Finally a store that understands that sometimes it’s you who needs refreshing, not just your clothes.
laundromat
Say goodbye to boring chores and hello to whipped cream-topped shaved ice, and oodles of Americana.
Japan’s combination laundromats/ice cream parlors are the combo we never knew we needed, until now
If you’re used to using a dryer when you do laundry in your home country, you might be in for a surprise if you ever move to Japan. Despite the country’s numerous technological advancements to make your life easier, clothes dryers here pale in comparison to many overseas models, and they aren’t something you’ll find in your average Japanese household. Instead, most Japanese people prefer to hang their washing outside to air dry.
Sure it’s a more affordable and ecological way of doing things, but what do you do when the rainy and typhoon seasons make drying clothes outside impossible or you have too much laundry to hang outside all at once? It’s time for a trip to the laundromat, or what Japanese like to call a koin randorii (coin laundry). In fact, they’re becoming so popular that over the past 10 years the number of coin laundries across Japan has almost doubled, despite little growth in the laundromat industry world-wide.
But why is the coin laundry business suddenly booming? We decided to find out!








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Japanese temple burns to the ground, fire burning inside for 1,200 years unharmed
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Tokyo’s life-size Gundam anime mecha statue will be removed this summer
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Japan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visa
Japanese temple burns to the ground, fire burning inside for 1,200 years unharmed
Bizarre Japanese vending machine sells “Peace and Equality” and “Angels and Demons”
Kanji ice cream becomes a sell-out hit in Japan
Starbucks Japan hoping fans will go bananas for its new mottainai banana affogato Frappuccino
Krispy Kreme Japan is bringing two special donuts to the most-forgotten big city in the country
The story of our reporter P.K. Sanjun’s heart attack
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Tokyo’s life-size Gundam anime mecha statue will be removed this summer
Japan’s izakaya pubs closing at record pace, failing to attract foreign tourists
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