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Consumers in Japan and abroad have loved the discount home goods chain Daiso for years. Now, a new product is thrilling manga lovers at home and overseas.

For those who still may not know, Daisao (ダイソー) is a 100 yen shop chain in Japan run by Daiso Industries. (The kanji for the store and company name are 大創 but the stores go by the katakana rendering.) The chain is prevalent in Japan and runs some 3,300 stores.

Daiso got its start in 1980 when Yano Hirotake began selling goods he could get wholesale for around 100 yen. Eventually, however, he hit his limit in the quality of products he could offer. So he shifted to producing goods of as high a quality as he could while remaining under the 100 yen market in order to clear a profit[1].

From there, the store grew from its beginnings in store parking lots and shared tenancy in supermarkets to the retailing behemoth it is today. Today, Daiso rules Japan’s 100 yen shop scene, raking in growing profits. The store increased its revenues by 4.4% YoY in 2021-2022 alone[2].

Daiso isn’t just popular in Japan, either. The chain now has around 2,000 stores in 26 other countries. Both Japanese citizens and foreign residents swear by the shop as a great way to buy cheap household goods of fairly durable quality.

Sadly, time makes fools of us all, and this “100 yen” shop has been forced to raise their prices to a shocking 110 yen per item. (Non-Japan stores have different base prices; e.g., in the United States, most items retail for around USD $1.50.) The store also sells numerous larger items that carry a slightly higher price tag.

Ask people what they like to buy most from Daiso and you’ll get different answers. But there are some common themes. According to the site Iemone, Daiso customers are particularly fond of the company’s storage solutions (i.e., drawers, shelving, etc.)[3]

So it’s no wonder that Twitter users are going gaga over Daiso’s latest product. Manga fans, especially, are smitten with this latest offering.

The product? A Manga Display Shelf. The shelf is designed to fit onto the end of shelves on a bookcase. Avid readers can then put their favorite manga on full display on the endcaps. Basically, you can turn your home into a bookstore.

Daiso is selling a new product that lets you showcase your manga with a little holder that attaches to the end of a bookshelf ledge, so now you can pretend you run a bookstore at home. https://t.co/6dwcatsTr5

The shelf was designed in conjunction with designers at Kyoto College of the Arts. Many Japanese users instantly fell in love with the new product. One user commented, “My wife got rid of a bunch of my books in a decluttering but they multiplied again like a mountain. I need this.”

Global manga fans also reacted enthusiastically to our tweet about the manga shelf. Our own retweet of the Japanese original post did almost 3,000 likes and 80 quote retweets. One user said: “Omw to buy this and display my bl manga collection like how a bookstore does.”

Omw to buy this and display my bl manga collection like how a bookstore does https://t.co/v4wAOa1ooE

why do I want this for my kpop albums 😭 https://t.co/SXPVbm2xSG

Sadly, it’s not clear when – or if – this amazing product will hit non-Japanese Daiso stores. (We didn’t find it in a recent perusal of Seattle-area shops.)

This isn’t the only new product Daiso has released in 2022. Every year, the store puts out new merchandise hoping to find the next hit that takes Japan – and the world – by storm.

Buzzfeed Japan has a comprehensive roundup of 97 new products from Daiso released this year (because of course they do). Some of the most interesting[4]:

Keep a lookout for these at your local Daiso. Or, if you’re traveling to the country soon, maybe bring an empty suitcase with you.

View all posts by Jay Allen | Website

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