Buying recycled (or used, in real English!)items is actually quite popular amoung Japanese, with 84.2% of a recent Fuji Sankei Living newspaper poll respondents saying they had purchased used items in the past. The most commonly bought used items were: books, clothing, children's clothing, CDs/DVDs, and cars.
For used books, the mother of all shops is, of course, Book Off. This mega-chain has over 900 stores (500 franchises), and sells the bulk of Japan's used books. They will buy your used books (sorry, Japanese books only!) and pick them up from your house if necessary. Their stores are also a great place to browse (what better place to pick up cheap cookbooks, magazines, maps, or even novels to study Japanese?), and they even offer CDs and DVDs at some locations now. For foreign used books, in addition to the old favorite Good Day Books in Ebisu (http://www.gooddaybooks.com/), an online option is available in the form of http://www.infinitybooksjapan.com (formerly Caravan Books). They also offer book purchase and credit services.
Used clothing in gaijin adult sizes can be rather hard to find at the average Japanese "recycle shop" (and do you really want what the have to offer), but used children's clothes *are* usually a good bargain. A good time to shop is "moving season" (usually March in Japan, right before corporate transfers and the new school year starts), and also "koromogae" season (koromoeage means - usually around April/May or October/November when the seasons change and people empty out their closets. Many towns and cities have one or two used children's clothing stores, sometimes in a larger mall or complex. You can search online (enter the Japanese "kodomo fuku risaikuru" in Google, along with your city name) for the location, or choose one of the many online retailers. Man will also accept clothes for sale.
Finally, electronics! In particular, PCs. Although new PCs are getting cheaper and cheaper these days, there is still a vibrant market for used PCs in Japan. The largest retailer of used PCs in Japan is Sofmap, which sells more used PCs than new. Most of its PCs are less than two years old, including some very new models even released just a season go. Looking for a simple laptop to do email, word processing, Internet surfing, and a few other basic applicatons? Sofmap offers a Japanese brand 800Mh, 256MB, 15GB hard drivewith a CD-ROM drive and Windows already installed for Y47,800. A 2.93GHz, 512MB, 300G hard drive Valuestar with a huge 17" monitor and DVD multi-drive and TV tuner (i.e. a "multimedia PC you can use as a TV and DVD player as well) is only Y143,800. You can add a 3-year warranty for used PCs as well for Y7500. Check out http://www.sofmap.comfor more information!
When you shop smart, "recycled" goods can be quite a bargain sometimes!
By Wendy J. Imura. Copyright 2006.