I've been asked a few times about where to order things like Cup Noodles and various types of toys and candy from Japan. This is especially true from my Nissin instant ramen mini-reviews. I've used a few sources from Japan and here is a list of them. I usually avoid resellers from the USA, UK, Canada as it usually costs much more and the selection isn't usually as good. Shipping from Japan is cheap if you select SAL for packages under 2 kg, but it takes a few weeks. Over the years, delivery to Canada by post has been reliable for me.
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| Look what came in the mail! Not really, but my cat sure likes boxes. |
Now, if you live in the United States and Canada - check to see if you have a T&T Market or a Daiso in your area. They have food / candy / snack items in stock and you don't have to pay for shipping unless you cannot find it. If you have a Daiso, I'm jealous as that is a great 100 yen store for way more stuff than candy.
Big Disclaimer for this blog post. You always order online at your own risk. I'm not endorsing any of the sellers below!
I am just saying that I have bought stuff from them and they have delivered the goods without any problem to me, so I'll use them again, since I'm a satisfied customer. If you have problems with them, then that is between you and them.
Always watch your shipping costs for SAL as sometimes the one or more items are too big or heavy to go this way and it ends up being shipped EMS which is way more expensive, but quicker.
If you are shopping for anime collectibles, toys, and figures, I used the two online shops below many times over the years:www.amiami.com - my first choice for pricing and selection.
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| A recent order from AmiAmi! |
www.hlj.com - my second choice, but they have an excellent selection for model builders.
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| Many of these came from HLJ. |
If you are shopping for snacks and candy, instant noodles, and canned coffee, etc.www.candysan.com - I've just shopped here once, so far, but I'll definitely try them again as they had good pricing and selection for snacks and cup noodles I couldn't get here (I got the limited Brazilian Chicken Cup Noodles from them). They seem to have a very vibrant community on Facebook.
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| My first box of snacks from Candysan. I'll review later. |
www.coolstuffjapan.com - I've just shopped here once too, so far. They carry much more than food items and have an array of interesting merchandise, such as the Mogu brand of cushions, toy claw machines, etc. I like the fact they do carry the more deluxe Nissin instant ramen products along with other interesting food and candy items.
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| My first box of Nissin Raoah and other items from Coolstuffjapan. More ramen reviews coming up. |
There are many other shops out there, but these are the ones I have tried. I don't use Amazon.co.jp as they don't ship without using courier services.