Hello everyone! I am new expat here in Japan. My laptop PC suddenly malfunctioned and I urgently need it for work.I had been using it for many years now and I think it’s time to buy a new one.
Since I can’t speak Japanese well, I would like to ask if there are any shops here in Japan that has English-speaking staff?
And also, for laptops purchased here, do you have any brand recommendations? I mostly use my PC for online classes, paperwork (MS office) and sometimes graphic design (Canva).
Thanks in advance for those who will share their advice!
27 comments
I just buy online through Dell. It’s not that I am a huge Dell fan, but they are good for online purchases and don’t add a bunch of bloat to your pc.
The problem with brick and mortar stores is they load your pc with all sorts of crap you don’t want. They are also expensive.
Buy online, Amazon japan site can be set to english.
Brick n mortar electronics stores here are trash for good PC / laptops. They keep 5+ year old stock and try to sell them as new.
If you wanted to go Apple, half of the staff at any Apple Store in Tokyo speak English and are always very nice and helpful. You can even set up your appointments online in English.
As others have said, online is a great option.
Depending on your location, stores like BIC Camera are also fine. Shibuya and Akihabara have heavy tourist traffic and basic English skills appear to be an “unofficial” requirement for working there.
I couldn’t find shops where I lived that had a wide selection of laptops so I ordered from Asus online.
Pay attention to the keyboard. Unless you want the Japanese one make sure you have the right one selected before you hit buy.
Online is best. They do speak English at the big electronics stores. Maybe not well but good enough, especially where tourists mingle. But they’re not your friends, will try to sign you up for all sorts of crap, a purchase takes ages (not electronics specific, they love an unnecessarily long sales transaction over here).
If you feel adventurous and/or need a quick stop gap solution because your machine is toast and delivery takes ages, you can venture into the second-hand market. If you just need something to run Zoom and a browser now.
I did a lot of research on laptops online but then went to Bic Camera to look at them in person—they looked and felt very different in person so I’d recommend doing that. If you do, you should look closely at the model numbers because sometimes something seems like a good deal, but as was mentioned below, could be an old model. I wound up buying mine from Bic Camera online, but only after confirming it was a good deal. I’m using mine for different purposes than you and I’m far from an expert on this stuff, so don’t want to recommend anything specific. Good luck!
Warning: Japanese keyboards have slight physical differences which will require some adjusting to (smaller space bar, small backspace key). If you can try to get a keyboard layout you are used to.
If tight on money, could also look at buying used. I recently scored an M1 Macbook Air for around 80000 Yen at a local hardoff. Condition was basically new and really happy with the purchase.
I have used nothing but VAIO laptops for years. They have good keyboards and great thermal dissipation so you can drive them hard without throttling. They have easy access to RAM and extra SATA sockets for upgrades. The Intel chipsets are well supported in Linux if you need that sort of thing (I do).
Honestly, Amazon Japan probably the easiest. Lenovo is always a solid option and reasonably priced.
Idk how it is nowadays with inflation and everything but the.lenovo website used to have reasonable prices imo
You have to indicate where you are. If you are in the city you can probably go to the electronics store and speak english. If you are in the country you can go to eiden and NOT speak english.
I’m american and even at home we don’t buy computers from a store. Like everyone is saying just buy it online and be done. no need to go to the store.
I’m not going to recommend specific brands, but just some general laptop buying advice:
1. You get what you pay for. If you try to cheap out on your laptop, expect it to last significantly less time than if you got a better one.
2. Make sure your laptop has SSD storage. SSD storage is much faster and more reliable than HDD storage, but some manufacturers still try to sell laptops with old HDDs in them. You’re better off with a smaller capacity SSD than a large HDD almost every time.
3. When looking at processors, the number usually dictates which class it is in as well as which year’s range it is. Usually a newer processor, even in a lower class, will be better than an older processor in a higher class. For example, an Intel core i5-1235U (a 12th-generation midrange CPU) is significantly faster than an i7-1065G7 (a 10th-generation enthusiast CPU). So in other words, don’t just go for an i7 just because the number after the i is higher – look at the numbers after as well.
4. Don’t pay for features you don’t need. For example, there’s no need to get a laptop with a dedicated graphics processor (GPU) if you don’t need it for gaming, video editing etc. Don’t buy a laptop with a touchscreen just because you might use it every now and then.
5. Try to get a laptop that supports charging over USB-C. It’s very convenient.
Best of luck! Whether you buy online or go into a store, you should be fine. If you’re not sure whether a laptop is good or not, feel free to share it over on r/SuggestALaptop/
Honestly, go on kakaku.
I have had that problem a few times, sometimes something as simple as a RAM and SSD upgrade does wonders.( if your laptop has that option ofc )
I ordered a laptop from American Amazon and had it shipped to me.
I have some chromebooks and bluetooth keyboards with Japanese layout. If you will be using English primarily you should get an English keyboard. Surprise. I have other chromebooks with English keyboards and they are so much easier to use (punction, @ etc). I would recommend a chromebook but they probably would need some workarounds to do what you want to do.
On the other hand, if you are thinking of eventually selling it in Japan eventually you might want to consider a Japanese keyboard. Half of my muscle memory is useless when using a Japanese keyboard. I prefer to stick to the English layout.
Just go for apple MacBook air m1 or m2, u can choose keyboard you want .
I purchased a macbook at Bic a few weeks ago, had no issue. I didn’t even have to speak Japanese, the person I talked to spoke english well enough to sell me a laptop.
I purchased a Lenovo Thinkpad from Rakuten for around 35,000 JPY. I use it at work, which involves using PowerPoint, Word, and also sometimes Canva. I also use it for web programming. No issues so far.
Something you might be overlooking: If you purchase from amazon Japan, or any other online website here, it is very likely you will get a laptop with the Japanese keyboard layout. Not the software input, but the actual physical layout of the keyboard will be different to UK/NA keyboards.
You will need to specifically look for or inquire about the correct layout, which might limit your options.
As others have said, paying the import fees on a laptop shipped from AmazonUS might be the best, most reliable method.
Options
1. MacBook Pro: good for developers
2. MacBook Air: good value. good for students
3. Razer Blade: good for games & PC intense work. (Order on Amazon.com to get a US keyboard, they deliver to JP)
Some have 2 SSD bays so it’s easy to upgrade
From my experience, getting recommendations from a PC store is not ideal even without the language problem – they are just average workers and care more about selling you stuff anyway.
For selecting gadgets it’s better to check tech review you-tubers and forums.
Store is more about feel the real thing after you narrowed down your choices, and see which one you really like the look/feeling .
These sound like activities that buying an M1 Macbook would suffice for, if going Apple is an allowable consideration. Apple staff are definitely more approachable to non-Japanese speakers, and you can even order a Mac with a US keyboard instead if you want. Doing the same thing with PC notebooks here in Japan is next to impossible outside of certain online brands like Dell.
If you need it for your work, why doesnt your work provide you a new one?