Hi all,
So my kid (primary school) is pretty good at creating handicraft and recently started to think an experience of actually selling it to the public might be fun, of course with the parent in the tow. Whether the public would be interested is a separate issue :), but is something like this a thing here? Haven’t seen e.g. too many lemonade stands operated by kids around. If so, any recommended place where you could get a table for a couple of hours?
Thank you!
6 comments
Hey, grew up in Japan in the 90s. I knew lemonade stands as a thing back in the states and wanted to do it here when I was a kid, but we didn’t have lemonade so just tried to sell some juice from a carton and cookies on the street with a little sign, desk and everything. I was with a friend I had dragged into this venture. Some old lady that lived nearby bought from us but otherwise didn’t sell anything, mostly just consumed everything ourselves.
I didn’t get permission from my parents so I remember my mom was kinda pissed that we ate all the cookies. I remember she also told us something about permits and health violations but I feel like as kids we had a pass.
I would let your kid do it, but don’t help, cuz if you do it won’t build character. Also plausible deniability if some asshole tries to stop it. Definitely not a thing here, but if kids are doing it people are generally pretty chill about it.
There are plenty of handicraft festivals around where you register, pay a fee, and you get a space to put your table down and make a little shop for a day. It would take a bit of organizing but you’d be guaranteed some customers and nice interactions with people. We’ve done it a few times and it’s a lot of fun.
Maybe try selling at a local matsuri. Most people will be in the mood to buy.
Sometimes there will be events At shopping malls, community centers, local chamber of commerce or something where they will hold a bazaar/flea market type thing and anyone can sign up and sell their old toys and clothes, handicrafts, etc. See if you can find something like that. I don’t know if they have rules about selling food and drinks but I’m sure they will be able to tell you.
It sounds like a really nice idea and definitely a nice experience for the kids. However, I agree that it’s probably best to rent a spot at a local market or matsuri. My first thought was that for sure there’s going to be some Taro san out there who will see the little selling point on the street and ruin the fun by calling the police on kids selling lemonade. I have seen too many posts here (the ruined children’s party in the community center, the little girl who was interrogated by the police after she and her mother returned an eraser she took from the store) that would make me hesitant to do this without some sort of official permission with my own kid.
Last summer my kid wanted to do this. Our solution was a lemonade stand at our house that we invited all his friends to. We made cookies and emonade and charged 50yen per family. I spent more on ingredients than we made of course but everyone had a blast. I let my son keep the takings (about 500yen) for his savings. We’ll probably do the same again this year.