A store I enjoy going to here is Japanese - DAISO. It's a distinctively Japanese thing, a １００円ショップ hyakkuen shoppu whose every article costs exactly 100 yen - no more, no less. Unlike 99¢ stores in the US unloading cheap, unwanted and past prime merchandise from elsewhere, products here proudly sport their own label. In this land of cheaply mass-produced stuff it's kind of stylish, being Japanese.
There's clearly a world of designers and manufacturers (many of the the latter presumably here in China!) who aim for just this this market, devising nifty things which add incrementally to the pleasure of your life. Kitchen, bath, storage, stationery, toys, accessories... (I'm wearing DAISO fleece slippers as I speak, and will take an inflatable DAISO headrest with me on the plane Thursday.) There are also always discoveries, too! Who could resist these 12 mini-sponges for just $1.50?
