TsukuBlog A Local Perspective on Life in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.

Umezono House’s New Store Hours

Hooray! The Umezono House in Umezono will have new store hours. It was open only on 2^nd Saturdays and Sundays of the month from 9AM (or 10?) to 3PM until last weekend. Using the Umezono House has been very inconvenient since the NPO that runs the shop often changed the bazaar (that's how the association refers to the shop when it's open) dates to 1^st , 2nd or to 3^rd weekends of the month, but they didn’t have a website to announce their schedules. Well, they still don’t have a website, but there won’t be any more confusion on bazaar dates starting September because the shop will be open every Sunday from 10Am to 3PM!

For those who are not familiar with the Umezono House, it’s a thrift shop run by Asian Friendship Association which is a Tsukuba Chapter of SAEFI, Group for Supporting Asian Education Fund Ibaraki, and the proceeds from the sales go to SAEFI, disaster relief fund and other international support. They also help and work with international students and residents in this area, so I’m sure some of you who are reading this blog are far more familiar with this group and its activities than I am.

The Umezono House is a one-story house located across the street from the Umezono Park. The “TsukuBus Route 5” stops in front of the Umezono Park, and for those of you who don’t mind a bit of walking, you can also take Kanto Tetsudo Bus and get off at Namiki Danchi Minami which is right in front of the Joyo Bank building on Higashi O-dori.

The shop looks like a regular house, but inside is packed with used and some new clothes, dishes, books, toys, small electric appliances, and lots of other things. A black elementary school bag or randoseru, was still there when I went there last weekend. The Umezono House isn’t like the commercial recycle shop such as Off House, so the items on sale might have some stains and tears. As long as you don’t mind those problems, I think the Umezono House is the place to find the cheapest used clothes, kimonos or yukatas.

If you already have too much stuff in your apartment/house or if you are moving, you can also donate items to the Umezono House. I think they will accept almost anything, but please check with them if you are thinking about donating large furniture or electric appliances. Please note that you will be asked to donate around 300yen per bag or box to cover the cost of shipping used clothes to Asian countries because that’s what the Asian Friendship Association also does.

The shop at the Umezono location will NOT be open next month, but the association will have a booth in Chuo Park during Matsuri Tsukuba next month instead. I think they will have some fair-trade items on sale along with some second-hand items, so please check it out!

The Umezono House: Tsukuba City, Umezono 2-32-6