Yesterday, I walked over to the Seiyu. I have heard that it is supposed to be owned by Walmart in the states. The building itself was hidden and squeezed between other large shopping towers. I managed to walk right past the bicycle parking and saw a statue of Col. Sanders standing in front of the Japanese Kentucky Fried Chicken. Walking in, there's hardly any similarity to the Walmart in the states. There were no shopping carts and there was no greeter. Instead, I was confronted with Japanese name brand clothing, real estate booths, and several tiny restaurants. I can already tell that the Seiyu only caters to the Japanese. Each floor had different products and little stores including a 100 Yen Store which is kinda like the US version of the 99 cent store. It sold Kimonos, clothes, chopsticks, rice cookers, potted plants, flowers, Japanese DVDs, bicycles, various Japanese household items and of course, Hello Kitty stuff. The only thing that resembled Walmart is the "Rollback" yellow smily face on the signs hanging from the ceiling and in front of discounted items. It was kinda funny that the escalator only leads you up, but if you want to go down, you have to take the stairs. I couldn't find my way to the elevator... everything was written in hiragana. Compared to the surrounding stores nearby, the prices there were pretty competitive, but still expensive compared to the US. It is definitely worth a trip back for some household items. If you were from the states, and didn't research, you wouldn't even have a clue that Seiyu is owned by Walmart.
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