The Mega Discount Department Store Of Japan

Shopping in Japan? Donki has got your back!

Today is #MarketFriday initiated by @dswigle and tonight I'll be showing you around one of the popular stores in Japan where you can get your souvenirs as a tourist, or your everyday items as a resident in this country. If you wanna know more about #MarketFriday, you can visit the community and probably join us!

Don Quijote, or Donki as called by the locals, is a 24hr discount store. It's huge, has a lot of things they sell and they have branches all over Japan. It's a favorite destination of tourists before heading back to their home country, but it's not just limited to tourists but also to the people residing in Japan. Who doesn't love discounts anyways?!

In the middle of the night, my partner asked me if I wanted to come with him to Donki. Lately, he's been experimenting on cigars, you know, the one you see in movies smoked by some kind of mafia boss. 😅 The cigarette shop near home was already closed (of course, it's already in the middle of the night!) so he wanted to go to the 24hr Donki.

We can walk to the nearest Donki in the middle of the night because there were no more trains running at that time. The walk could take us less than an hour but I got a half-price coupon from Uber so we rode the taxi. His treat, of course, he's the one buying. 😅

When we arrived at Donki, he immediately went to find the cigarette corner. It's not really his first time to go to this store but he doesn't come here often so we were looking around for the cigars. Luckily, it's just near the entrance we took.

There were tons of choices but this wasn't what he was looking for.

At the bottom of the shelf, we found what he was looking for.

The cigars in the red-orange box are from the Philippines. When he went to the Philippines one time, he tried one of these cigars but he couldn't remember the name. That was a long time ago too. Each stick is sold for as low as 270 yen (or 1.82 USD). It's cheap and he likes it. He bought a lot of these.

The ones at the top are from South America. I'm not too familiar but I think he mentioned they were from Cuba. Those were the expensive ones though. He didn't buy them because he's just experimenting.

He spent a lot of time choosing from these cigars so I left him there for a while and roam around the store. This Donki seems like only a 1-storey store but it's wide. Most Donki stores have a lot of floors but it's not so wide.

There were bags, watches and garments from the luxury brands sold there too. Too bad I forgot to take a photo of them. I'm not sure if those were fake or not. I mean it's not so cheap but it's cheap when you get retail of it from the actual shop.

Walking around and I stumbled upon the alcoholic beverages section. They sell a lot of alcoholic drinks from Japanese brands to foreign brands. Some were so expensive and rare to find! I'm not particular about these as long as I can drink (it should still be tasty though for me to like it!) but my partner knows a lot about them. And where was he? Oh I left him in the cigar section. 😂

I like champagne! I've only tried once though and I like it! Wish I could buy but it's so out of my budget. The most expensive one in this shelf is almost 100k yen (or around 670 USD). Bet it taste so good!

Across the alcoholic drinks section is where you'll find anything related to nails. There were nail polish, fake nails, and anything related to styling your nails. I was so preoccupied there but I forgot to take photos!

A few minutes later, my partner called me. He has already decided what to buy but he wanted us to look around the cigar section.

He told me to get something for myself. To be honest I don't smoke. He convinced me to get one Air Mini because it's an e-cigarette without nicotine.

I was in dilemma on what to choose because there are so many flavors. My best bets are the Peach Oolong and the Mango Shake flavors. Guess what I chose?

We continued roaming around and found this area selling all kinds of CBD. I have no idea if this is legit or not but yeah, I heard this is kinda legal in Japan now hence, this space.

There's an adult corner for sure. It's not that big but there's something in there. I went only til its entrance, I didn't continue going further. Nothing interesting there maybe 😏 I'm not sure if this is allowed in this community so if you want to see the only photo I took there, you can view it at this link.

Boyfriend had already bought what he came for but he promised me he would treat me snacks. So guess where we were going next? 😅

This Donki sells international food and they call it World Eats section. Some Donki stores though don't have this section so if you need something foreign, probably head to the Mega Don Quijote (there's one in Shibuya) or to this Don Quijote Shinjuku branch. There are so many Donki stores in Shinjuku though, make sure to go to the one named Shinjuku branch.

They have all sorts of noodles but I can find some of them in the supermarket near our home so I skipped these.

I came here to buy some Filipino snacks. I miss the chips from my home country. It's expensive but if it's not often that I buy, then it's fine. Just satisfying my cravings.

Since this Donki is located in Korean town, they also sell a lot of Korean food.

Halloween is coming and of course, in Donki, you can find tons of stuff for the celebration. This is like the go-to place of the people when they want to buy costumes. Don't worry, there are also costumes for adults in this store.

Going to the cashier area, you'll pass by a lot of body care products and some supplements. This store is really maximizing their space. It's so rare for someone to go inside without buying anything.

And well, this is the season of sweet potatoes so before heading to the cashier, you could smell something delicious you will want to buy them. It's still hot so you gotta be careful.

I found this machine which will generate your stamp or はんこ (read as hanko). I haven't used this because I already got mine. Hanko is used in a lot of documents here in Japan so I think everybody has it. This one is cheap, starting from 500 yen (or around 3.4 USD) but then, I think it would be better if you just go to a Hanko shop.

Outside Donki, they also display the stuff they sell. See, they are really maximizing the space. There's no worries for robbers.

There are still so many things you can see in Donki. They have a fitness section, bedding, games, furniture, and appliances, and they even sell bicycles! It's like Donki got it all for you. And what's more - for a decent price!

If ever you come to Japan and shop for souvenirs, maybe you can join all the other tourists and shop at Donki. It's okay, they have a tax-free counter for tourists! 😉

Overall, we spend around 3,000 yen (or around 20 USD) just for our snacks but for the cigarettes and the Air Mini? My boyfriend spent almost the same amount. He paid for everything, including the taxi so for this night, he spent almost 10,000 yen (or around 67 USD). 😅

Thanks for reading! See you around! じゃあ、またね！

^{All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.}