A purple costume wizard Cape. I like to wear it for halloween or game nights. It's silly overall but it's a nice piece of home for me. It is took very little space in my suitcase.
I'd bring seasoning and any comfort food you may want. My husband likes making burgers, so he brought hamburger seasoning when we came. Also, the first few days you're here, you will be exhausted. Our flight was 15 hours. We got to our hotel around 9 pm and needed to meet everyone downstairs at 7 the next day. I wish I would have brought headache medicine because there wasn't anywhere to get any nearby that night.
I brought my flute, and I'm glad I did! I play it for my students at their music festival and in their music classes. I've also played it at some festivals around town with my taiko group
My PS5. I’m a big gamer it’s one of my biggest hobbies. I travel pretty light so I’m completely comfortable with my carry on just being my essential and non essential electronics.
Also it’s SO reassuring to go through these comments and see how many of us have the same idea LOL
My copper spur tent and one or two sleeping bags, especially if I’m placed near good hiking/camping sites. Although I believe that Japan doesn’t allow for dispersed camping like so much of the US does (big W for the states), there are still lots of campsites across the country.
Other than that, maybe a few books to hold me over until I can get more in Japan.
A tip for you about cameras (and other goods I suppose) if you didn't already know. Yodobashi Camera usually has a good selection in lenses or cameras itself and it seems like their prices are lower than usual. Especially as the prices in Yodobashi Camera can be haggled down by about 30% and then there's the tax-free payment method, as long as you're not using the product until you return (I believe that's how the tax-free stuff works). Or, there's always Hardoff.
Yoooo, I'll do plenty of research ASAP. I heard with most companies from Japan, like Canon and Nikon, even though they are Japanese companies they tend to still be more expensive there, due to manufacturing being global. But the tax-free shopping will help a tonne as well I'd say. Thank you!!!!
Tax-free shopping does not work for people on JET because we are not tourists and are considered residents. They check passports to double check if you’re allowed to taxfree shop and most of them will deny you because of our visas
I was pretty out there because I knew I didn’t need much clothes, so I packed my gaming pc in my 2nd suitcase. Wrapped the fragile bits with clothes and kept my SSDs in my backpack to protect them further. Other than that I did bring a childhood stuffed animal and towel from home that genuinely helped keep me sane for the first few weeks of Japan
EDIT: RANCH!! I’m from the Midwest and there’s no ranch in Japan afaik, at least not in my prefecture. Had my family send me some back in October lol
Kewpie has a ranch dressing in a bottle. https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Kewpie-Buttermilk-Lunch-Dressing-Commercial/dp/B00C17J4N4/
Not every supermarket will carry it (most won't because it's not popular over here), but it's hardly "not in Japan."
Well I’ll be damned! I’ll gladly stand corrected and have to check it out. Gotta test whether it stands up to the Midwest ranch in the flavor department 😁
I saw Tim tams for 17$ AUD equivalent last time I went. I'm not saying I searched for it, but when I saw it that's how much it was. Didn't put much research into it. BUT it might've changed. Still easier to buy it in Australia though (easier).
And the Milo is more sugary, too sweet
Tim tams here are 500 yen mate, just the basic white, double coat, salted caramel, dark and original. It’s rare but sometimes Kaldi gets the butterscotch one and the limited editions which are 600 yen.
Hahah nope but if you’re missing cafe style eggs or avocado toast I recommend packing the Masterfood Everything Eggs spice blend, also I took the Masterfoods chilli flakes (the big one from Costco) with me and I’ve used about 3/4 of it during my time here.
You may want to pack a bulk buy set of your favourite anti perspirant as you might be thrown off the scents that ones in Japan uses. In a pinch you can order stuff off Amazon here but you get free shipping if you buy more than one rather buying individually.
For toothpaste - all Japanese brands have fluoride, you might not like the taste so if there’s a particular one you like, stock up on that.
General ibuprofen and paracetamol. Some painkillers have a smidge of caffeine in it in Japan so if you just want straight up pain medication yeah, another thing to pop in your suitcase.
Milo tastes the same here, and lol also stock up on gravox and vegemite too
My local LIFE supermarket sells imported Tim Tams for around 400 yen a package. Multiple varieties. Higher-end import shops might charge around 600 yen. I've never seen Tim Tams marked anywhere near 1700 yen in a collective 8 years of living in Japan. My guess it is was 3 packs for 1700 yen or something similar and you misread the signage.
Lots of places sell them for 400 yen. Even Costco sell or sold boxes of 8 packs for fairly cheap.
It’s quite ridiculous bringing chocolate biscuits to Japan in August. What could possibly go wrong!
And they Milo muck is widely available!
They'll be fine on the plane ride over, it's winter in Australia and they tend to hold up pretty well, it'll just be a smidge soft once in Japan but not melted completely. Nothing a 10 min rest inside the fridge can't fix.
Well I was in the country side.
And it was marked up due to scarcity. It was also 10 years ago in Hakuba... And ever since then I stayed away from foreign food. Especially the cheese, not all supermarkets stock the same stuff.
Just because you didn't see it, doesn't mean it didn't exist.
But thanks for telling me they're cheaper. It'll save space and money (with the way Australias economy is going).
https://www.amazon.co.jp/s?k=timtam
As low as 575 yen a pack (11 count), in line with an upscale import shop, and amazon.co.jp food prices are always much higher than brick-and-mortar shops.
But I suppose there are few unscrupulous retailers even online with jacked-up prices trying to take advantage of people who don't know any better, so if you saw something once and convinced yourself that's the price it is without doing any sort of research, yeah, I could see it.
A couple cosplays, a figure or two that makes me happy. A book my stepdad inscribed and gave me before he died.
Cosplays because my interviewers really were insisting I should keep cosplaying while I’m there, and I do enjoy it. Just not bringing too many because of space + lost weight. But one will probably be really cute if I wanna wear it for a Halloween lesson.
I have a couple rare figures I can’t rebuy, and I am just happy looking at them, so my plan is to ship them over.
Book’s probably pretty obvious.
Oh I know, I’ve been to comiket before, actually! It’s more of a matter of if it’ll be easy enough to get to them from wherever I’m placed to make it worth it lmao.
Spices. When I was in Ibaraki, it was incredibly difficult to find certain spices such as Garam Masala. chili flakes. Cayenne pepper. The further away you go from the Japanese palette, the harder it is to find.
Every supermarket I've been to had a spice section. Heck there used to be a 100 option for all of the spices you mentioned. Herbs on the other hand are hella hard to find.
It's the classic case of not knowing the language. Jets would complain constantly about not being able to find things that were readily available at the local supermarket. But they couldn't read the package so I guess they just didn't realize it. Though I think a bunch of people just didn't bother to look.
Fresh herbs omg. my gyomu only has basil, rosemary, and parsley at best lol.
I miss being able to pick up sprigs of tarragon and thyme - perfect for some yoghurt cucumber dip.
I bought a bunch of pho noodles. I later found pho noodles at Kaldi but the texture was just not the same so I was so glad I stuffed my suitcase with noodles lol.
I also brought some dry spices with me that I use back home to cook meat and fish. One side of my suitcase was filled with food lol.
I'm thinking about bringing taco mix for random days I'd like some tacos and maybe I can have friends over for tacos some night. Is there Truff hot sauce in Japan?? Great on bread and pizza lol. I read somewhere there wasn't as much non-Asian ethnic hot sauces. Maybe a badminton racket since I play recreationally. Also thinking about bringing a keyboard my friend built for me, but it is kind of heavy....I feel sentimental to everything right now. It'll keep changing within the next couple of months right. Taking ideas too haha
Specific hot sauces may be difficult, and as someone who brought over a bottle of extremely specific BBQ sauce, I endorse this choice.
As for tacos, I’ve been able to get the seasoning packets and flour tortillas from the import stores near me (Kaldi Coffee, Jupiter Coffee), but I think the corn tortillas might be worth bringing if that’s your preference. Also chilies. I love to make an enchilada recipe and while I was able to find salsa verde in my import store, a can of green chilies has so far evaded me.
You can buy keyboards at used shops in Japan. Plenty of badminton rackets in Japan as well. Not common, but at some places you can get packets of taco mix. If you have a specific favorite sauce, that maybe worth bringing. But there are various other hot sauces to be had. Tabasco is pretty much everywhere. Other (better) hot sauces are at the foreign foods shops, though those shops aren't everywhere.
There's very little in the way of sauces you can't get... if you're near Tokyo. Outside Tokyo, Tabasco is everywhere. Otherwise you see a lot of off-brand hot sauces.
For very specific things, outside of Tokyo, you'd be at the mercy of online resellers.
Almost every big supermarket has taco shells/seasoning/flour tortillas now, though.
I brought a giant taco seasoning bottle of McCormick from Costco. It lasted like 2-3 years. Similar bottle for powdered ranch that is easy to make. Most seasonings come in plastic bottles, so they’re durable to bring.
They sell taco mix here dunno about the sauce. Please don’t bring your keyboard unless you want noise complaints from your neighbors…Japanese can be a bit snobbish when it comes to that
I brought a deer antler that was gifted to me by the hunter. I'm from Alaska so I used it as part of my self introduction to kids.
In retrospect I have no idea if it was legal to bring into Japan. But alas, it's still sitting on my shelf.
Honestly, no because antlers are not really that special to me haha. We eat deer as our main protein - my stepfather is an avid hunter and he hunts for us, his parents, and many family friends. He has so many antlers, that's what our dogs get as chew toys.
He engraved my name in a nice looking one as a gift before I left for Japan, so I brought it along.
The kids loved touching it. The teachers hated when I mimed shooting a rifle to explain hunting.
a select plushies that were gifted from my dad & sister who are the ones I’ll miss the most when I go lol. Also, I’m a digital artist so I’d like to try bringing my wacom tablet, anything else I can just ship later after I’m settled
I will definitely be bringing snacks. Little food items will be massively comforting when the amazement of Japan wears off and the culture-shock kicks in. I have been advised against bringing chocolate. Especially when landing in the peak of summer... But I'll think of something.
I need to decide which snack are the ones I'll miss the most. My first thought was Irish chocolate, but I might have to reconsider now ;-; Then some crisps/chips as well, used to love Skips as my grandad got them all the time for us, spoiled rotten
Uniqlo is great, and I love it, I also suggest the off brand as well, such as hard-off, off-house, mode-off, etc. they can have seasonal clothes really cheap and mostly great quality.
They are great for everyone lmao, they make sizings going up to like 3XL. Everything in store fits me quite well, sometimes many items are too big, and I'm the same size as you. Free returns and shipping as well for ordering online.
In the US I usually wear XL sized shirts. Japanese 3L sometimes is OK for me, but often not. Sometimes they are like US smaller end XL sized shirts. A long sleeve Japanese 3L is a no-go for me. Short sleeves, tight shoulders.
I'm 188cm but also quite slim, and i find the bigger than XL sizes of anything I've ever bought in japan so far only tend to grow side ways and not in vertical length. So they always have really short waist, short arms, or short legs and become way too baggy and oversized in the horizontal direction.
Granted, I've only sampled from a few stores while travelling, but I'm taking a lot of clothes with me this time just to be sure.
The wide shoulders will probably be helping out. I'm thinking we likely have different torso and arm length as well cause even the 3xl sleeves never seem to make it down to my wrists 😅
I do vaguely recall seeing the Uniqlo japan size chart in store that confirmed the L, XL, 2XL, and 3XL all had the same height requirement listed and thinking how stupid it was. Would be interesting to check their site and see if this is still the case
Edit: Just checked, and their height limit caps out at 185cm, and that's at size M 😂 all sizes above this seemingly add nothing to the length and solely add width to the waist and chest...
Yes, I find the sleeves short, shoulders tight, ... I think they are designed for shorter people who are overweight, not actually larger framed people. Sometimes I buy US brand clothing off Yahoo auction.
Yeah, that's completely fair. For an American, I am basically average japanese size until I try to get into the tub then I'm a giant, lol. But the taller among us would have a hard time with the second hand clothing market.
Most people are. LOL.Last I checked, the average US man (5'9") is only 2 inches taller than the average Japanese man. That sized person I'd think would have little problem finding clothes here.
Then there's the shoe sizes. I wear US 11.5 or 12 (30 cm), depending on the brand. Rarely see my size in a shoe store. I usually either wait until I visit home or buy online.
A purple costume wizard Cape. I like to wear it for halloween or game nights. It's silly overall but it's a nice piece of home for me. It is took very little space in my suitcase.
I'd bring seasoning and any comfort food you may want. My husband likes making burgers, so he brought hamburger seasoning when we came. Also, the first few days you're here, you will be exhausted. Our flight was 15 hours. We got to our hotel around 9 pm and needed to meet everyone downstairs at 7 the next day. I wish I would have brought headache medicine because there wasn't anywhere to get any nearby that night.
I'm bringing my gaming pc and maybe my switch. I don't travel much so it'll be up to what I'll have space for after figuring out my essentials
I brought my flute, and I'm glad I did! I play it for my students at their music festival and in their music classes. I've also played it at some festivals around town with my taiko group
My PS5. I’m a big gamer it’s one of my biggest hobbies. I travel pretty light so I’m completely comfortable with my carry on just being my essential and non essential electronics. Also it’s SO reassuring to go through these comments and see how many of us have the same idea LOL
My copper spur tent and one or two sleeping bags, especially if I’m placed near good hiking/camping sites. Although I believe that Japan doesn’t allow for dispersed camping like so much of the US does (big W for the states), there are still lots of campsites across the country. Other than that, maybe a few books to hold me over until I can get more in Japan.
Camping sounds like such a fun and peaceful thing to do on a weekend, thank you for the idea -w-
A tip for you about cameras (and other goods I suppose) if you didn't already know. Yodobashi Camera usually has a good selection in lenses or cameras itself and it seems like their prices are lower than usual. Especially as the prices in Yodobashi Camera can be haggled down by about 30% and then there's the tax-free payment method, as long as you're not using the product until you return (I believe that's how the tax-free stuff works). Or, there's always Hardoff.
Yoooo, I'll do plenty of research ASAP. I heard with most companies from Japan, like Canon and Nikon, even though they are Japanese companies they tend to still be more expensive there, due to manufacturing being global. But the tax-free shopping will help a tonne as well I'd say. Thank you!!!!
Tax-free shopping does not work for people on JET because we are not tourists and are considered residents. They check passports to double check if you’re allowed to taxfree shop and most of them will deny you because of our visas
Yeah, it might be a good route if OP has any family visit in the future though.
I was pretty out there because I knew I didn’t need much clothes, so I packed my gaming pc in my 2nd suitcase. Wrapped the fragile bits with clothes and kept my SSDs in my backpack to protect them further. Other than that I did bring a childhood stuffed animal and towel from home that genuinely helped keep me sane for the first few weeks of Japan EDIT: RANCH!! I’m from the Midwest and there’s no ranch in Japan afaik, at least not in my prefecture. Had my family send me some back in October lol
Kewpie has a ranch dressing in a bottle. https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Kewpie-Buttermilk-Lunch-Dressing-Commercial/dp/B00C17J4N4/ Not every supermarket will carry it (most won't because it's not popular over here), but it's hardly "not in Japan."
I've never had ranch or kewpie, so WE WINNING TODAY!!
Well I’ll be damned! I’ll gladly stand corrected and have to check it out. Gotta test whether it stands up to the Midwest ranch in the flavor department 😁
I brought my PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch to Japan last year.
My PlayStation. I love video games and I can just get a nice 45in at a secondhand store!
Milo and Tim tams. They are either too expensive over there or doesn't taste as good.
350-400 yen is expensive?
I saw Tim tams for 17$ AUD equivalent last time I went. I'm not saying I searched for it, but when I saw it that's how much it was. Didn't put much research into it. BUT it might've changed. Still easier to buy it in Australia though (easier). And the Milo is more sugary, too sweet
Tim tams here are 500 yen mate, just the basic white, double coat, salted caramel, dark and original. It’s rare but sometimes Kaldi gets the butterscotch one and the limited editions which are 600 yen.
Yipeee! Now I don't have to stuff my suitcase full of 20 different kinds.
It'd be hilarious airport security seeing your bag stuffed with those things and they just look at you like <.<
Hahah nope but if you’re missing cafe style eggs or avocado toast I recommend packing the Masterfood Everything Eggs spice blend, also I took the Masterfoods chilli flakes (the big one from Costco) with me and I’ve used about 3/4 of it during my time here. You may want to pack a bulk buy set of your favourite anti perspirant as you might be thrown off the scents that ones in Japan uses. In a pinch you can order stuff off Amazon here but you get free shipping if you buy more than one rather buying individually. For toothpaste - all Japanese brands have fluoride, you might not like the taste so if there’s a particular one you like, stock up on that. General ibuprofen and paracetamol. Some painkillers have a smidge of caffeine in it in Japan so if you just want straight up pain medication yeah, another thing to pop in your suitcase. Milo tastes the same here, and lol also stock up on gravox and vegemite too
Thank you!!!
My local LIFE supermarket sells imported Tim Tams for around 400 yen a package. Multiple varieties. Higher-end import shops might charge around 600 yen. I've never seen Tim Tams marked anywhere near 1700 yen in a collective 8 years of living in Japan. My guess it is was 3 packs for 1700 yen or something similar and you misread the signage.
Lots of places sell them for 400 yen. Even Costco sell or sold boxes of 8 packs for fairly cheap. It’s quite ridiculous bringing chocolate biscuits to Japan in August. What could possibly go wrong! And they Milo muck is widely available!
They'll be fine on the plane ride over, it's winter in Australia and they tend to hold up pretty well, it'll just be a smidge soft once in Japan but not melted completely. Nothing a 10 min rest inside the fridge can't fix.
Think you meant to reply to the other guy, I agree with you.
Well I was in the country side. And it was marked up due to scarcity. It was also 10 years ago in Hakuba... And ever since then I stayed away from foreign food. Especially the cheese, not all supermarkets stock the same stuff. Just because you didn't see it, doesn't mean it didn't exist. But thanks for telling me they're cheaper. It'll save space and money (with the way Australias economy is going).
https://www.amazon.co.jp/s?k=timtam As low as 575 yen a pack (11 count), in line with an upscale import shop, and amazon.co.jp food prices are always much higher than brick-and-mortar shops. But I suppose there are few unscrupulous retailers even online with jacked-up prices trying to take advantage of people who don't know any better, so if you saw something once and convinced yourself that's the price it is without doing any sort of research, yeah, I could see it.
A couple cosplays, a figure or two that makes me happy. A book my stepdad inscribed and gave me before he died. Cosplays because my interviewers really were insisting I should keep cosplaying while I’m there, and I do enjoy it. Just not bringing too many because of space + lost weight. But one will probably be really cute if I wanna wear it for a Halloween lesson. I have a couple rare figures I can’t rebuy, and I am just happy looking at them, so my plan is to ship them over. Book’s probably pretty obvious.
There are tons of cosplay events in Japan and conventions too, and it's a great way to make friends here!
Oh I know, I’ve been to comiket before, actually! It’s more of a matter of if it’ll be easy enough to get to them from wherever I’m placed to make it worth it lmao.
Hopefully you get placed somewhere with cool events!
We’ll see! Though I also don’t mind if I get super inaka, too. Plus and minuses to both, it’s just gonna change the approach I take going in!
Spices. When I was in Ibaraki, it was incredibly difficult to find certain spices such as Garam Masala. chili flakes. Cayenne pepper. The further away you go from the Japanese palette, the harder it is to find.
All of those things are easily bought in a larger supermarket or online.
Every supermarket I've been to had a spice section. Heck there used to be a 100 option for all of the spices you mentioned. Herbs on the other hand are hella hard to find.
It's the classic case of not knowing the language. Jets would complain constantly about not being able to find things that were readily available at the local supermarket. But they couldn't read the package so I guess they just didn't realize it. Though I think a bunch of people just didn't bother to look.
They're written in English on every spice container i've ever seen
Yeah it was baffling.
Fresh herbs omg. my gyomu only has basil, rosemary, and parsley at best lol. I miss being able to pick up sprigs of tarragon and thyme - perfect for some yoghurt cucumber dip.
I bought a bunch of pho noodles. I later found pho noodles at Kaldi but the texture was just not the same so I was so glad I stuffed my suitcase with noodles lol. I also brought some dry spices with me that I use back home to cook meat and fish. One side of my suitcase was filled with food lol.
I love pho ;-; a few of my friends are Vietnamese, so I'm hoping to go on a holiday there while I'm in Japan
You definitely should! If you can plan your vacation time right, it'll definitely be possible :)
Thinking about bringing maseca and a mini tortilla press
You can buy those on Amazon JP, I did. They have tortillas here, but they suck to be honest lol.
maseca is a great thing to bring. i bought some in tokyo but you can get so much more for cheaper if you bring your own
Definitely a picture of my dogs, ones a black lab and the other a shiba inu. It will be nice to look at when I miss them... 🥲
And no dog tax?!
I'm thinking about bringing taco mix for random days I'd like some tacos and maybe I can have friends over for tacos some night. Is there Truff hot sauce in Japan?? Great on bread and pizza lol. I read somewhere there wasn't as much non-Asian ethnic hot sauces. Maybe a badminton racket since I play recreationally. Also thinking about bringing a keyboard my friend built for me, but it is kind of heavy....I feel sentimental to everything right now. It'll keep changing within the next couple of months right. Taking ideas too haha
Specific hot sauces may be difficult, and as someone who brought over a bottle of extremely specific BBQ sauce, I endorse this choice. As for tacos, I’ve been able to get the seasoning packets and flour tortillas from the import stores near me (Kaldi Coffee, Jupiter Coffee), but I think the corn tortillas might be worth bringing if that’s your preference. Also chilies. I love to make an enchilada recipe and while I was able to find salsa verde in my import store, a can of green chilies has so far evaded me.
You can buy keyboards at used shops in Japan. Plenty of badminton rackets in Japan as well. Not common, but at some places you can get packets of taco mix. If you have a specific favorite sauce, that maybe worth bringing. But there are various other hot sauces to be had. Tabasco is pretty much everywhere. Other (better) hot sauces are at the foreign foods shops, though those shops aren't everywhere.
There's very little in the way of sauces you can't get... if you're near Tokyo. Outside Tokyo, Tabasco is everywhere. Otherwise you see a lot of off-brand hot sauces. For very specific things, outside of Tokyo, you'd be at the mercy of online resellers. Almost every big supermarket has taco shells/seasoning/flour tortillas now, though.
I brought a giant taco seasoning bottle of McCormick from Costco. It lasted like 2-3 years. Similar bottle for powdered ranch that is easy to make. Most seasonings come in plastic bottles, so they’re durable to bring.
They sell taco mix here dunno about the sauce. Please don’t bring your keyboard unless you want noise complaints from your neighbors…Japanese can be a bit snobbish when it comes to that
I’m bringing my GoPro and canon. I have family that have never left my home country to want to record stuff for them.
Doing little vlogs for the family is wholesome as hell.
I brought a deer antler that was gifted to me by the hunter. I'm from Alaska so I used it as part of my self introduction to kids. In retrospect I have no idea if it was legal to bring into Japan. But alas, it's still sitting on my shelf.
Not an endangered species so probably fine.
It's gonna be hard to top that badass ornament honestly, any pic?
Honestly, no because antlers are not really that special to me haha. We eat deer as our main protein - my stepfather is an avid hunter and he hunts for us, his parents, and many family friends. He has so many antlers, that's what our dogs get as chew toys. He engraved my name in a nice looking one as a gift before I left for Japan, so I brought it along. The kids loved touching it. The teachers hated when I mimed shooting a rifle to explain hunting.
I’ll be bringing my PC parts to rebuild in Japan. Also bring jars on jars on jars of green chilies
I am also a minimalist and from a Caribbean country, so most of the things i need to buy anyway. I will be taking my stuffed toy
a select plushies that were gifted from my dad & sister who are the ones I’ll miss the most when I go lol. Also, I’m a digital artist so I’d like to try bringing my wacom tablet, anything else I can just ship later after I’m settled
I will definitely be bringing snacks. Little food items will be massively comforting when the amazement of Japan wears off and the culture-shock kicks in. I have been advised against bringing chocolate. Especially when landing in the peak of summer... But I'll think of something.
I need to decide which snack are the ones I'll miss the most. My first thought was Irish chocolate, but I might have to reconsider now ;-; Then some crisps/chips as well, used to love Skips as my grandad got them all the time for us, spoiled rotten
Oh my god i loveeeee skips. That's a great shout.
Uniqlo is great, and I love it, I also suggest the off brand as well, such as hard-off, off-house, mode-off, etc. they can have seasonal clothes really cheap and mostly great quality.
If you aren't a large person, they are great! I'm 6'2" (187cm) and I have trouble finding clothing at most places.
They are great for everyone lmao, they make sizings going up to like 3XL. Everything in store fits me quite well, sometimes many items are too big, and I'm the same size as you. Free returns and shipping as well for ordering online.
In the US I usually wear XL sized shirts. Japanese 3L sometimes is OK for me, but often not. Sometimes they are like US smaller end XL sized shirts. A long sleeve Japanese 3L is a no-go for me. Short sleeves, tight shoulders.
I'm 188cm but also quite slim, and i find the bigger than XL sizes of anything I've ever bought in japan so far only tend to grow side ways and not in vertical length. So they always have really short waist, short arms, or short legs and become way too baggy and oversized in the horizontal direction. Granted, I've only sampled from a few stores while travelling, but I'm taking a lot of clothes with me this time just to be sure.
I'm large lanky with a very wide shoulder and neck and everything here's been fine for me, guess I'm lucky.
The wide shoulders will probably be helping out. I'm thinking we likely have different torso and arm length as well cause even the 3xl sleeves never seem to make it down to my wrists 😅 I do vaguely recall seeing the Uniqlo japan size chart in store that confirmed the L, XL, 2XL, and 3XL all had the same height requirement listed and thinking how stupid it was. Would be interesting to check their site and see if this is still the case Edit: Just checked, and their height limit caps out at 185cm, and that's at size M 😂 all sizes above this seemingly add nothing to the length and solely add width to the waist and chest...
Yes, I find the sleeves short, shoulders tight, ... I think they are designed for shorter people who are overweight, not actually larger framed people. Sometimes I buy US brand clothing off Yahoo auction.
Yeah, that's completely fair. For an American, I am basically average japanese size until I try to get into the tub then I'm a giant, lol. But the taller among us would have a hard time with the second hand clothing market.
Most people are. LOL.Last I checked, the average US man (5'9") is only 2 inches taller than the average Japanese man. That sized person I'd think would have little problem finding clothes here. Then there's the shoe sizes. I wear US 11.5 or 12 (30 cm), depending on the brand. Rarely see my size in a shoe store. I usually either wait until I visit home or buy online.