Report

Day trip to Gotemba Outlet in Shizuoka prefecture for shopping!

Mako

January 22, 2020

Day trip to Gotemba Outlet in Shizuoka prefecture for shopping!

Where is Gotemba Outlet?

Gotemba outlet is one of the biggest outlets in Japan located at Gotemba city of Shizuoka prefecture which is about 2 hours from the central Tokyo by trains or cars. This outlet is very big with a great variety of shops. In January of 2020, 205 shops are lined up from ordinary brands to luxury brands. Some luxury brands only sell at Gotemba outlet for outlets. This surely tells you the reason why many people always visit this Gotemba outlet. Furthermore, the outlet enlarges its scale every year that the number of shops is scheduled to be more than 300 until the spring of 2020. Hotels and resort facilities are under construction at surrounding areas. This outlet would definitely be more popular.

How to go to Gotemba Outlet?

①Train・Bus

There are some other ways. Below are examples.
(https://www.premiumoutlets.co.jp/gotemba/access/access_bus.html)
※IC stands for Interchange meaning highway entrance and exit.

・From Tokyo station
Tokyo station→Gotemba IC(Expressway bus)
Gotemba IC→Gotemba outlet(Free shuttle bus)

・From Shinjuku station
Shinjuku station→Gotemba station(Odakyu Line’s express train; Odakyu Romancecar)
Gotemba station→Gotemba outlet(Free shuttle bus)

・From Haneda Airport
Haneda Airport→Gotemba IC(Expressway bus)
Gotemba IC→Gotemba outlet(Free shuttle bus)

②Bus

Direct buses depart from main stations or spots such as Tokyo, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Shinagawa, Mishima, Hiyoshi, Tachikawa, Hakone Yumoto, and Fuji-Q Highland etc. Please check the official site for the details.

(https://www.premiumoutlets.co.jp/gotemba/access/bus/)

③Car

Near Gotemba IC and Ashigara IC.

(https://www.premiumoutlets.co.jp/gotemba/access/)

Report

So it is New Year 2020! This year must be a very important year for Japan considering the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics Games. The beginning of the year is always the best timing to turn over a new leaf!

I came to Gotemba outlet with my family by a car on January 2nd, 2020. Usually, this outlet opens at 10:00am but it opened at 9:00am this day as it is during the New Year holiday. Outlets in Japan become super crowded every New Year holidays so I left home at 8:00am with time to spare.

We arrived at 9:30am. We waited a little bit to get into the parking lot but the traffic jam was not that bad and everything went smoothly!

As it was still 9:30am, the number of visitors was not that much. Very pleasant morning with clear winter weather.

Firstly, entered ‘Christian Louboutin.’ The store was just opened in December, 2019 and this is the first Christian Louboutin outlet store in Japan.

Since Christian Louboutin is famous for its very original designs, products were standing out!

Next is ‘Burberry’! The products were 20% off the outlet price for New Year’s sale. I felt that there’s a real find for coats and accessories at Burberry.

As you can see, the area will expand in the spring of 2020! About 100 shops will newly open and I am excited what kind of brands open their stores.

This is ‘Moncler.’ It is the classic luxurious brand for winter jackets. You can get previous products at 30% off the price here. For New Year’s sale, the products were discounted additional 30~50%!

This is the bus terminal. Direct buses from Tokyo station and Shinjuku station stop here.

This is the bridge connecting the 2 areas. Many people were already here at 10:30am. If the weather is nice, you can see beautiful Mt. Fuji here. Unfortunately, it was cloudy this day.

The longest queue I saw this day was at ‘THE NORTH FACE.’ The store was selling lucky bags and attracting many customers.

I fully enjoyed shopping for about 4.5 hours until 14:00pm!

On the way back, we dropped by at ‘Ebina SA,’ the most popular rest area filled with delicious food stands at the highway.

These are the 2 bags I bought for myself!

This is a simple black outer wear. It can be used for a long time during Autumn, Winter, and Spring.

The regular price is JPY 28,000 and I bought it at JPY 20,900!

The regular price is JPY 7,000 and I got it at JPY 3,900!

Last is this black sweatpants. You can see how I love black…

The regular price is JPY 14,000 and I got it at JPY 8,500 which is about the half price!

Well… the biggest shopping for the day is this MONCLER’s backpack! The regular price is JPY 150,000 and the outlet price is JPY 100,000. In addition, New Year’s sale 30% discount applied and I got it at JPY 80,000. Almost half the price…!

This unique designed backpack is covered with wool.

The bag strap is made by MONCLER’s classic soft cloth.

I also bought gifts for my parents, a scarf from ‘dunhill’ for my dad and a bag from ‘Tory Burch’ for my mom! I bought at less than half the regular prices. My parents seemed very happy and I was also happy to get the nice products at discounted price!

Summary

How did you think about Gotemba outlet? Shopping is very fun but sadly money flies away…. If you love shopping and looking for nice items at discounted prices, this Gotemba outlet is the most recommended spot. I could only introduce some stores at this page but there are more and more wonderful stores. Even it is a bit far from Tokyo, you can do a day trip and surrounding areas have sightseeing spots like Hakone. We would love you to visit here and enjoy shopping!