Daiso Japan vs Daiso America: A Comparison

Recently I made a trip back home to my native country of America (which is how the USA is known in Japan), excited to be comfortably surrounded by all things American. What should I find, however, but a very familiar sight right next to good ol’ Trader Joes – Daiso! Daiso is the equivalent of the dollar store, and it’s everywhere in Japan. Their products are actually quite good, ranging from handy kitchen products to cute stationary and nail stickers. I knew I had to check out this “Americanized” Daiso. Would the products be the same?

I was pleasantly surprised to find that yes, almost all the products are things you can actually buy back in Japan, with additional American items added. They even have gacha-pon, those super fun capsule machines, though they’re filled with American characters like Spiderman and Minions. They featured a pretty good back-to-school section (which isn’t really a thing in Japan, as school is year-round and everyone is already studying feverishly round the clock during the breaks anyway), which had some cute cat products.

Gachapon, America style!

You can even get Japanese makeup products here, including all those fake eyelashes! There is English, but the Japanese is still printed on them. They even have those arm sleeves that Japanese women love to protect them from the sun so they don’t get tan, next to an American-looking assortment of flip-flops.

One thing you’ll have noticed is that unfortunately, not everything is a dollar (more or less the equivalent of 100 yen, which is how it’s sold in Japan). Bummer. But hey, $1.50 isn’t that bad for imported products.

Moving on, if you’re a slipper lover, you’ll be a happy camper. And if you’re not one, you’ll soon learn to be with this collection of house slippers – soon it’ll be one for the kitchen, one for the living room, one for the bathroom…

Here’s the accessory collection, one of my favorites. These are the exact same products you can get back in Japan!

I was surprised to see they even sell bras and panties; these must be an American addition as I’ve never seen them being sold at any Daiso in Japan. And I suppose this means they're all 'American' sized.

And all those cute cups and plates? Got ‘em! Plus super cute bento accessories!

For a splurge, you can even buy these geisha dolls and noren. And how about these giant bug catching nets? Don’t think I’ve ever seen them sold in America.

Dog lovers will be happy as well, although I’ve never seen this in Japan.

And the snack section doesn’t disappoint either. Plus the addition of higher end American ones!

You can even get Japanese cooking products and miso soup (yum!). Gasp! Takoyaki sauce for 1.50?! Yes!!

Gourmet snacks at Daiso? Yes please!

Conversion of volume units! How handy! Wish they had that in Japan.

Okonomiyaki and takoyaki sauce! Score!

And something new – Hi-Chew bites! They look pretty enticing. And the Hi-Chew packaging even has English!

Hi Chew bites! Yum!

For now Daiso is only located in California, Texas, and Washington in the US. But it's also spread to Australia, Taiwan, and Thailand! You can search for US locations here, and check out more on http://www.daisoglobal.com. If you’re a Californian or planning a trip there, or to Texas or Washington, be sure to check out Daiso!