Australia has Bunnings and the U.S. has Lowe's, do-it-yourself super stores that sell anything you could ever need for remodeling your house. They are hardware stores, timber yards and home decor shops all in one.
Japan, however, still has no such superstores, perhaps because Hello Kitty has cornered the market on most products anyway. How can you compete with Kitty-chan two-by-fours?
As a result, if you choose to remodel your house, you'll only find a limited number of materials available at your local hardware store or home center.