How to Bag Groceries in Japan (Meet the "Packers")

Typical Supermarket Counter is Manned by One Cashier (Photo credit)

I am used to having at least 2 regular figures behind the grocery counter- a CASHIER who takes your items one by one and inputs the prices/quantities of the goods you bought, and a BAGGER who then takes your goods and stuffs them into a box, plastic bag  or paper bag (whichever is applicable). And after your groceries have been "processed" the bagger hands you your items, and you are good to go.

Not in Japan though. Here, you have to BAG IT FIRST BEFORE YOU GO.  That is how it works.

So in a typical Japanese Supermarket, only one personnel cheerfully greets you at the counter. You place your basket on top of the counter and she/he will scan those items one by one and transfer them into another basket. This is actually quite different in my country. We have to take out the items from the basket/pushcart by ourselves and put them on the counter. I remember a friend who got it all mixed up when she went home, and the cashier got a little annoyed because she suddenly put her basket on the counter. @_@

My friend paying in the counter (Thanks Kuya Ronald!)

Anyway, the Japanese will then ask you if you want to have plastic bags  (in Japaneses of course, which I could not quite catch most of the time). I just answer "Hai" (Yes) or "Onegaishimasu" (Please). And after paying for what you bought, the responsibility of packing the goods is all yours.

everything you will ever need is on the bagging table

On a detached table after the cashier, you will find all the space and all the items you would possibly need for packing your groceries. Stuff like plastic bags, scissors, rope, and cutters are yours for the taking. Sometimes the cashier would bag one or two items for you, but for bulk purchases you have to bag them yourself. Once done, you are expected to return the basket and the pushcarts in their proper places. Nobody is actually exempted from this according to my observation, young and old people alike are responsible for themselves.

Meet the "Packers"

bagging groceries Japanese style

my friend posing for demonstration purposes (thanks Joaqs!)

Now is this a good or bad thing? Personally I find it okay. It adds a little physical activity to your otherwise sedentary routine. Also it teaches us to be responsible for whatever we choose to buy. We can control which items go together in one bag. We can divide the items according to how we will carry them/how we will arrange them bike baskets. But on a higher note, I find it a simple gesture to practice independence. We have to start doing what we can do by ourselves and not to depend so much on other people for simple things that we can actually do on our own.