Japan's 100 yen stores.?

Travel Info
Is it true that they are positively awesome? I heard that they sell really great stuff and are way better then dollar stores in the U.S. Is this true? What is the coolest thing you purchased at a 100 yen store? What things do they offer at a 100 yen store?

Travel Tips

鈾he 100 yen stores in Japan are awesome in that they carry an unbelievable amount of products for the low price of 100 yen. You can get food, beverages, snacks, stationary, clothing, cosmetics, sundries, housewares...Well, you get the picture right? Take a look at a very small section of a 100 yen shop I recently visited. It's a two story 100 yen shop:
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锝?00 yen "priclu", seal pictures, CUTE!
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The 'something' I got RECENTLY were these summer fans with carrying pouch:
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and summer furin. CUTE for 100 yen.
The best thing I personally ever found was a small rubber head hammer. It was the BEST tool I found (ever!) to install my hardwood floors in my homes. Worked like magic! I bought a few for all my friends doing flooring too. My friends in the states ask me to send them the gorgeous press on nails, they're really pretty! ...Well you get the idea, something for everyone and lots to just look at even if you don't buy.鈾?
Others

They are definitely better than USA dollar stores. The stuff is normal everyday stuff. Food, things and things you can use around the house. My wife loves them. She can buy soooooo many things, but sometimes, like in the USA, you get what you pay for basically.
htp://morioka.fotki.com
I love them! It is one of the things I miss about living in Japan.

I've bought cosmetic items there, cheap toys/games for my students and candles. I can't pick one coolest item. The whole store is just awesome.
Yes, they are great! They sell virtually everything one would need to live. Nothing like sofas or stuff like that, but living supplies and even entertainment goods.

Here is the homepage in English of one of the biggest chains in Japan, DAISO:
http://www.daiso-sangyo.co.jp/english/in...
It is a wonderland for causing environmental pollution. The items are cheap and people tend to buy things they do not really use or need and because it is cheap they are thrown away in the garbage. The casing and boxes are of low quality so they are not usually recycled.Most of the goods are made in China.It is good for one end of the economy but it also wrecks the local economy because they can't compete with the prices out of China.I do visit the 100 yen shops to buy plants.
They sell everyday stuff. You pay for what you get. It's only convinient once in a while but you can't live off it. On top of that, most of the things they sell are above 100 yen.