Bic Camera at Haneda Airport Tax Free Service - New Year's Japan Travel Day 2

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Bic Camera at Haneda Airport Tax Free Service - New Year's Japan Travel Day 2

My husband and I traveled Japan during this New Year's holidays. As I mentioned in my previous entry, we flew to Tokyo from Los Angeles and finally arrived at Tokyo International Airport, Haneda Airport, in the early morning on December 28.

Bic Camera at Haneda Airport
First, we headed toward Bic Camera, an electronics retailer chain in Japan, located on the second floor in Haneda Airport International Terminal. As I mentioned in my previous entry, My Shopping List for Japanese Products (Stationery, Kitchen Items, Starbucks and More) - What I Want to Get in Japan, we wanted to purchase Sharp Healsio Gurie, a highend Japanese toaster oven.

Bic Camera in Haneda Airport International Terminal

When we lived in Osaka, we sometimes went to Bic Camera Namba store, which was pretty huge. This store located in Haneda Airport was very small, but I was impressed that they had many small appliances including Healsio Gurie (Even though this store was small, there were all three colors of Healsio Gurie we could choose from!) and popular Panasonic Nano Care Hair Dryer. In addition, they carried many Japanese beauty items with pretty reasonable prices.

Quick Tax Free Service and 5% Off with Foreign Credit Card

       Now, in Japan, some stores especially ones located in Tokyo offer Tax Free Service. You need to show your passport with a valid entry stamp at the store where you want to apply for a tax refund.

      At this store, they offered Quick Tax Free service (8% off) and an additional 5% off with paying with credit card issued in foreign countries or bitcoin. Yes, Bic Camera allows payments in bitcoin at all locations! We didn't pay it with bitcoin though. ;) Their Quick Tax Free service was really quick. Because we went there in the early morning, there was no waiting line. :) It took us only a few minutes or so to complete our purchase. Just show your passport, and they attach the receipt to your passport. That's it! You can check Japan's tax exemption program from here.

     Healsio Gurie AXH1 is originally 32,500 yen, but it was on sale for 20,180 yen because Sharp just released its newer model, Healsio Gurie AXH2, so AXH1 was on sale there! ;) We purchased it for 19,171 yen with an additional 5% discount with our credit card payment. It ended up being $170.45!

     Did you know why it's the best time to travel Japan? It's because the price of yen currency has been pretty low these years. (While one US dollar is 108 Japanese yen today, it was 76 Japanese yen in 2011!) When we traveled Japan, one US dollar was 112 yen, so I felt like everything in Japan was bargain during our travel! Be sure to pay with a credit card with no foreign transaction fee when you purchase something abroad. You can check out my previous entry, What You Should Take to Japan - Japan Travel Tips, about it.

Japanese Electronics Are the Best!
      I sometimes miss Japanese electronics so much such as a refrigerator and washer we used to use in Japan. A Japanese washer is incredibly quiet and works for so many years (It might work for as long as forever seriously.). However, we cannot bring heavily large appliances from Japan. Yet, we can still purchase small appliances in Japan and enjoy them in the U.S. ;) Next time, I want to get a high-end Japanese rice cooker in Japan!

     Anyway, we enjoy using Healsio Gurie at home now! It was one of our best purchases in Japan. I'll write about our Healsio Gurie in my future entries. :)