Are stores in Japan open on Saturday ?

Hello,

Me and my friend are scheduled to arrive to Tokyo on the 8th of October in the afternoon. We were wondering whether we'll be able to find open stores on Saturday and Sunday or are most of the stores closed ?

Cheers.

Saturday & Sunday are always big shopping days in Japan.
I'm not sure why you'd think the shops would be shut. Where are you from and is that the case in your country?

I'm from Israel and on Saturday most of the stores are closed, only coffee shops, resturants and pubs are open.

Thanks for answering my silly question :-)

Japanese people work long hours Mon to Fri- if shops weren't open on the weekends a lot of people would never get to go to them!

There is no religious "day of rest" in the Japanese tradition, so no cultural reason for shops to be closed on a particular day.

Some large stores have a monthly "regular closed day" for cleaning and stocktaking, but this will never, ever be on a weekend.

There's a holiday on Oct 11, so some stores might be closed, but your average convenience store, mcD's, department store will be open for sure.

Sometimes, restaurants close on the crappiest of days, like a Wednesday, great timing for when you have that hankerin' for their famous noodles.

Many places also are open/closed throughout the day - drinking establishments usually open from evening, some places like izakayas, ramen, etc. open from 10-2p, shut down, and re-open closer to dinner time.

Check Gurunavi or other online JPN restaurant site - should list what days they're closed.

"There's a holiday on Oct 11, so some stores might be closed"

I think it's exactly the opposite!!!!

Any public holiday is another BIG shopping day (except for New Year)

In some cases, some shops are normally closed on a Monday, but if a holiday falls on the Monday, they usually change this, open on the Monday, and close on Tuesday.

What stores would be closed on a public holiday? I think my local general store which is run by a couple in their 70s will probably be closed, but nothing in central Tokyo is closed on public holidays other than New Year's Day- they do lots of their business on holidays and will definitely be open.

department stores may be open on public holidays but many mom and pop shops and smaller shops are closed on public holidays. online shops are also usually closed on public holidays (not sure that that matters to you but it's free advice)

some of the shops around ochanomizu are closed on sundays and public holidays, as well as some of the shops in shimokitazawa.

department stores will almost always be open every day of the year, except some have an inventory count day once a year where they're closed all day.