The Best Marketplace of 2022: Mitsuwa Marketplace
By: Hinata Ajisafe
Have you ever wanted to find a place where you can go with your friends and family? A place that's really fun for all ages? I am going to be talking about Mitsuwa Marketplace, a place for everyone and where you get to shop for groceries and get cool stuff like manga, makeup, snacks, and other things from Japan. Mitsuwa Marketplace was founded in 1998 and is owned by Kamei North America Co., Ltd. There are 8 locations in America that are in New Jersey, California, Illinois, Texas, and Hawaii. Today I will be talking about New Jersey. People mostly go there during 3 pm on Saturday but if you want to go when it is not too busy you should get there by 12 pm on Wednesday. I want to show this place because I have been going to Mitsuwa Marketplace since I was a little kid. I also have wanted to share this place because there are really fun shops like the Book off or the food court.
What is Mitsuwa Marketplace?
Mitsuwa Marketplace is a Japanese supermarket chain in America loved by many and known for their large stores. There are so many fun things to do there like visiting the food court where they serve Japanese food like ramen and sushi with fake food outside for people to look at and choose what you want. There are also many other stores outside for you to go to Little Japan where you can get toys and house supplies, and Book Off. The supermarket is also very large and has lots of snacks, food, and drinks to choose from like ramune, ramen, fried rice, and rice balls. You can find lots of people coming there with friends and family because it is a great spot to bond and hang out with each other. You can have fun like going to Book Off where you can find different types of books. They have different locations in NYC so you can just go there but Daiso where you can get different home gadgets, toys, snacks, and drinks for cheap. This place is kind of like a mall so if you are into that stuff this is the place for you. Just be sure to go there in the spring because if you get there in the summer and you are walking between the different buildings you will get very sweaty and hot so just a heads up before you feel sticky and need a shower.
Mitsuwa - a Japanese marketplace near New York City – Blog da Laura Peruchi
What Do I Think?
I think this place is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! And a fun place to go to because there are so many things to do there and you can spend hours there just at one of the stores. One of my favorite parts is the BOOK OFF because there are so many books to choose from and the manga section of the store is huge but it’s so hard to choose which part of this place is my favorite because every single part of this place is so cool and they have different toys and instruments. Even though there are a lot of cool things there I am not a big fan of the huge lines (most of the time those places are really good just want to add that there because sometimes lines are not a bad thing). You will wait a long time at the food court but that is most likely because so many people come there and order food. Something I think they could work on is that maybe they could add more seats inside because the seats are always full so when you get your food. You may have to wait a while to get a seat there so you may get really tired when you're just standing and waiting.
Conclusion
I think you should give Mitsuwa Marketplace a chance and try it for yourself because it is such a cool place for your friends to hang out (or even a date 😉). You may not like it if you are in NYC because you have to take a bus to New Jersey but if you are willing to do that I think you will really like it there. If you are planning to go please do not go there in the winter you will freeze walking between buildings just wait till spring or fall. If you're in New York and want to try to go just go to Mitsuwa Marketplace just go to Grand Central Station they have a couple of buses that go to New Jersey so get your tickets and see you there. 😀
There is a festival during the summer time so make sure you look out for that!