A while back, I asked for help [making a list of items you can’t get locally and always end up buying abroad ](https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/zi923v/help_what_are_all_the_things_you_always_buy_when/) and the results were helpful to making the most of my checked baggage.
As times and tastes have changed, I’d like to make a new thread, and as it gets updated with “no dude you can totally that that over here,’ I’ll update the links and add to the main list. Here’s a few to start.
1. Cheap paracetamol/acetaminophen tablets
2. Weapons-grade dandruff shampoo like Neutrogena T-Gel
3. Powerade/Mio/House brand water enhancer drops / Instant Flavor droplets
4. Generally speaking, all the hot sauces featured on Hot Ones
5. Cherry Ripe candy/chocolate bars
6. Ribena concentrate, unless I’m looking this over
7. Goya brand spices, specifically the sachets for yellow rice
8. Old Spice deodorant
9. Tide bleach pens
10. …are we still in a dearth of Peanut Butter Cups? For shame!
11. cheap, effective sunscreen
12. inexpensive, quality polarized sunglasses
13. Mole, hominy corn, and nearly all variety of mexican peppers and spices
14. For whatever reason, it’s tough to find high-grade peroxide toothpaste locally, such as Colgate Optic White Pro [unless you pay ¥2000 a tube](https://item.rakuten.co.jp/aquaseven/recolena85-2/?scid=af_pc_etc&sc2id=af_113_0_10001868&icm_agid=&icm_cid=18510601813&iasid=wem_icbs_&gclid=CjwKCAjwyY6pBhA9EiwAMzmfwYzXZpVhwlfHgPHD1wdVBw4o9LW7qIv3Jo7IgVvIDPwm4e1NnRhDMRoCWuQQAvD_BwE&icm_acid=255-776-8501)
15. most English versions of board games
34 comments
these are niche products, but if you can help me:
16. cheap old English-language textbooks for art students
17. second-hand coffee table books (which would necessitate having space for a coffee table, and then having a coffee table in that space…)
Peroxide toothpaste is an awesome way to ruin your tooth enamel!
18. French and Belgian BD
19. Decently good cheese
20. Decently good butter
21. Decently good milk
22. Cheap good beer
23. Cheap good fruits
24. Ranch packets
If you’re on the larger side, condoms and other contraceptives you can bring in
Iherb is good for T-gel and deodorant + supplements – you can conbini pay as well.
Honey Comb breakfast cereal
Coffee Crisp chocolate bars
If you’re of the bearded sort, beard care products available here are far fewer in variety, so that’s something I usually pickup.
Although a quick check on Amazon is returning more products than I saw the last time I looked a couple of years ago.
When I went back home we went to a proper tea shop, with a ton of different kinds of loose tea. I got a couple, but I wish I had gotten more.
You can get dried peppers online. And pepper friends sells raw Jalapeno, poblano, serano and habanero peppers. The only mexican spice I can think that isn’t available as well is mexican oregano.
I don’t have interest in most of these items….
But I happened to see “old spice” for sale yesterday at a stall outside.
Hot sauce… generally I can find anything I want.
Melatonin
Not a suggestion but it’s funny that given the disgusting exchange rate, electronics are now at parity or better with Western prices.
Chipotle Tabasco and
Marzipan chocolate (see it only occasionally)
I get most of these things on amazon.
You’ve got a point about board games or content in native tongue in general. Some is easy to get from eg book depository , others are shoganai
Speaking of Mexican goods, does anyone know if Cotija cheese exists (in purchasable form) anywhere in or around Tokyo?
> most English versions of board games
Ironically, this one gets worse as time goes on. When I moved here, you could *only* get English (or German) editions of board games. But now, nearly every game gets a Japanese edition, so that’s all they stock.
> inexpensive, quality polarized sunglasses
I mean, they have $20 polarized sunglasses at Uniqlo now.
Hair toner/developer for those platinum blonde peeps who dye their own hair.
non-Japanese long-grain, organic brown or red rice. Always bring some bags with me from the US or SE Asia.
you could add a lot to #1. ibuprofen, famotidine, Loperamide, etc….
idk about hot sauces….they have blair’s sudden death in kaldi and a few other places, and you’d have to *really* be into hot sauce to need more than that or want something more specific.
>Old Spice deodorant
well really *any* underarm anti-perspirant/deodorant.
sunscreen and sunglasses can be had at costco I think.
toothpaste, you should be using the remineralizing stuff they have here. best toothpaste on the planet…why would you not use it?
I can’t find Neutrogena T-Gel anymore. Sucks.
Tide bleach pen: I think one Japanese equivalent is[シミとりレスキュー](https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B000FQP0YU) and it works fairly well.
polarizing
but on top of your list I also stock up on nicotine e-liquid
>> 11. cheap, effective sunscreen
Japanese sunscreen is the best in the world tho! Cheap and very effective imo
Just a PSA for anyone wanting to bring in large quantities of thinkgs like alcohol.
If you declare you are over the limit, it’s surprisingly easy and cheap to just pay the taxes at the airport.
Earlier this year I went to Mexico and bought back 8 bottles of tequila. The tax was only like 500 yen total.
Ketchup Lays and All Dressed Ruffles 🙁
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Salted peanuts: used to be in occasional places, but has disappeared from Tokyo.
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Salmiakki (licorice)
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bilar (swedish candy)
Claritin.
Although you can buy it here now it’s way overpriced. You can get a 100 tablets in the states for the price that’d get you 24 here.
Melatonin !
I have had reoccurring dreams about finding Graham crackers and Ricaroni.
I saw Coleman brand polarized sunglasses for 3000 yen at Aeon the other day. They seemed fine.
Very nice bed sheets and towels? Like really nice one.
Peanut butter that isn’t sweet!
Cheap, effective deodorant
And for the ladies. . . . Tampons! Hard to find and when you do manage to get some here, very bad quality 😅
>Generally speaking, all the hot sauces featured on Hot Ones
I recently came across [Hot Sauce Bar](https://www.hotsauce-bar.com/) at an art fair and they had a few Hot Ones sauces. Obviously you’re paying an import premium but there are options, and even Amazon US ships some stuff here.
>…are we still in a dearth of Peanut Butter Cups? For shame!
Yes, I brought a bunch of bags from the US last month.
>most English versions of board games
Amazon US will ship a *lot* of stuff here, and even with shipping it can often be cheaper than the Japanese edition (or paying for the English edition from a retailer here).
Second vote for Ranch dressing powder. I mix it with yogurt for a good dip.
Along the same lines, Lipton’s Recipe Secrets Onion (Soup?).
Jalapeno and pickling cucumber seeds. My mil grows them for me. Yes, it’s legal.
Pasteurized cheese. Yes, cheese up to XX kg is fine. Can’t remember the limit, but it was more than my cheese budget.
Underwear.
Bumble & Bumble Coconut shampoo and conditioner.
Plain Triscuits. My special treat.
Corn Pops. My husband’s hit of nostalgia.
Fancy trial pack of Amish Country Popcorn.
I found Zots last year, and had to bring a few home with me. I hadn’t had Zots in years.
Oh, and if you are American and thinking about staying in Japan for more than a couple of years, durable measuring cups and spoons. Over the years, I’ve converted my most-used recipes to weights in metric, but there are a few recipes where the cup is just simpler than dragging out a scale. Grandma’s pancake recipe, or making oatmeal are a couple of examples. My cupcake tins have also come in really handy, and the 12 cup tins fit perfectly on one shelf of my Rinnai ovens, so I can make 24 cupcakes at a time. Or pumpkin tarts.