Japan House — Local services in Houston

I have shopped with Japan House years prior, but my recent experience may be last.

On May 29th, 2025, I visited Japan House around 2:00 PM with my sister. Upon entering, we were greeted by a staff member named Rachel, who immediately went to alert the manager, Koji. From that point on, both of them observed us closely as we browsed, which made the experience uncomfortable and unwelcoming.

I approached Koji politely to ask about the Kuji Ichiban lottery items, saying: “Hello! How often are the Kuji Ichibans replaced?” Koji replied, “Not often.” I mentioned that I had enjoyed the Nier Automata V.1.1a Kuji and was then abruptly told, “We were not supposed to sell you any of them,” followed by, “We do not sell Kuji Ichibans to employees,” in a tone that came across as dismissive and accusatory.

This interaction caught me off guard, as I had made past purchases without any issues or policy explanations. No signage or staff had previously communicated that employees from sister stores were not allowed to purchase or use discounts. The sudden change in tone and rules, paired with the way I was being watched while shopping, made me feel targeted and disrespected.

Later that day, I returned to the store to ask Koji for clarification. The conversation went as follows:

Disclaimer: the dialogue exchange is not verbatim, but it is very close to what was stated.

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Me: “Hello! I was here earlier, and I’m on break. I wanted to ask clarification regarding the policies of purchases on Ichiban Kujis.” Koji: “Discounted Kuji Ichibans are not to be sold to employees, and new Kuji Ichibans are limited.” Me: “Can you explain why employees cannot buy Kuji Ichibans? Is it due to in-house knowledge? And what are the limits of Kuji Ichibans?” Koji: “The limit is now 3 Ichibans per customer.” Me: “Was the limit always enforced, when were these policies implemented, and as a manager do you have control over those policies?” Koji: “Due to the abuse of Kuji Ichibans, we have now enforced the policies and limits as it would not be fair. Japan House employees are eligible for a 20% discount, but not employees from sister locations. The staff who sold them to you were newer and unaware of the policy.” Me: “Thank you for the clarification, and moving forward, I understand that these are the policies. I just wanted to understand and see if this needed to be escalated.” Koji: “You are more welcome to do so.” Me: “Were these policies implemented because of my purchases? I was never told there was an issue or a policy in place.” Koji: “It was multiple clients involved in the purchases of several Kuji Ichibans, so the policy was enforced moving forward.”

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During this conversation, Koji also moved Rachel behind the office door and shut it before continuing the discussion—something that felt unnecessarily secretive and heightened the discomfort. While the conversation took place, two clients were waiting to be checked out, and they waited until my conversation with Koji had ended.

I visited the store as a paying customer on my personal time and was met with unnecessary surveillance and misinformed policy that were never previously communicated. The experience left me feeling singled out and unwelcomed. Prior to the experience, I have purchased the ichibans through four different employees, some while the manager was present. Because the policy was miscommunicated, it was never communicated properly to me as a consumer until I had asked.

While I understand and respect these policies moving forward, the experience was left undesired. The incident has been further escalated.

I am writing this to share my experience so others are aware of how certain customers might be treated, especially when it comes to inconsistent enforcement of store policies and unprofessional conduct by management.

Because these policies were not communicated to me as a consumer, I do not want to be met with potentially discriminatory behavior as that is the responsibility of the manager to communicate with...

First & likely last time coming here, even though I actually am quite happy with my purchase.

This store unfortunately does not allow for a positive shopping experience. I was in the store for about 15 minutes & the shop clerk stated their “new photos or videos of the products” policy warning over the microphone 3 separate times. Im pretty certain they have this policy because they want to discourage customers price checking/googling any items they pick up in store. The other reviews are right- you can find the items at this store for less on multiple different sites online. I only bought kitchenwares here & I have to say their selection & prices on those items are pretty good. Definitely be more mindful when it comes to purchasing any anime goods here, though.

Now, this is where things took a turn for the worst. I walked in with a reusable shopping tote bag. I bring my own shopping bags everywhere & have never been told I can’t use them before. Well, as soon as I put one item in my tote, the clerk approached me & asked if she could take my shopping tote & place it behind the counter until I’m ready to check out. See, im aware that some stores will ask to hold any bags behind the counter as soon as you walk in to the store. However, I wasn’t asked this until after I put an item in my shopping bag. I get the rule, but, it’s uncomfortable that I was approached regarding this issue after the fact I put something in my bag. Being made aware of this policy is a lot more respectable if it’s done as soon as customers walk in imo.

I’m happy to see a store like this & I definitely want to support them. I can overlook the mark up on their items, I get private retailers need to make money somehow. However, uncomfortable shopping experiences are sure to turn patrons...

It’s a satisfactory place and the prices are reasonable. There’s items I’ve never seen anywhere else, which was a very nice surprise! I’ve been to many “Japanese home goods” places and thought I’d seen it all. Kind of weird rules and employees though. Very demanding message played over the PA every five minutes (or less) saying NO PICTURES OR VIDEOS!! I guess I get wanting to reduce rubbernecking but it doesn’t really make sense if you want to spread the word about the selection you have. My mom is disabled and looking for bowls, so whenever I go to a place like this I take pictures of bowls she might want so I could buy them for her... but couldn’t do that here. Seems like lost money to me. Also the few pictures on Google Maps show a much fuller stock than was available when I was there. Many shelves empty, with no price tags so it seemed like there were no plans to stock them. Not a big deal, imports are hard, just figured I’d mention since there’s no ability to update the pictures as a customer. Employees were standoffish, would not talk to you unless they were telling you to take off your bag, stop taking photos, stop talking so loud. They didn’t stick around after the lecture, either, they were speed-walking around, hunting for rule-breakers, with no time to answer a customer question or ask if all was well. I wanted to ask if they had any more of a specific series but I wasn’t breaking a rule at the time so no one was around. I did enjoy the stock that was available but as someone who doesn’t collect figurines or gundam and because of the weird store atmosphere I don’t see myself coming back. (If you do collect figurines/gundam I think the weirdness is worth it. Big selection in...