Organic Peanut Butter in Japan

I love peanut butter. And I'm sad that it is not as widely appreciated here in Japan. I mean, yeah, I'd probably think "PB&J sandwiches" or "peanut butter on celery" sounded gross if I had the same archetype for "peanut butter" that most Japanese people do: sickly sweet, peanut-themed sugar spread sold next to bread whiter than an anemic ghost. In the presence of abominations like that, it's no wonder there's no adult demand for nut butters in this country.

Gas, Kerosene and Diesel Prices by Prefecture

Seeing as how last week's posts covered the ins and outs of finding cheap gas, I figured I might as well introduce you all to another one of my favorite websites, oil-stat.com.

Being Cheap in Japan: Finding cheap gas

With the recent return of the Liberal Democratic Party, the cheapening of the yen, and the new 2 percent yearly inflation target, it seems likely that imported goods won't be getting any cheaper any time soon. This is especially true with car gas. Therefore, I would like to share my own helpful hints on how to save a few yen at the pump.

Cheap Health Foods, Toiletries and Dietary Supplements in Japan

It's fun to run into new products by browsing at my local imported goods/liquor store, thanks to which I've learned, for example, that Swiss cereals are just unapologetic boxes of candy for pouring milk over. But when I have a specific product from home in mind, like a favorite canned soup, I find that shopping online is a much less hit-and-miss experience than the average Japanese import shop.

And for other preferences, like American toothpaste and deodorant, online retailers are often my only option--it's either that or stock up a couple years' supply during visits home... which I also admittedly do.

In past articles, AccessJ has shared some of our favorite online sources for buying supplements (including whey protein) and comfort foods from home. Between the lot of us I think we've used all the sites listed in those articles, and I personally have been a satisfied customer at many.

But the downfall of most overseas retailers is the exorbitant shipping costs. For four ten dollar bottles of vitamin supplements, I once paid almost as much over again getting them across the Pacific. And generic search terms on Google bring up so many retailers to choose from that it's tiring to sort the trustworthy and competitively priced sites from the chaff.

So when I come across a good one, I want to share it.

Being Cheap in Japan: Avoid "bill printing fees"

When looking at my latest e-bill from Softbank (my mobile phone provider), I saw a message about an impending change in the company's billing system. Apparently, all customers paying their bills a the local convenience store will be assessed an extra "printing fee" (hako-ryo 発行料) starting in a month or two. As it turns out, Softbank isn't the only company that has started penalizing customers who opt to pay the old fashioned way.

Saving Money in Japan: The Secondhand Shop

Revisiting a topic from the earlier days of AccessJ, one of the biggest money-saving tips we've found when getting settled in the country is the recycle shop (リサイクルショップ).

"Recycle shop" is the trendy, eco-culture term for a pawnbroker (質屋さん, shichiyasan) or secondhand store (中古品店, chuukohinten).

In the intervening decades since Japan's bubble and its Huxleyan buy-new culture, recycle shop franchises have sprung up and flourished around Japan like a nationwide plague of daisies. The first chain I became accustomed with was BOOKOFF, a secondhand dealer specializing in book, CD, movie, and game software. BOOKOFF and its associated stores, including mirthfully named HARDOFF (electronics hardware, musical instruments), are a decent way to save a buck on home entertainment. The chain has other associated stores as well, like OFFHOUSE, which deals in clothing and home interior.

Discount Rail, Concert, and Event Tickets in Japan

Looking to save some money on train tickets, event tickets, department store gift cards, or even postage stamps in Japan? The 金券ショップ (kinken shoppu, "discount ticket shop") might be one of the most overlooked saving tricks among English speakers in Japan.

It's a pawn shop that deals specifically in tickets and gift cards, and its cornerstone items are transit fares--shinkansen, local trains, and long distance buses. Usually located next to major railway stations in cities, this shop is an easy way to save a few bucks whenever you're planning to travel. They are usually tiny storefronts with a single counter and often-handwritten signage you mistake for a travel agency: dozens of destination cities listed up and down the storefront along with the (shinkansen) ticket prices to those cities.

e-Statements: Save Money on NTT Internet

Bills from NTT are the largest (physically, as in size of the document and envelope) piece of monthly utility-related mail I get at home. It seems like a pretty big waste of paper for a billing amount that never changes month-to-month and which I can already and more easily double check by flipping open my bank book.

In fact, for some months I was getting two giant envelopes regularly, as NTT reminded me over and over again that they were switching to a new billing system run by the newly established company NTT Finance. (Further thinning the guise that the NTT telephony monopoly was ever really broken up in Japan...)

So the other day I signed up for NTT e-statements. It's a pretty easy procedure, and it knocks a simple 100 yen off of your monthly bill. Since you're probably roped into a 2-year contract with them anyway, in the long run that's about $30 saved.

To do this, you can still contact a representative at NTT East's @Billing service or NTT West's MyBilling service, but since all the financial transactions of both are handled through NTT Finance now, that's ultimately where you'll end up. So on NTT Finance's site, hit the apply (お申し込み) button and fill in your account information.

Being Cheap in Japan: Chokubai-ten and Farmers Markets

No doubt you have heard about Japan's legendary $100 melons and various other exorbitantly priced foods. "Gift melons" not withstanding, going to the grocery store in Japan may seem a bit expensive considering the size of the portions you get. However, there is a cheap alternative, at least when it comes to select fruits and vegetables: the chokubai-ten and farmer's market.

Being Cheap in Japan: Keeping Track of Your Reciepts

It is no secret that Japan has a reputation for being an expensive place to live.I am sure you have heard the horror stories of people being forced to shell out almost 100,000 for a "rabbit hutch" sized room in Tokyo and melons that sell for half a months salary.

But fear not, there are plenty of ways to save money even in the most expensive of cities. Since we covered the traditional Japanese house hold account book (AKA the kakeibo), it seems fitting to inaugurate our new Being Cheap in Japan series with a look at how to keep track of your household expenses.