買い物

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. スーパーで買い物をした。▶ —
   I shopped at the supermarket.
2. 買い物に行きませんか。▶ —
   Shall we go shopping?

Collocations

Mnemonic

Kaimono (買い物) is "shopping / purchased goods" — kau "buy" plus mono "thing" = the act and the items. Dual meaning: (1) the act ("go shopping"); (2) the goods themselves ("there are lots of kaimono"). Cross-cultural metaphor cluster (A entry): kaimono is self-expression, mood reset, life-rite — Western retail therapy fused with a uniquely Japanese cultural development. Precise: (1) konbini kaimono (convenience-store shopping — Japans 50,000+ stores, 24-hour, with onigiri, oden, ATMs, concert ticketing, delivery pickup, utility-bill payment — multi-service hubs at the core of Japanese infrastructure); (2) depa-chika (department-store basement food hall — premium groceries, wagashi, bento, Christmas cakes, oseibo and ochuugen seasons, "madame" culture); (3) hyakkin (100-yen shops — Daiso, Seria, Can Do as the big three, a uniquely Japanese retail format that took off in 1990 and exports abroad); (4) o-kaimono nanmin ("shopping refugees" — elders out of walking range of supermarkets, a social access issue). Korean "shopping" is the English loan with jang-bogi (traditional) underneath; Chinese gou-wu is orthodox. JLPT N5 plus a Japanese retail-culture cross-cultural cluster.

Quick check

1. Multi-service hub features of Japans konbini?

   • ATMs, ticketing, delivery pickup, utility payments, food — multi-service hubs open 24-hour with 50,000+ stores, core of Japanese infrastructure
   • Plain food convenience store
   • Pharmacy
   • Gas station