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大きいサイズ！！！ PLUS-SIZE SHOPPING IN JAPAN

*This post is intended to be helpful for people already living in Japan who need to find everyday clothing, it’s not going to be useful for people living outside Japan who want to buy kawaii Tokyo fashion. This is also mainly geared toward women’s clothing, as it’s harder to find than men’s plus size clothing, but some of the stores and sites I mention here will be useful for plus size guys as well!

So let’s start at the beginning.

JP SIZING

Japanese sizes in general go from S, M, L, and plus sizes will be indicated from LL (extra large) all the way to 10L. For reference purposes on this post, I am a size 16/18 in CAN/US sizing, a 22 in UK sizing, and a JP size 5L for most plus-size brands, although the sizes are not standardized across brands (meaning that for some brands, a 5L will be either too big or too small). 

If you are above a size 3L, which is the largest size they stock in most regular stores (Uniqlo, for example, only stocks S, M, L, and XL for women*, so I don’t fit into any of their clothes) you will have to do most of your shopping online! There *are* physical plus-size stores around, though, so keep an eye out for stores that look like this:

大きいサイズ  (おおきいサイズ)　- plus-size (lit. large size)

レディースの大きいサイズ 　- Ladies’ large size

メンズの大きいサイズ     - Mens’ large size

Here’s some useful Japanese you can use while shopping in a physical store: 

大きいサイズがありますか？ Do you sell large size clothes?

これのもっと大きいサイズ、ありますか？ Do you have this in a larger size?

It can be a bit difficult finding your size in Japan, but don’t give up! Plus size Japanese women *do* exist and they look cute as heck, and so can you.

PHYSICAL STORES

H&M Japan (they use S, M, L, XL sizing or US sizes up to 16, so I would say around a 4L Japanese size. I am able to fit into some of their clothing based on the cut and style of the garment, but most of their tops/dresses are too tight in the chest for me). Good for a variety of styles, from work clothes to casual

しまむら 　- They carry up to a 4L, good for basics and casuals

青山 (あおやま）　- Great for work/business attire. (They call their plus-size line クイーンサイズ which I find extremely adorable omg). Their sizing is a bit different as they carry from 19号～ 37号, but the sizing charts should help you figure out which size you need.

PUNYUS    - There are only a few of these stores around, in big cities like Tokyo and Osaka, but I love this brand so I’ll be talking about their online store later in the post. The brand was established by Naomi Watanabe, one of Japan’s foremost plus-size comedians and TV personalities, and I absolutely LOVE her. Punyus uses their own sizing in 1, 2, 3, or 4. (I am usually a 2, but I always check the measurements for each garment very carefully because for some items I am a 3 or 4).

*Uniqlo carries up to a 4L in men’s sizes, but you usually have to order the larger sizes online as they don’t stock them in the regular stores.)

There are obviously way more stores than this that carry plus-sizes, and most of them will have the 大きいサイズ  sign right on the outside of the store. I’ve even managed to find some cute items in the  大きいサイズ  section of my local grocery/department store of all places (although don’t expect much from department stores, most of the fashion in these places will be very tame grandma clothes).

Now, let’s get into online shopping, which is the easiest method but can be a little tricky. The first thing you need to do is figure out your measurements, as the majority of online products will have a detailed size chart that is very useful for ensuring a good fit without trying it on.

SIZE CHARTS

Size charts will look like this, and will use centimetres:

サイズ表記 　（サイズひょうき） - size notation

バスト    - bust (the measurement around your chest)

肩幅　（かたはば）- shoulder width (measurement from shoulder to shoulder)

袖丈　（そでたけ） - sleeve length

着丈　（きたけ）- length (of the whole garment, Japanese ones tend to run short. I’m not even particularly tall but a lot of shirts tend to fit like crop tops here)

袖幅　（そではば）- sleeve width

袖口　（そでぐち）- cuff

幅裾　（はばすそ）- hem width

回り　（まわり）- circumference (measurement around the bottom) 

ウエスト    - waist

ヒップ     - hips

In general, the measurements that’ll be most useful will be bust, waist, hips, and length of the garment. As you can see on the model below, those measurements make her a size 3L. My measurements are 128-106-135 and I’m 168cm tall so I’m usually a 5L.

Once you know your measurements, it’s time to start browsing! I’ll briefly introduce my top picks for useful online stores.

ONLINE STORES

1. Nissen

This website is great and I use it all the time. It’s like an online shopping mall that carries the plus size options from a bunch of different brands, so you can just check here instead of browsing each brand individually. 

You can search by size, category, colour- it’s super convenient and easy, and the website is also available in English. 

SHOES

This site also has great options for shoes above 25cm (which is the largest size they sell in most shoe stores for women). My shoe size is 26.5cm with 4E width (extra wide) and I can easily find shoes here.

TALL SIZES

I mentioned before that some of the shirts here tend to fit fairly short, even for my 168cm (5′6″) height. Never fear, there are tall size options as well.

The tall sizes will be annotated with a TT next to it- as you can see, the first 3 options in the picture are MTT - 5LTT, and the 4th one doesn’t have the TT, so it will be a normal length. Again, you can just click on the item and go to the size chart to check the length in cm to see if it will fit.

2. Alinoma

Very similar to Nissen in that it gathers clothing from different brands all right here on the same site, and you can also use the parameters along the side to customize your search by size, category, colour, etc. 

One of my favourite brands (available from both sites) is タベルノスキー、which has super cute stuff~

3. PUNYUS Online Store

The clothes here are more trendy, playful, casual clothes, and I love that they use larger plus-size models than some of the other sites (including Naomi Watanabe herself). I buy a lot of non-work clothes from here.

*Note that all these sites have really reasonable shipping fees within Japan and also have frequent sales, as well. And they’re really easy to use with google translate.

INNER WEAR

Now, as for the busty gal trying to find bras and lingerie in Japan…

Don’t worry!!! I’ve found that most lingerie stores don’t stock my size, but again, it’s possible to order them online using either Nissen or Alinoma. You’ll want to look for the インナー tab, and ta-da! (Just keep in mind that the band in Japan is measured in cm).

To wrap up, I’d just like to reiterate that if you are plus-size in Japan and having trouble finding clothes, you’re not alone! There are lots of us here and there *are* brands out there that make cute clothes for us. If you see something you like in a store, go in and check it! The sizing is not only wildly different between brands, but it can even be different between different garments in the same brand. Don’t be afraid to try things on! You might be surprised by what actually fits and looks good.

Happy shopping!

[infinitelycynical]

not that either is a good thing but there is a small cosmic sort of irony to appreciate in the way that the russian invasion of ukraine and the most recent nakba happened so close together and how they through comparison made it undeniably clear how much the definition of war crime and genocide and atrocity &etc depends on the geopolitical interests of the imperial core

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something someone could describe you by - if they don’t know your name, they could go “oh, the person with the xyz!”

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Western Australia's laws on LGBTQIA+ rights are sorely lacking. Conversion therapy is still legal, private schools can discriminate, having gender changes legally recognised is the worst in the country with a poorly maintained Gender Reassignment Board used to determine applications of merit, non-binary identities aren't recognised, intersex infants aren't protected against unnecessary surgeries, and surrogacy laws exclude queer couples.

WA Labor said they'd take action - back in 2017. Two elections later they're still saying they'll wait until AFTER the 2025 election.

Click here to help the campaign to prioritise LGBTQIA+ law reform in Western Australia.

And make your own TikTok to raise awareness and encourage others to do the same! The more people we get on board with the campaign the harder it is for WA Labor to ignore its OWN commitments to the LGBTQIA+ community!

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Every single fic update there is an author trying frantically to find the right balance between a nonchalant aside of "leave a comment if you enjoyed =)" and clinging desperately to the coat tails of a random stranger, dragging along behind them on the street wailing "Please, please! I have to know what you thought! I'm desperate to talk to people about this! Ask me about the alliterative repetition! Ask me about the symbolism!"

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@furusawayusuke_ 👏 👏 We are immensely proud of your voice. Speak the truth even if you are alone 🍉

Videos: @furusawayusuke_

Song: @zachmatari

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matsuda, N?

death note reborn

Matsuda...

1 year ago, learned that Netflix and chill does not LITERALLY MEAN watching Netflix and being chill

Has 2 chickens

Won 3 games of chess against L by eating the pieces

His music taste is 40 years old (80s)

Has a 5 year old nephew. he is the cool uncle

6 visits to the emergency room from accidents while flirting (if I may remind you of *sexy lip bite, breaks the skin, gets an infection*)

Been on 7 orienteering– races? competitions? runs?

8 times a day, he breaks into song

Has to get at least 9 coffees for the Task Force every day.

10 things I hate about you was one of the few movies he's really, completely, hated.

[infinitelycynical]

best song from 望郷 is the 9 minute long last track people can fight me on this idgaf

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Happy Light Death Day!!! 🥰🥳💕❤️✨🎂

Commission for lovely @nachtyr-haus-comics ~! 💕

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Light Yagami died today

[infinitelycynical]

Yay!! Happy 50 followers! Here's to many more in the future!!

I'd love to hear your thoughts (A) on Aizawa, if that's okay.

-🎲

death note reborn

thank you very much, and hello again 🎲 anon!

Aizawa was always one of my favourite characters but like. A quiet favourite? Like I'll say he's my favourite if I'm asked about him but not if I'm asked to list my favourites ajhdhdnnx

Anyway, I really like how he struggles with his job versus his home life, that kind of stuff is mostly what I think about when I think of him. I believe he has a daughter and I just KNOW he'd be such a great father. He's kind of the opposite of Soichiro, id est he would absolutely spoil his daughter when he's around. Actually the part where he left the Tanks Force was oddly sweet to me? I don't usually get sappy over family stuff in shows (except found family) and I really don't like kids but. I don't know. It made me happy.

He's actually more of an Average Guy than Matsuda in some ways...

I think he'd have hobbies like bike riding. He reminds me of my grandpa a little when he was younger. So. Yeah, he'd like dice games and he'd go bike riding. Gaaasp he has a wife (right? maybe? did they get divorced?) what if they met through bike riding. that'd be so cute. meet-cute.

Apart from that, the other main Aizawa things that occupy my brain space are the potential for rivals to lovers between him and L (I enjoy rivals to lovers and hate enemies to lovers; there is a difference I might make a chart some day) and that his name is the same as Aizawa from MHA and how hilarious a comparison between them would be.

[infinitelycynical]

go to this random coordinates generator and say in the tags how you would fare if you were dropped where it generates without warning. i’ll go first i’d be dropped in the middle of the fucking south atlantic ocean and perish

[infinitelycynical]

[infinitelycynical]

How did the task force get Ide caught up on everything that happened during arc 1? How did that play out? Poor man walked into this task force off the heels of a dead L, he was missing a ton of information that needed filling in.

The answer I've always assumed is he asked Aizawa what happened after Aizawa came back to the NPA and he got a week-long vent/explanation to fill him in on everything that had happened, and then Matsuda filled in the Yotsuba arc to explain the whole "sorry you thought I was dead" thing.

But in the event Aizawa was quiet about everything, how was he filled in on what he missed? Did they sit him down to explain? Was he just left to piece together passing comments?

[infinitelycynical]

downside: going to have to include a picture of the Giza pyramids in the slides for the lecture upside: i get to give people a crash course in why perspective matters in two frames, because

followed by

is such a funny sequence

[infinitelycynical]

assigning every death note character a romanian price tag & other business stuff

SOICHIRO - i went to the cafeteria to eat. if i don't get drunk, i'll open at 3pm

MELLO - orthodox nettles

NEAR - indispensable men with feathers

MATT - it's eggs but written incorrectly and sounds more or less like uoah (I think he would laugh at this for hours)

MISA - wallets made of men's skin

ROGER - children outfit (tank top + children)

BEYOND - CASKET OFFER (empty)

MIKAMI - WE HIRE MAN for the job of MAID

MATSUDA - we offer free equipment for people over 80 years ONLY IF they are accompanied by parents or grandparents!

IDE - don't touch! risk of death by electrocution and a fine of 500 lei

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