In Thailand, the Land of Smiles, second-hand goods used in Japan are now popular. Thai people are overflowing with love for Japan through second-hand goods. Why is this happening? We will follow up on what is happening in Thailand. ■All 20 stores are "Japanese second-hand specialty stores" This time, we headed to Thailand, the Land of Smiles. On this day, a huge container arrived. Inside, it was packed with luggage. Furniture, miscellaneous goods, etc., are actually all second-hand goods from Japan. There are also many musical instruments such as guitars. These second-hand goods were delivered to Miami Bayside, a huge shopping mall that is currently the talk of Thailand. Almost as large as the Tokyo Dome, it has 20 stores specializing in furniture, miscellaneous goods, and pianos. All of them are stores that sell only second-hand goods from Japan. On weekends, Japanese second-hand clothing specialty stores are crowded with hundreds of customers as soon as they open. Customers say, "Japanese clothes are cute, so I love them," and "They don't sell these kinds of clothes in Thailand." I bought 15 of these dresses and other items for about 4,200 yen. ■ A professional motorcycle racer also visits the store "Awesome!" In order to avoid confusion, a lottery was held at the general store where new products had arrived that day to decide the order of entering the store. Then, some men stared intently at the store before it opened. The two motorcycle buddies said they were looking for a helmet. A customer said, "Japanese helmets are very safe." In fact, Apirak (46) on the left is a professional motorcycle racer. He has won an international competition. Apirak's lottery ticket was the third. This is a great chance! Will Apirak be able to get the helmet? When the store's shutters opened, everyone went into the store at the same time, despite the lottery. The active racer got off to a great start! He managed to get a Japanese-made helmet, which costs more than 100,000 yen new, for about 8,500 yen. Apirak said, "It looks beautiful and it's great!" ■ Sweating... Getting the item you want Another general goods store also had a long line. Mr. Gan (21), who came with his father, was looking for a music box made of crystal. Mr. Gan: "I want a music box." Mr. Gan's lottery ticket was number 18. As soon as the shutters of the store opened, Mr. Gan rushed to the music box. What did he get? Interview staff: "They were taking items at a great pace." "There is no air conditioning in the store. The temperature is over 30 degrees Celsius now. In the scorching hot store, everyone was desperately buying second-hand goods from Japan." He successfully got the music box he was looking for. He was sweating but seemed very satisfied. The store sells items by weight. Items are sold at 50 baht for every 100 grams of weight, or about 210 yen (at the time of the interview). The music box was about 400 yen. ■ "Plush toys" are very popular Selling by weight gives you a sense of value On this day, the general goods specialty store "Dharma Event" was particularly crowded with customers. They were looking for "plush toys" that had just arrived from Japan. In fact, the stuffed toys are sold by weight, so they are light and a good deal, and the store is always flooded with customers. That's why a small incident occurred. The pillar at the entrance came off. As soon as the store opened, the stuffed toy section was in a mess. In particular, Japanese anime characters are always fought over. A customer said, "I love Pokemon." Because they are sold by weight, even if you buy a basket full, it only costs about 1,000 yen. ■The mastermind is Japanese: "It's such a waste" The mastermind behind this second-hand goods business is Shoichiro Yanai (48) of Geeks Retailing. He rented out an entire huge shopping mall where a store had vacated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and started a second-hand goods sales business three years ago. There are 20 stores and millions of products, including a variety of items from companies that went bankrupt in Japan and unwanted items from moving. President Yanai: "It's such a waste that new items that are never used are eventually disposed of over time. I think it's better for usable items to be passed on to someone else." On the weekend, in a corner of the shopping mall, women were dancing while holding chairs for some reason. In fact, there is an auction of second-hand goods held every weekend. The most popular "auction girls" are what liven up the auction. The most popular items are the ones that are particularly popular. Among them is a very old Japanese sewing machine. Auction girl: "Japanese sewing machines start at 500 baht (about 2,100 yen)!" Then, bids started coming in one after another! The price kept going up. Auction girl: "I'll decide on 4,100 baht (about 17,000 yen)!" The 40-year-old Japanese sewing machine was sold for about 17,000 yen. The winning bidder: "Old Japanese sewing machines are popular in Thailand because they're stylish." ■ Is there a demand for "Buddhist altars" and "Japanese signs"? Minato Gendo of Roots of Japan has been dealing in second-hand Japanese goods in Thailand for the past 10 years. He says the secret to his popularity is "trust in carefully used Japanese products" and "the accelerating Japanese boom in Thailand." Some of the items are surprising. President Minato: "It's a Buddhist altar. Some people use it just as a storage box for small items, but some people put a Buddha statue inside. There are a lot of devout Buddhists." Furthermore, due to the boom, even items like this are being sold... President Minato: "They sell! These kinds of things sell. There are a lot of Japanese restaurants (in Thailand), so people like that buy them. 25,000 baht (about 100,000 yen)." ■ Stores selling secondhand Japanese goods are on the rise On this day, we met Parichat (60), a junior high school English teacher in the store. She puts one item after another into her basket. She bought 12 baskets worth about 8,400 yen, including Japanese tableware and stuffed toys. Why would a teacher go on a shopping spree? We decided to accompany her. Parichat: "Welcome to my store!" As she is approaching retirement age as a teacher in June, when she thought about what to do after retirement, her beloved Japan came to mind. Parichat: "I thought that customers would be happy with the Japanese products that I love." In one corner of the market, she opened a store selling secondhand Japanese goods. Parichat: "Thai children love Japanese stuffed toys." In Thailand, the number of stores run by Thai people who have noticed the popularity of secondhand Japanese goods is on the rise. ■ Armor and helmets all over the house... Some armor worth 500,000 yen This store is popular for items that evoke Japanese culture and history. I met Pop (40) in the store. He picked up a "wagesa" (ring robes) that Japanese monks wear around their necks. They cost about 80 yen each, which is an incredible bargain. Pop: "I love things related to Japanese samurai." When I visited Pop's home, who loves samurai, I was surprised to see something... In the garage, there was armor, and even inside the house, there was a collection of Japanese armor and helmets. There was also a real Japanese sword and a helmet from a May doll. The most expensive armor was this one, which cost about 500,000 yen. Pop: "When I wear armor, the soul of a samurai enters me." It all started 7 years ago. I came across a book about Japanese warlords. Pop: "Toyotomi Hideyoshi is my idol! I learned a lot from him, from Bushido to loyalty." ■What manga did she "learn life lessons from"? Furthermore, after hearing that there is a woman who has become obsessed with a certain Japanese culture and "learned life lessons from it," our staff visited her home. There were many Japanese figurines and Japanese game consoles in her room. Rat (65). She says she is obsessed with a certain "Japanese anime." She keeps that anime in a special room at the back. She named it the "Tezuka Osamu Room." Rat: "I have the utmost respect for Tezuka Osamu. I can't help it. When I think of him, tears come to my eyes." The picture on the wall was hand-drawn by her eldest son, Mott (39). Rat says that he learned life lessons from "Ambassador Magma," which he watched as a child. Rat: "I learned the spirit of helping the weak from Tezuka Osamu." Ten years ago, she also made a long-awaited visit to Japan's "holy sites." "I was moved to be able to visit the Tezuka Osamu Memorial Museum," said Lat. "I want to continue to collect used Tezuka Osamu goods from now on. I am now using the anime goods that people in Japan used to use in Thailand." [TV Asahi News] https://news.tv-asahi.co.jp