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'Treasure Hunt': Tourists Boost Sales at Japan's Don Quijote Stores

Business is booming at Japanese discount chain Don Quijote, which sells everything from compact gadgets to party costumes, thanks to its cult status among tourists. Richard A. Brooks / AFP
Business is booming at Japanese discount chain Don Quijote, which sells everything from compact gadgets to party costumes, thanks to its cult status among tourists. Richard A. Brooks / AFP
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'Treasure Hunt': Tourists Boost Sales at Japan's Don Quijote Stores

Business is booming at Japanese discount chain Don Quijote, which sells everything from compact gadgets to party costumes, thanks to its cult status among tourists. Richard A. Brooks / AFP
Business is booming at Japanese discount chain Don Quijote, which sells everything from compact gadgets to party costumes, thanks to its cult status among tourists. Richard A. Brooks / AFP

Business is booming at Japanese discount chain Don Quijote, which sells everything from nostril-hair wax to compact gadgets and colorful party costumes, thanks to its cult status among tourists but also inflation at home.

At a large Don Quijote store in Tokyo's bustling Shibuya district, hundreds of tourists rush to fill their baskets with snacks and souvenirs from its heaving narrow aisles.

"I was pretty overwhelmed at first, just because there's so many options, everything's in a different language," 27-year-old Garett Bryan from the United States told AFP.

But "I feel like I bought a lot and it was only like $70" including "a coffee cup for my mom, a fan, some Godzilla chopsticks, just a couple toys".

The chaotic cut-price shops nicknamed "Donki" were founded in the 1980s by Takao Yasuda, who named them after his business inspiration: the idealistic protagonist of the classic Spanish novel, "Don Quixote".

He wanted to shake up Japan's staid retail industry with new tactics including late-night opening hours as well as more varied prices and product lines.

Now a record influx of visitors to Japan, fueled by a weak yen, is boosting sales nationwide.

Revenues at Don Quijote in Japan are "around 1.7 higher than before the pandemic", said Motoki Hata, a manager at the retailer.

Last year its parent firm Pan Pacific International Holdings (PPIH) saw revenue rise around 12 percent year-on-year for its discount chains including Donki, while tax-free sales beat internal forecasts.

Shopping at Don Quijote is like a "treasure hunt" -- a fun experience that foreign visitors love, Hata told AFP.

"Customers end up buying something different than what they came in for," he said beside rows of cherry-blossom flavor KitKats, a popular exclusive product.

- 'Jungle'-like -

Don Quijote and its sister brands have 501 stores in Japan, where 24 new ones opened during the past financial year.

PPIH Group also runs 110 stores abroad, in the United States and across Asia from Taiwan to Thailand.

California is one place being targeted by the company for expansion, according to analyst Paul Kraft, founder of Tokyo-based consultancy firm JapanIQ.

But that plan could be complicated by US President Donald Trump's trade tariffs -- including levies of 24 percent on Japan, which have been paused until July.

Even so, "I wouldn't bet against them, even in this entire high-tariff environment", Kraft said.

"Nobody adjusts as fast as Don Quijote in retail in Japan -- even faster than convenience stores, because they give so much autonomy to their stores."

They are also "some of the smartest and most aggressive buyers that I've seen", with consistently "the best selection of almost anything".

However, in Japan at least, the shopping experience is "cramped, dark, you know, the buildings might be old" with products seemingly "hanging from everywhere".

Don Quijote's omnipresent Santa-hat wearing penguin mascot Donpen and its "Don Don Donki" jingle on repeat just adds to the "jungle"-like experience.

"It is just almost an assault on the senses," Kraft said.

- Inflation hits -

Still, Don Quijote "has grown to be an extremely important retailer in Japan", Kraft said -- especially as rising inflation ramps up demand for cheaper products.

The country's core inflation rate accelerated to 3.2 percent in March, with consumers feeling the pinch on electricity bills as well as kitchen staples like cabbage and rice.

Household consumption fell 1.1 percent in 2024, with some people making the trip to Don Quijote to save.

"It's less expensive than other shops, and they also have famous brands," said a Tokyo resident who shops at the store twice a week and gave her surname as Kuroki.

Shoji Raku, 20, told AFP she shops at Donki for "shampoo, electronics and everything that you don't find elsewhere".

There is even usually a cordoned off adults-only section at Donki stores selling various sex toys.

Tourist sales remain a key focus for the chain, which plans to open two new stores targeted at visitors in Japan next year, centered on duty-free products.

But one Donki customer, Bruno Bosi from Brazil, said shoppers should tread with caution.

"It is a store for you to buy as much as you want -- but I think you need to ask yourself if you need it," he said.

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Varieties

Small Part of Sunshine State Becomes Snowy State as Florida Gets Snow Second Year in a Row

A rare snow is seen in Holt, Florida, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Danielle Brahier via AP)
A rare snow is seen in Holt, Florida, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Danielle Brahier via AP)
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Small Part of Sunshine State Becomes Snowy State as Florida Gets Snow Second Year in a Row

A rare snow is seen in Holt, Florida, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Danielle Brahier via AP)
A rare snow is seen in Holt, Florida, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Danielle Brahier via AP)

A small part of Florida is the Snowy State for the second year in a row.

Snow briefly covered the grass and rooftops in parts of the western Florida Panhandle on Sunday morning as just enough frigid air rushed in behind a cold front to turn the last rain showers into snowflakes in the Sunshine State.

And it wasn't a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Less than a year ago, on Jan. 21, 2025, some of those same areas saw up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow in what was the most significant snowfall in many places since the late 1800s.

Snow photos flooded social media. There were a few flakes on the beach and snow nestled into palm fronds. It was too warm to stick to the roads, but a dusting of snow sat on the grass for a little while before mostly melting.

The rare snow in the South wasn't just in Florida. Southeastern Alabama and southern Georgia also reported snow in areas that also got to celebrate a second winter wonderland in less than a year.

Snow covered the ground in Columbus and Macon, Georgia, and officials warned enough might fall to make travel treacherous.

Varieties

Shark Mauls Boy in Sydney Harbor

This photo shows an aerial view of Bondi Beach and Sydney Harbor as seen from a plane flying over Sydney on January 14, 2026. (AFP)
This photo shows an aerial view of Bondi Beach and Sydney Harbor as seen from a plane flying over Sydney on January 14, 2026. (AFP)
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Shark Mauls Boy in Sydney Harbor

This photo shows an aerial view of Bondi Beach and Sydney Harbor as seen from a plane flying over Sydney on January 14, 2026. (AFP)
This photo shows an aerial view of Bondi Beach and Sydney Harbor as seen from a plane flying over Sydney on January 14, 2026. (AFP)

A shark mauled a boy swimming in Sydney Harbor on Sunday, leaving him in critical condition with serious leg injuries, authorities said.

The predator bit the boy, believed to be about 13 years old, during the late afternoon off Shark Beach, New South Wales state police said.

"The injuries are consistent with what is believed to have been a large shark," police said in a statement.

Officers pulled the boy from the water off the harbor beach within minutes of being alerted to the incident, police said.

They gave the boy first aid for "serious" leg injuries while he was aboard a police boat, applying two medical tourniquets.

Paramedics transported him to Sydney Children's Hospital, where he was said to be in critical condition.

"Swimmers are advised to avoid entering nearby waters at this time," police said.

Shark Beach, in Sydney's eastern suburb of Vaucluse, was closed and police evacuated nearby beaches in the harbor, the state government said.

Wildlife experts were working to identify the shark species involved, it said in a statement.

"This is a tragic shark attack on a young boy having a swim on a Sunday afternoon near a harbor beach in Sydney's east," New South Wales Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said.

"Our thoughts are with the young boy and his family. I understand there were also other young people with him at the time of the attack, our thoughts are also with them."

There have been more than 1,280 shark incidents around Australia since 1791, of which more than 250 resulted in death, according to a database of the predators' encounters with humans.

Increasingly crowded waters and rising ocean temperatures that appear to be swaying sharks' migratory patterns may be contributing to a rise in attacks despite overfishing depleting some species, scientists say.

A great white shark mauled surfer Mercury Psillakis to death at a popular northern Sydney ocean beach in September.

Two months later, a bull shark killed a woman swimming off a remote beach north of Sydney.

Varieties

Social Media Addiction's Surprising Challenger? Anti-doomscrolling Influencers

A 13-year-old boy poses at his home as he looks at social media on his mobile phone in Sydney on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP)
A 13-year-old boy poses at his home as he looks at social media on his mobile phone in Sydney on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP)
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Social Media Addiction's Surprising Challenger? Anti-doomscrolling Influencers

A 13-year-old boy poses at his home as he looks at social media on his mobile phone in Sydney on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP)
A 13-year-old boy poses at his home as he looks at social media on his mobile phone in Sydney on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP)

It’s simple to accidentally become entranced by an endless loop of videos on Instagram or TikTok. But sometimes, that mindless scroll is interrupted by a reminder that what you thought was a 10-minute break spent on your phone was closer to 30 minutes.

Olivia Yokubonis, armed with a kind voice and scientific research, often pops up in feeds on social platforms, gently reminding viewers that they might not remember the video they saw two videos before she appeared on the screen.

Yokubonis is a content creator who goes by the name Olivia Unplugged online, making videos to combat overuse or mindless use of social media. For the most part, people who view her videos welcome the disruption from the endless loop of content, treating it as a wake-up call to get off their phones. Other times, they are snarky, The Associated Press said.

“People will comment and they’ll be like, ’Oh, (it’s) ironic that you’re posting. And I’m like, ‘Where else am I supposed to find you, Kyle? Outside? You’re not outside. You are here, sitting here,’” she said. “For us to actually be seen, we have to be where people are.”

Yokubonis’ content responds to the feeling many people have, that they spend too much time on social media or apps.

“Most people have no clue how much time they spend on social media,” said Ofir Turel, a professor of information systems management at the University of Melbourne who has been studying social media use for years. Through his research, Turel found that when he presented people with their screen time information, they were practically “in a state of shock” and many people voluntarily reduced their usage afterwards.

Yokubonis is part of a growing group of content creators who make videos encouraging viewers to close out the app they’re on. Some are aggressive in their approach, some more tame; some only occasionally post about social media overuse, and some, like Yokubonis, devote their accounts to it.

She works for Opal, a screen time app designed to help users “reclaim their focus,” she said, but those who engage with her content might not have any idea she is working for the company. Brand logos, constant plugs to download the app and other signs of branding are almost entirely absent from her page. “People love hearing from people,” she said. Millions of views on her videos point to that being true.

“It’s a fine line and a balance of finding a way to be able to cut through that noise but also not adding to the noise,” she added.

Ian A. Anderson, a postdoctoral scholar at California Institute of Technology, said he finds this kind of content interesting, but is curious whether it's disruptive enough to prompt action. He also said he wonders whether those with the strongest scrolling habits are “thoughtless about the way (they're) intaking information.”

“If they're paying full attention, I feel like it could be an effective disruption, but I also think there is a degree to which, if you are really a habitual scroller, maybe you aren’t fully engaging with it,” he said. “I can think of all sorts of different variables that could change the effectiveness, but it does sound like an interesting way to intervene from the inside.”

With billions of active users across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and other social media platforms, talk of cutting down on screen time is perennial, as is the idea of addiction to social platforms. But there’s tremendous disagreement over whether social media addiction actually exists.

Is social media “addiction” real? Researchers, psychologists and other experts agree some people spend too much time on social media, but the agreement tends to stop there. Some researchers question whether addiction is the appropriate term to describe heavy use of social media, arguing that a person must be experiencing identifiable symptoms, like strong, sometimes uncontrollable urges and withdrawal, to qualify as addiction. Others, like Turel, acknowledge the term seems to resonate with more people and is often used colloquially.

Anderson said he recognized the prevalence of casual mentions of being addicted to phones and was curious to see if that talk was “benign.”

A recent study of his suggests the debate extends further than academic discourse. In a representative sample of active Instagram users, Anderson found that people often overestimate whether they are “addicted” to the app. On a self-report scale, 18% of participants agreed that they were at least somewhat addicted to Instagram and 5% indicated substantial agreement, but only 2% of participants were deemed at risk of addiction based on their symptoms. Believing you are addicted also impacts how you address that issue, Anderson said.

“If you perceive yourself as more addicted, it actually hurts your ability to control your use or your perception of that ability and makes you kind of blame yourself more for overuse,” Anderson said. “There are these negative consequences to addiction perception.”

Cutting down on screen time

For those looking to curb their social media habits, Anderson suggests making small, meaningful, changes to stop from opening your social media app of choice. Moving the app’s place on your phone or turning off notifications are “light touch interventions,” but more involved options, like not bringing your phone into the bedroom — or other places where you often use it — could also help.

Plenty of intervention methods have been offered to consumers in the form of products or services. But those interventions require self awareness and a desire to cut down on use. Content creators who infiltrate social media feeds with information about the psychology behind why people scroll for hours a day can plant those early seeds.

Cat Goetze, who goes by CatGPT online, makes “non-pretentious, non-patronizing” content about artificial intelligence, building off her experience in the tech industry. But she’s also been on a lengthy road to cut down her own screen time. She often makes videos about why the platforms are so compelling and why we tend to spend longer than we anticipate on them.

“There’s a whole infrastructure — there’s an army of nerds whose only job is to get you to increase your time spent on that platform,” she said. “There’s a whole machine that’s trying to get you to be that way and it’s not your fault and you’re not going to win this just (through) willpower.”

Goetze also founded the business Physical Phones, which makes Bluetooth landline phones that connect to smartphones, encouraging people to spend less time on their devices. The inside of the packaging reads “offline is the new luxury.”

She was able to build the business at an accelerated pace thanks to her social media audience. But the early success of Physical Phones also demonstrates the demand for solutions to high screen time, she said.

“Social media will always play a part in our lives. I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. If we can get the average screen time down from, if it’s 10 hours for a person to one hour, or from three hours to 30 minutes, that is going to be a net positive benefit for that individual and for society,” Goetze said. “That being said, I’d love to be the person that they’re watching for those 30 minutes.”