
So Japan is set to raise its consumption tax from 8% to 10% sometime on October 1 (sometime after the Rugby World Cup match between Scotland and Samoa, and before France versus America, according to an article in The Economist).
Ever one to pay attention to detail the Japanese partner, along with a nation of likeminded souls, has been stocking up to squeeze every last cost-performing yen out of the current state of Japan's consumer market. So, if you're in the suburbs east of Tokyo and are wondering where all the double-ply toilet paper has gone, perhaps you should visit our chez moi. There seems to be a lot of it here!
While a healthy stock of bog roll does about as much for me as a wet Monday morning, a trip to Costco comes as something of a thrill.
Not that I'm ever invited. No, the partner's friend has membership and once or twice a year a group of them head out to the great import, bulk-buy emporium to stock up on a whole load of stuff they don't really need. One member of the group is armed with a list created by me.
It's a simple enough list and it usually includes a tray of Kirkland soft cookies which keep me going for a couple of weeks and remind me of the paucity of real cookies here in Japan. Plus they don't come psychotically, individually wrapped as tends to be the way with such things on these shores.
Next up is the box of Coronas. I usually save Mexico's finest for the special occasions as a bottle tends to be over 200 yen a pop at the supermarkets in Japan. Anyway, now I have a whole bunch of them! No lime though!
Grapes! I love grapes. Not quite as much as I love apples. Such feelings are almost redundant in a Japan though that has turned fruit from what it should be -- a diet staple (and fruit of the earth) -- into what it isn't -- a luxury brand item suitable only for fancy gifts, the edible status-symbol equivalent of a Luis Vuitton bag. I blame Sembikiya. As we all should.
Anyway, Costco does grapes. And they taste amazing.
I was having trouble thinking of what kind of chocolate I might like. Short of ideas I went with Black Thunder -- an example of Japan doing an unhealthy chocolate snack very well! I'm now armed with a whole bag load. And yes, it completely undermines the above-mentioned cookies with each piece coming individually wrapped. Although to be fair, I can really see any other way in this case.
The partner has a thing for croissants so she usually comes back from Costco with a bag full. Which she did this time around, too.
And some meat for Korean dish purugogi. (Is that how you spell it?)
There's also a pizza in the fridge and some cleaning products in the bathroom. They weren't on my list but before anyone cries foul, I will be using them.
I usually go for some nuts, too. On the last Costco run though, the partner came back with a whole tub of mixed nuts that took months to get through and left me kind of sick of the things for the time being. Maybe next time. If the tax hike allows it!
Have you been stocking up ahead of the tax hike in Japan? What would be on your shopping list at Costco?
7 Comments
genkidesu
on Sep 29
Ah! We used to live close to the Costco out by Mitsui Outlets when we lived in Tokyo. The salmon there is excellent...we used to stock up on fruit too (grapes!! blueberries!!) and often they have some imported Aussie stuff like cereals I miss, so it was often a case of browsing the aisles and seeing what struck our fancy. Oh, they also have a brand of meat pies (I think from memory they were a New Zealand brand) which were a decent sub for what I could get back home. Smart move to stock up before the hike, although I think our closest Costco now is in Maebashi in Gunma.
KamaT
on Sep 30
@genkidesu - On the subject of meat pies have you got any thoughts on Pie Face, which as I understand it comes from Australia. There's a branch near us here in Chiba and we've been a couple of times. I feel like the pies are not as nice as the ones we got from Woolworths when we spent some time in Australia years ago, but they're still nice. However, are they the genuine thing? Either way, my experience of Australian pies has always been better than those we get back home in the U.K (which are too dry)!
genkidesu
on Sep 30
@Tomuu so interestingly enough, Pie Face back in Aus went into receivership! I have no idea if stores still operate back home - when I lived there up until early 2013 they were in loads of shopping malls, so I guess they were popular enough. They did have some more unusual offerings on their menu, not just the humble meat pie, so maybe the novelty wore off. The iconic meat pie brand in Australia is Four'n'Twenty and those are the ones they sell at footy matches and stuff...you can usually find those at supermarkets so maybe they're the ones you tried!
helloalissa
on Oct 3
I didn't bother to stock up on anything extra but our city has a nice promotion to get 20% off of purchases for the next six months, up to 25000 yen per person. Much better than two percent. By the way... from what I understood, food is still taxed at 8% for the time being.
Allison
on Oct 5
Black Thunder was the best choice for a big bag of chocolate! Hard to go wrong with any flavor of that candy bar.
KamaT
on Oct 7
@helloalissa - Yea, I realized that after posting this. Perhaps an indicator of how invested I have been (or not) in the tax hike.
KamaT
on Oct 7
@Allison - Couldn't agree more. Yet to have ever been disappointed by Black Thunder, in any form!