26 Jun Best Online Grocery Delivery Services in Tokyo
Last Modified on October 12th, 2020 at 04:41 pm
Category: Family, Featured Living, Living
Are you loving your Tokyo life, living in the big city? (We hope so!! But if getting a new apartment would improve your life- we can help with that! 🙂 )
The only downfall of living in the city, could be the lack of grocery stores, or the hike it takes to get to them. Or maybe you’ve been too busy, and grocery shopping is the last thing on your mind (grumbling stomach reminding you to fill up your fridge?!).
Lugging heavy groceries- such as rice and milk- can be difficult, especially if you are not ready to throw in the towel yet and get yourself one of those wheely suitcases that the grannies are tolling around.
Luckily, there are quite a lot of great online grocery delivery systems to choose from in Tokyo!
(Organic Vegetables and Vegetable Boxes section towards the end.)
Tokyo Grocery Delivery Services
You can easily purchase fresh produce and have it delivered straight to your door, without all the heavy lifting! For expectant mothers or households with small children, most delivery services will waive the delivery cost. Quite a few services, offering many different options.
Here is a compiled a list of online grocery stores where you can get all your Tokyo grocery needs in one shop!
We compare their benefits, disadvantages, and delivery fees so you can choose the best option for you.
Which one works best for you?
1) Amazon Fresh
(link)
Amazon has teamed up with grocery stores around the city, to provide you with quality and fresh groceries. If you are a regular Amazon shopper, this is an easy-to-use site, although you will need to be an Amazon Prime member to use this service.
Prime also gives you access to Prime Video and free next-day deliveries, so it’s definitely something worth considering.
Amazon- by far- has the most selection of products and gives you an option to become a ‘Fresh Member’— By paying ￥500 monthly, delivery fees are free!
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▤ Delivery Time: Same Day Deliveries, between 8AM ~ Midnight
▤ Order Process: Online
▤ Sign Up Fee: Must be an Amazon Prime member
▤ Delivery Fee: ￥390 for Amazon Prime Members, or free over ￥10,000
¥0 for Fresh Members
▤ English: Page is automatically translated to English
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+ ▤ Benefits: Wide selection of produce.
Easy to register and shop.
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− ▤ Disadvantages: Must be present to receive your groceries in person.
Requires Amazon Prime membership (might not be all that bad).
2) Rakuten Seiyu
(link)
If you are a dedicated Seiyu shopper and Rakuten user, then this is for you.
Rakuten teamed up with Seiyu to bring you groceries straight to your door. Seiyu (now owned by Walmart) is a good and reasonably priced grocery store, with a variety of produce.
Although the site is in Japanese, you shouldn’t have any problem navigating the site using your translate plugin. Since it is through Rakuten, you can also earn and use points, plus use your Rakuten credit card (check out our article Top Expat-Friendly Credit Card Companies In Japan)
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▤ Delivery Time: Same-Day Deliveries
▤ Order Process: Online in Japanese (use your browser’s translate plugin)
▤ Sign Up Fee: No fee
▤ Delivery Fee: ￥330, or free over a certain spent amount (amount depends on the area you live in)
▤ English: No
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+ ▤ Benefits: Easy to register, and same-day delivery.
Prices are close to what you would find at Seiyu grocery stores.
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− ▤ Disadvantages: Must be present to receive groceries. Re-delivery fee of ￥440.
A cancellation fee of ￥440.
3) Coop Deli
(link)
-A sizeable cooperative grocery chain that has been providing delivery services long before Amazon and Rakuten jumped in.
Coop Deli is not as easy to navigate as Amazon or Rakuten, meaning you will need to use a little more Japanese skills or that plugin. That being said, they have a wide selection, and produce seems to be very fresh.
Coop recently has added online ordering to their ordering options. Although you will still need to register online, and then a consultation will be set up, to deliver the catalog and confirm your house location. You will be given a catalog to order from (or choose to order online), which will then be returned to the staff on his weekly visit to your house. Then, you can receive your groceries the following week.
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▤ Delivery Time: Once a Week, on a decided day and time
▤ Order Process: Through Catalog or Online
▤ Sign Up Fee: ￥500 that will be returned when you quit your subscription
▤ Delivery Fee: ￥180. Orders over ￥6,000 are free for Tokyo
▤ English: No (all products have pictures and order by number code)
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+ ▤ Benefits: You do not need to be home when food is delivered. They leave produce in sealed coolers on your doorstep, that will be picked up from you the following week
Delivery fees are waived for pregnant women, households with children under the age of 3, and the elderly.
Great for weekly staples, heavy items
Meal Kits for those too busy to prepare dinner.
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− ▤ Disadvantages: No daily deliveries (just weekly).
They charge the ￥180 weekly delivery fee whether you order or not.
Setup takes time– from first registering to your first delivery, could be at least 2 weeks.
4) Pal System
(link)
Pal System an environmentally friendly company, branched off from Coop. They have their own line of products that are low in pesticides and chemicals.
Pal System desires to give back to Farmers and our Earth. Although they don’t have a wide variety of products, they handpick and work directly with individual farmers to provide you with fresh, quality products.
You can taste the difference.
They also offer meal kits with pre-cut ingredients, with directions to follow. You can have a quick, easy, and healthy meal ready, with little effort!
▤ Delivery Time: Once a Week, on a designated day (same as Coop) The designated day is determined by your area and will typically be decided based on others in the area using the same service.
▤ Order Process: Online or Catalog
▤ Sign Up Fee: ￥1,000, refundable when you cancel your membership.
▤ Delivery Fee: ￥198 for Tokyo area
▤ English: No
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+ ▤ Benefits: Fresh and High-Quality Products.
Unattended Delivery is OK (same as Coop- return the boxes the following week).
Environmentally Friendly.
Pregnant and Mothers of young children, delivery fees waived.
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− ▤ Disadvantages: Weekly scheduled delivery.
You must order one week in advance.
No cancelling orders after submitted deadline.
Products are small in size.
5) Ito Yokado
(link)
You probably know Ito Yokado as the vast department store. They have everything you need- from food, to household items.
Their online site prices are similar to that in-store. They provide same-day delivery services and even give you an option to make requests on products or packaging. For instance, you can request them to use less plastic packaging. They also have a fish cooking service- Request your fish, how you would like it cut and cooked, then the in house butcher will do all the work for you! A one-stop-shop for all.
▤ Delivery Time: Same Day Deliveries (minimum of 4 hour process time)
▤ Order Process: Online
▤ Sign Up Fee: ￥0
▤ Delivery Fee: ￥330
▤ English: No
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+ ▤ Benefits: Ability to make requests and use unique services.
You can change or cancel your order up until the decided deadline.
Same-day deliveries.
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− ▤ Disadvantages: Must be home to receive the groceries.
Organic Vegetables and Vegetable Boxes
Especially for organic and very fresh vegetable fans- check out these Health+Nature conscious services!
1) Radish Boya
(link)
Radish Boya is a Japanese sister company to that of Oisix. They offer organic produce from vegetables to meat and fish, eco-friendly household goods, and a baby-friendly section for healthy and natural options for your little one. They also offer a 10 Min MealKit for those busy weeknight meals when you need something quick and easy.
▤ Delivery Time: Weekly Scheduled Deliveries
▤ Order Process: Online
▤ Sign Up Fee: Annual fee of ￥1,000
▤ Delivery Fee: Depends on location and total amount spent
▤ English: No
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+ ▤ Benefits: All organic and environmentally friendly.
On busy nights, you can still eat well with their quick meal kits.
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− ▤ Disadvantages: Annual Membership fee.
Takes about 1-2 weeks, from registration to your first delivery.
2) Nagano, Naturally
(link)
Heather and her neighboring farmers live in Nagano, surrounded by beautiful mountains. They farm as a hobby and send delicious organic fruit and vegetable boxes to your doorstep. A real community feel, where the same vegetables she ships to you, she is also eating at her dinner table that night!
Find great seasonal produce like green apples, rhubarb, and even tomatillos!
Everything is seasonal, and what comes in your box, is what they have available and ready to be picked on that day.
Heather goes the extra mile and doesn’t require payment until your box has arrived; wanting to make sure you are wholly satisfied with the produce.
▤ Delivery Time: Through Japan Post, and arrival time depends on your location
▤ Order Process: Through their website
▤ Sign Up Fee: None
▤ Delivery Fee: Depends on your location (through the post office)
▤ English: Yes
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+ ▤ Benefits: Supporting local farmers.
Seasonal and hard to find fruits and vegetables in Japan.
True Farm to Table experience.
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− ▤ Disadvantages: Are there really any cons when you are helping out a local farmer??
Probably just the paying system- payment through Japan post or bank transfer (no credit cards)
Other Food Delivery Options
Although some of the best grocery delivery options are above, there are still many other online companies that specialize in delivering a specific food or product. For example:
1) The Meat Guy (link) – All things meat!
2) iHerb (link) – Imported supplements and healthy dry foods and snacks/
3) TheFlyingPig (link) – Online Costco delivery service shipping from Costco Japan and Costco Hawaii (no Costco membership required)/
4) Costco Online (link) – Directly from Costco’s online website, although fresh and frozen foods are not available for delivery (you need to be a Costco Member)/
5) Picard (link) – France’s favorite ‘all things frozen’ store– bread, frozen meals, desserts.
Whether it’s rainy season, too hot to go out, or you’re just too busy to get to the store; shopping online can be a real lifesaver.
After reading through all of our recommended grocery delivery services in Tokyo, we hope this helps you choose the best service for you and your family. Stay healthy, everyone! 🙂
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Now with food on your mind, check out our How to Have a Feast in Tokyo without Breaking the Bank article! -Even if it isn’t the holidays, can’t we all use some comfort food now and then? 🙂
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