Shopping

Dividing these images of Hirakata life into categories, first here are shops. There are a number of shops of various kinds in Hirakata. Supermarkets, ¥99 shops, smaller supermarkets, 'konbini' or convenience stores, and a number of smaller shops in the more residential areas. The photo below is of the Top World supermaket in Makino. It offers a large variety of import foods. It is photographed as it would be seen approaching from the Makino station.



And here, inside the supermarket, are some people doing their shopping. Nearly every franchise shop in Japan has its unique and memorable music that is played through a PA system. Top World could almost be considered a pioneer in that it does not have its own irritating 'Top World' jingle, but instead plays old American hits such as 'I Heard it through the Grapevine', 'Wild Thing' and 'Great Balls of Fire'.



An interesting feature of Top World is that it provides unlimited 'pure' water to its members. Upon creating a ¥500 membership card and purchasing an empty 2l bottle for ¥300 or a 3.8l for ¥500, one gains the ability to access the machines that refill the bottle. Below is a picture of people lining up to refil their bottles from the Top World 'Pure Club' refill machine. Videos of the machine being used to clean the bottle out and refill it are available at the following links respectively, recommended viewing if you have not previously seen this! It is dramatic stuff.


THE WASH

THE FILL





Here is a woman wearing a face mask and trying to choose between two packets of fish, also in Top World. Face masks are a common sight, and are used by some in spring as a line of combat against hayfever.



This is a picture of the check-out counter at Top World. These vary very little between the larger supermarkets.



And the following picture shows people packing their bags after check-out. In order to save time customers are simply given as many plastic bags as they need and sent away to pack their shopping.