outlet shopping in tokyo:: mitsui outlet iruma

as part of my mid-week adventures, i decided to hit the malls!! there are a few outlet malls speckled around tokyo, i've not done my rounds but a co-worker told me this is one of their bigger ones! their japanese website {here} has pretty much all the information you need and the important ones are on their english website {here}.

i took a the subway from home to ikebukuro. its a major station on the yamanote as well so its hard to miss. then hop on the seibu ikebukuro line. i would definitely recommend catching the rapid express service because the local makes too many stops.

you'll reach irumashi station (入間市駅) in about thirty minutes (420 yen). you'll start getting the suburban feel once you're twenty minutes away from ikebukura! baseball fields, trees, parks, zoos... i've not seen so much green in a while!

once you exit the train station, the bus terminal is right in front of you. stand in line for bus number 2. this bus will take you directly to iruma outlets (if you can read, the banner probably says it.)

and if you're not a "tourist" like me, you will already know that you get on the bus from the back door. (haha!) and you either grab a ticket or you tap your suica/pasmo card. you pay when you exit, from the front door... obviously!! the bus ride will be around 15 mins and cost around 190 yen so if you keep an eye on the fares on the tv screen up front, once it starts getting into the 190s, be ready to stop. once again its hard to miss! and most people get off there anyway!

TADAH!!!

can you spot the real reason why i wanted to come here - COSTCO!! :) weehee!!

the inside of the mall is an outdoor concept with two levels.

they carry some international brands like coach, ferragamo, quicksilver, roxy, lesportsac etc.. but mostly japanese brands like beams, rope, picnic, muji and francfranc. the boys will be endlessly thrilled by the sports & camping brands - nike, adidas, the full works. the prices are not drop-jaw like some american outlets but you can get a good bargain compared to the city prices!