Finding the Right in Japan’s Drug Store Jungle

Especially as a woman you know you are using a lot of beauty products and other such things every day. In your home country you grow up with them and are used to your favorite shampoo, toothpaste and foundation. Moving to Japan now means you need to find all these things from new. Something which makes you struggle especially when you don’t speak much Japanese. Drug stores in Japan have such a big selection which makes it hard to choose and find the right items for you.  

Here I will tell you some of my experiences with this problem…

Toothpaste

To tell the truth, I don’t have such good teeth. So I should take care of my teeth a bit more and I found a fitting toothpaste for me in my home country Germany. However, now I’m living in Japan and need a new one. My first try became a small failure, because I read the Katakana wrong. I really like mint taste and decided on one which had “soft mint” (ソフトミント) written on it. At least, I thought this. At home I tried it – and was surprised. I read again what was written on the tooth paste and found out it is “salty mint” (ソルティミント) … I got used to the salt taste after a while, but I would never buy it again. Lately I learned that the German Sensodyne is called シュミテクト in Japan. Good to know! 

Shampoo and Conditioner

Already in Germany it took me a long time to find the right shampoo for my hair. They quickly get fatty and I needed to wash them at least every two days in Germany. In Japan, I had to go on the search for a new one. By now, I still haven’t found the best for my hair… The variety is so big and since I’m not good at reading what is inside, it is hard to choose. So, if you can recommend something to me – please!  

I also have a funny story about conditioner, which already lies some years back, when I was living in Japan for the first time. At this time, I had never heard of conditioner. In my family we called the shower gel and soap “shampoo”, too. So, I thought conditioner would be the regular hair shampoo and bought this. I found out the mistake under the shower and researched it on the Internet. I learned something new and now I am using both of them.

Toilet Paper

Coming to toilet paper, German people are spoiled. We can buy toilet paper with up to four or six layers which is super soft and has a wonderful smell. Coming to Japan, you are lucky if you can find toilet paper with two layers… It also took some time for me to find the right one for our home – with some shopping failures, too – but now we are ok with the one we have. Only take care of the words single (シングル) and double (ダブル) when you buy toilet paper in Japan! 

Women’s Sanitary Products

A special topic for every woman. In Japan napkins are still the normal things to use and there is also a big variety here. Especially take care of the size which is written on the pack. Some are really big! I saw some videos on YouTube making fun of these sizes, too. However, some of the napkins are really good and I found the one product for me. However, talking about Japanese tampons, I always heard some horror stories. They might be really bad here and so I never tried. I still get these from Germany.  

The list goes on with many things. Just thinking of hairspay, sun screen, medicine and make up… Sometimes you are even lucky and find products and brands you know from your home country, here in Japan. For me, for example, it is Nivea, which I can find in Japan often, but it is really expensive.

All in all, it is normal to spend a lot of money in the beginning with trying out products before you can finally find the RIGHT inside the drug store jungle.