Amazon.

In the US, our family uses Amazon Prime for online shopping and home delivery of all sorts of items, from books and music, to clothing, household items, and even cleaning and “stock up” items like paper towels, tissue, and pet food. It has been such an easy and convenient service, and has saved many a trip out to the store. I am not a happy shopper, and I detest going to the mall, so Amazon made Christmas shopping and birthday shopping… and any other necessary shopping… much more palatable for me.

And… in Japan, we have found that Amazon “delivers” excellent service here as well (pun intended.) We have had to purchase a separate Amazon.jp Prime membership — different from our US Amazon Prime membership — but we find it has been well worth the cost here — as it is in the US. Yes, yes, I am sorry… I am using the blog to promote a business, but it has been such a convenience for us, I feel that it is justified.

In the US, with Prime, we get our packages within two business days, and sometimes even on weekends. Here in Japan, however, we have found that the service is even faster (Japan is all about efficiency!) Guaranteed delivery within two days — here in Japan — usually means delivery within hours! This package in the photo was something that my husband ordered online about 10 pm last night… and it arrived about noon today!

This has been a real help to us for a lot of things… items that we don’t know where to find here in Tokyo… as well as items that may be large and bulky, or difficult to carry on the subway. Remember — we are all afoot here in Tokyo… I can’t just drive to a store and load up stuff. I have to be able to carry it back to my apartment. And even if I do take it on the subway, the closest station is still almost a kilometer away from our apartment.

I have spoken to other expats from our company, who live in London, and they have said the same things about Amazon.uk. It has been very helpful for all of us trying to set up and maintain households in foreign countries. All I can say is: Way to go, Amazon!