Best Japanese Drugstores

Have you been to any drugstore in Japan? It’s one of the most accessible and convenient places to shop in Japan as you can find a wide range of products from medicine, cosmetics to food and household goods. Moreover, products are usually sold at discounted price in drugstores.

In Japan, there are multiple franchised drugstores, and each store has a different feature or offers different type of products. In this article, I’d like to introduce popular drugstores in Japan with some shopping advice!

*Please note that this article contains affiliate links.

1. Matsumoto Kiyoshi

Matsumoto Kiyoshi (マツモトキヨシ) a.k.a. Matsukiyo is the most famous drugstore in Japan, which you can find its yellow shop display at every town. Currently there are approx 1,900 branches nationwide. A wide variety of products are offered at competitive rates and most of stores consists of 2 or 3 stories, and each sections are categorized by floor. Especially, a wide selection of Japanese beauty products can be found from Shiseido, SKⅡ to inexpensive cosmetics.

The products with MK, mk or MK Custmer logos are Matsumoto Kiyoshi’s original brands and sold at even more reasonable price!

mk 2L Bottle Water: 68 yen
mk toothbrush: 67 yen
mk Hoikkairo (Disposable Heating Patch) 449 yen (30pc)

▶Shop Now on MatsumotoKiyoshi

2. Tsuruha Drugs

Tsuruha Drug (ツルハドラッグ) is one of leading drugstore chains in Japan with over 1,000 stores across the country, which many of them are located in Hokkaido, Tohoku and Kanto areas. It also has some stores in Thailand. The drugstore offers a wide range of products including cosmetics products, medicines, supplements and the original brand M’s One.

3. Welcia

Welcia (ウエルシア) is a local-based drugstore which target on needs for health and medical products to be one’s personal pharmacy. Numbers of branches are open for 24 hours. Along with medical products, Welcia offers a wide range of household goods and dry food products. Like Matsumoto Kiyoshi, Welcia is also a great shop for daily shopping.

Chinese Vermicelli Soup: 98 yen
Multi Vitamin Mineral Supplement: 3,078 yen
Croissant 2pc: 129 yen
Aqua Whey Protein Grapefruit: 3,110 yen

4. Cocokara Fine

Cocokara Fine (ココカラファイン) is a franchised drugstore founded in 2008 by Matsumotokiyoshi Holdings. Together with Matsumoto Kiyoshi, the group owns more than 3,000 stores across Japan in both city areas and residential neighbourhoods. The store offers a wide selection of medical products, beauty products, food and more.

5. Sundrug

Sundrug is a drugstore founded in Tokyo in 1965 and has over 1,000 branches across Japan including major cities and small neighbourhoods. The store handles a wide range of products including healthcare items, beauty products and household items.

6. AINZ TULPE DRUG AND COSMETIC

AINZ TULPE DRUG AND COSMETIC (アインズ＆トルペ) is a great drugstore especially for cosmetics shopping as a variety of beauty products from a large number of cosmetics brands can be found and many products can be tested at the store. Some make-up products can be tasted at the special counter.

Frozen Konnyaku Face Sponge by Makanai Kosmetics: 756 yen
Use: Soak in water for 5-10 mins until it swells and gets softened. Rub your skin gently and it removes old skins, dirt and downy hair.

Revlon Youth FX Fill + Blur Primer: 2,160 yen
Use: It helps dramatically to cover lines, wrinkles, spots and marks with micro filter.

7. Tomod’s

Tomod’s (トモズ) opened its first store in 1994 and has since expanded to over 200 stores in Japan, mainly in Tokyo and surrounding cities in Kanto region. Many of the stores are situated in accessible locations such as near train stations and inside shopping malls.

8. KoKuMiN

KoKuMiN (コクミン) is one of largest drugstore companies in Tokyo, which stores are located at many major areas such as Shinjuku, Ikebukuro and Ebisu. At their store in Takeshita Street, Harajuku, there is a large make-up testing space and the store offers latest trendy beauty products including colour contact lenses. Also at many branches, they accept Tax Free payment service such as WeChat Payment and Alipay.

What did you think about the list? Not only medical products, but you can shop a great variety of items at most of drugstores in Japan, such as inexpensive make-up products, snacks, food and drinks.

Many drugstores are highly recommended for daily shopping and offer competitive prices. They offer a huge range of cosmetic products including Shiseido, Kose, and many domestic and international brands.

If you find Japanese department stores are a bit pricey or wanna find beauty products at best price, you should definitely stop by at these drugstores in Japan!

For more useful information about shopping in Japan, please check out these articles listed below!

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