If you typed "Don Quijote Asakusa" into your map app, check which pin it chose. The one most people mean is Don Quijote Asakusa (浅草店) at Asakusa 2-10, the tall yellow-signed building on the Rokku side of the neighborhood, one minute from Tsukuba Express Exit A1 and open 24 hours, every day. The other is a much smaller Don Quijote Asakusa EKIMISE on the 4th floor of the EKIMISE building above Tobu Asakusa station, open 10:00–20:00. Both do tax-free. Only one of them will still be selling you snacks at 02:00.
"Donki", as everyone in Japan calls it, is Japan's discount chain run by Pan Pacific International Holdings - the store that sells everything from snacks to suitcases in aisles so packed you turn sideways to pass another shopper. We have a separate review of Don Quijote Asakusa with the verdict; this page is the practical guide.
Which Don Quijote: the 24-hour store or EKIMISE?
The two branches are about ten minutes' walk apart and feel like different shops.
| Don Quijote Asakusa (main) | Don Quijote Asakusa EKIMISE | |
|---|---|---|
| Address | 2-10 Asakusa (Rokku) | 1-4-1 Hanakawado, EKIMISE 4F |
| Hours | 24 hours, no closed days | 10:00–20:00 |
| Nearest station | Tsukuba Express Asakusa, Exit A1, about 1 min | Inside Tobu Asakusa station; Ginza Line Exit 7, 1 min; Toei Exit A5, 3 min |
| Tax-free | Yes | Yes |
| Also in the building | Kobe-beef and dried-fruit stalls on 1F, Saizeriya and all-you-can-eat shabu-shabu on 5F, karaoke on 6F, a live house on 7F | The EKIMISE station mall and Tobu trains to Nikko |
| Best for | A late-night haul, the full range | A last pick-up before a Tobu train |
Our rule: if you are shopping properly - gifts for the office, a bag of skincare, a week of snacks - go to the main store. If you are about to catch a Tobu train to Nikko or Skytree and forgot something, the EKIMISE branch is directly connected to the platform building and saves you the walk.
Neither store is a "MEGA Don Quijote", whatever some listings say; the official name of the main store is simply the Asakusa store. And there is no Ferris wheel. That one belongs to the Dotonbori store in Osaka, and it gets pinned to Asakusa by mistake on a surprising number of travel blogs.
- Don Quijote Asakusa
- Hoppy Street
- Rokku
- Asakusa Stn (Tsukuba Express)
- Senso-ji Main Hall
- Asakusa Stn (Ginza/Asakusa/Tobu)
Getting there from Senso-ji
From the main hall of Senso-ji, walk out through the west side of the grounds towards Hanayashiki and keep going: the Don Quijote building sits at the Rokku end, beside Hoppy Street and its stew-and-shochu izakaya. It takes about five minutes. If you are coming by train, the Tsukuba Express station on Kokusai-dori is the closest - Exit A1, one minute - and that is also the station the store itself names. From the Ginza Line or Toei Asakusa stations by Kaminarimon, budget ten minutes on foot. Our getting to Asakusa guide explains why Asakusa has four stations and which exit to use.
There is no car park at the main store.
What to buy at Don Quijote Asakusa
Donki's appeal is range, not luxury. Think of it as a convenience store, pharmacy, souvenir shop and 1990s arcade in one tall building. What visitors carry out of the Asakusa store tends to fall into a few groups:
- Snacks and sweets. Japanese chocolate, crackers and regional-flavor sweets in quantities you will not find at a konbini. This is the cheapest way to fill a suitcase with gifts for people back home.
- Skincare and cosmetics. Sunscreen, sheet masks, cleansers and the drugstore brands Japanese shoppers use daily. Compare pack sizes: the multi-packs are where the savings are.
- Over-the-counter medicine. The main store has a pharmacy counter, but anything that needs a pharmacist is only sold while one is on duty. If you need cold medicine at 03:00, you may be out of luck; come back in the evening.
- Alcohol. Sake, whisky and shochu are on sale, but note that alcohol is excluded from the tourist coupon discount.
- Souvenir tat. Character goods, kitchen gadgets, novelty socks, and the costume aisle that makes Donki famous.
The ground floor also has two food stalls run by other businesses: D&N, selling dried fruit, and Kitchokichi, a Kobe-beef counter with steak, skewers and beef sushi. Upstairs the building turns into an entertainment block: Saizeriya (cheap Italian) and Shabu-yo all-you-can-eat shabu-shabu on 5F, Karaoke Rainbow on 6F and the live house Asakusa VAMPKIN on 7F.
Tax-free shopping: how it works now
Japan has changed its tax-free system for visitors, so ignore any article that tells you to "just show your passport at the till and pay 10% less". Under the current system:
- You pay the full price, tax included, at the till. Keep your passport with you: the store needs it to register a tax-free purchase.
- The minimum is ¥5,000 before tax, per shop, per day. Two ¥3,000 shopping trips on different days do not add up.
- You claim the tax back when you leave Japan, at the departure airport or seaport, within 90 days of buying. Go to the customs tax-free kiosk before you check your luggage - customs can ask to see the goods, so they need to be in a bag you still have.
- The refund comes back through the shop's refund service. Depending on the retailer this can be to a card, a bank account, an app or in cash, and the timing varies.
There are upsides. The old rule that food and cosmetics had to be sealed in special bags until you left the country is gone, as is the old ¥500,000 cap on consumables, so you can open your snacks on the train. Items of ¥1,000,000 or more have their serial numbers recorded, and gold and platinum bullion is excluded altogether - neither of which is likely to come up in the snack aisle.
The practical upshot for Donki: plan to be over ¥5,000 in a single visit, keep your receipts with your passport, and pack your purchases in your carry-on or in a bag you can open at the airport. If your flight leaves early in the morning from Haneda or Narita, give yourself extra time at the customs kiosk.
The free Don Quijote coupon (and where Klook fits in)
Don Quijote runs a tourist coupon that takes an extra discount off your bill:
- 5% off when you spend ¥10,000–29,999 before tax
- 7% off when you spend ¥30,000 or more before tax
It does not apply to alcohol, tobacco, POSA gift cards, game consoles or items over ¥100,000, and you have to show it before the cashier starts scanning. LIVE JAPAN, which hosts the coupon, says the live web page must be shown (a screenshot is not accepted), along with your passport, and that it can be used once per traveler.
Klook lists this as a free voucher, and you can get it there in a couple of taps:
Prices are the lowest option the platform shows, in US dollars, and move with dates and exchange rates. The booking page is final. Prices checked: September 28, 2026.
To be straight with you: this is Don Quijote's own free coupon, not a Klook deal. LIVE JAPAN and MATCHA give away exactly the same tiers, also for free, and it works at Don Quijote stores across Japan, not only in Asakusa. Take it from whichever site you already have open. If you have the Klook app for your Hanayashiki ticket or the Tokyo Subway Ticket, it is convenient to keep it there; otherwise there is no reason to install anything. Klook's page still advertises "up to 10% tax free" on top of the discount. Under the refund system you get the tax back at departure, not at the till, so treat that line as the old wording. More on the platform itself in our Klook review.
When to go
The main store never closes, which is the whole point. Some timing notes from the neighborhood:
- Late evening is peak. After the temple lights come on and the Hoppy Street izakaya fill up, Donki gets its biggest crowd of the day. Aisles are tight, and the tax-free counter can have a queue.
- Early morning is quiet. If you are up at 06:00 for Senso-ji before the tour groups (the main hall opens at 06:00, 06:30 from October to March), Donki is an easy stop on the way back to your hotel.
- Late at night, it is one of the few lights on. Most of Asakusa shuts early: Kamiya Bar stops serving at 19:30 and Nakamise shutters come down around 19:00. Don Quijote and a handful of izakaya are what's left. Our Asakusa at night guide has the rest.
The store occasionally closes overnight for stocktaking, and it announces the date on its official store page. If you are planning a 03:00 visit around a specific night, check there first.
Don Quijote Asakusa photos: what you're looking at
The outside is the photo: a tall building on the Rokku side covered in the chain's loud signage. It is at its brightest after dark, when the lit signs reflect off the wet pavement on a rainy night. Stand back on the Rokku side street to get the whole facade in frame; from right under it you will only get signs.
Inside is another matter. The aisles are narrow, stacked to the ceiling and full of other shoppers, and staff will not thank you for blocking a lane with a tripod. A quick phone shot of the snack wall or the character aisle is part of the experience - just step aside to take it, and don't photograph other customers or the checkout.
For bigger Asakusa photo ideas - the Kaminarimon lantern, the lit pagoda, Skytree over the Sumida - see our Senso-ji guide and the Sumida River page.
Combine it with
Don Quijote is rarely anyone's reason to come to Asakusa, but it fits neatly into an evening. A good sequence: Senso-ji at dusk when the illumination comes on, dinner and a Hoppy on Hoppy Street next door, then Donki for gifts on the way back. For food ideas nearby, see our Asakusa food guide; if you are traveling with children, the Asakusa with kids guide covers Hanayashiki, which is a two-minute walk away.
If you would rather let a local show you the neighborhood before you shop, a short guided walk covers the temple and back streets and usually ends near the Rokku side: