Tax free shops@ Shinjuku: June 21, 2015

The number of Asian tourists is increasing remarkably in recent years. More than 13 million foreigners visited Japan in 2014. The number will surely be more than it in 2015. Many of them enjoy shopping in Tokyo.

I visited tax-free shops in Shinjuku.

Laox, a Chinese capital-backed firm, opened a new shop in Shinjuku early this month. The store sells goods including electronic goods, cosmetics, luxury watches, jewelries, and fashionable clothes. All commercial goods are duty free, that means the store target foreign tourists.

There were not so many shoppers probably because the store was just opened. The sales staff seemed to bhave been trained well. The Chinese staff spoke good Japanese.

Bicqlo is a shop operated by Bic Camera and Uniqlo. It opened in 2012. Each company has its sales spaces in the building. They target both Japanese shoppers and foreign tourists. Tax-free services are offered for foreigners (top photo).

The store was crowded. Japanese, Chinese and other Asian languages were heard in the shop.

The “massive purchase” by Chinese and other Asian tourists makes headlines of newspapers these days. Stores are making efforts to take in it.