Secondhand Rose

The thrift store on the American base in Yokosuka is called Secondhand Rose. It's only open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-2 and the 2nd Saturday of every month. Additionally, the staff takes a hiatus for all the major school holidays (for example, they'll be closed from July 14 - August 14 for summer break).

The space inside is small, consisting of one large room, a hallway and three smaller rooms. Due to limited space, the staff takes great care to put only sell-able items out on the floor. In this regard, it's like a boutique. You won't find a mustard yellow puffy-sleeve mini-skirt style prom dress. After shopping at the thrift store once, I was hooked.

My favorite thing about this thrift store is the wide variety of Japanese items you can get for dirt cheap. On my first trip to the store, I got about 20 small Japanese tupperware dishes that I use for sauces and small serving size snack containers.

On the next trip, I racked in a few Japanese tank tops (you can tell because the labels are written entirely in Japanese), a couple of Japanese summer dresses, a Japanese mug that was obviously a freebie from a bank and a number of tote bags.

This past trip, I loaded up with a few more skirts and tops (some Japanese, one from American Eagle and one from Aeropostale) and found a mug someone bought as a souvenir from Amsterdam.

On each trip, I never spend more than $20. If anyone out there (who lives in Yokosuaka) has never been to this thrift store, I strongly encourage you to check it out.

A few words of advice:

- They only take US dollars (no yen, checks or plastic cards).
- The space is pretty small and many people bring their kids, so watch out for roaming babies and toddlers.
- They have one fitting room that's just some sheets hung around a metal divider, it offers no privacy.
- Check all items before you buy as they do not accept returns or exchanges.