The other day, I wrote about going out to combine shopping with some exercise. The place I went to is called Gotemba Premium Outlets, located in Gotemba City, Shizuoka Prefecture. I really like this place and visit it two or three times a year. Although it’s in the neighboring prefecture, it’s quite close to my workshop — only about an hour’s drive away.As you can see in the photo, it’s located near Mt. Fuji. That makes sense, since Mt. Fuji sits between Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures. What I love about this place is the fresh air, the open space, and how pleasant it feels to walk around there. In fact, my main reason for going is almost always for walking rather than shopping.
Outlet malls in Japan have been around for about 20 to 30 years now. Today, there are around 30 outlet malls of various sizes across the country. An outlet mall is a large shopping complex made up of dozens or even hundreds of smaller stores. These malls offer a wide variety of shops — not only apparel, but also daily necessities and more.
Most outlet malls are outdoors, so you can enjoy walking around, browsing stores, and sometimes stopping for a meal. Personally, I spend about 90% of my time just walking (haha). However, this time I did buy a small suitcase for short trips, since my old one had just broken and I had to throw it away.
Among the many outlet malls in Japan, Gotemba Premium Outlets is especially popular because it’s close to the Tokyo metropolitan area and easily accessible via a single expressway from the city. In recent years, it has also become a favorite destination for international visitors — it’s said that about 30 to 40 percent of the shoppers there are from overseas. From this trend, it seems that more and more international visitors are now interested not only in Japan’s traditional, iconic sightseeing spots like Mt. Fuji, but also in experiencing everyday aspects of Japanese life more closely 😊
