Foreigners in Japan wanting to shop online have long had two unappealing options -- pay the outrageous shipping charges to order from e-shops abroad or muddle through Web sites in Japanese.
Now Amazon.co.jp is offering a third way -- shopping in English from the Japan subsidiary's Web site.
On Monday, Amazon.co.jp, which is entering its third year in Japan, began offering Web pages in English for all its imported goods -- books, CDs and videos, 2.4 million in all. It did so, the company said, in response to the many requests from English speakers who wished to take advantage of the prices and free shipping (for orders over 1500 yen) at Amazon.co.jp.
The pages still carry Japanese portions, so be warned that if your browser can't read them, they'll turn up as gobbledygook. (M.T.)