Aeon Style Ariake Garden Store — Supermarket in Toyosu, Tokyo

Aeon Style Ariake Garden Store is a branch of the Aeon chain, and what sets this one apart is its setting: the ground floor of a five-storey mall in Toyosu, with a Muji and other shops above it. You notice the size first, then the fish counter.

Fresh fish is the reason to come. The counter is laid out in quantity, and the fish is fresh and worth carrying back to a hotel kitchen or eating that evening. Prepared foods run wide and varied, the sort of spread you build a quick meal from, and sushi sells steadily. Seasonal drinks and Japanese strawberries and milk fill out a basket nicely.

Checkout is the modern kind, with self-checkout machines rather than a line of conventional tills, and staff step in when a machine trips you up. The mall around it holds a food court and shops for children, so a supermarket run can stretch into an afternoon.

A basket lands at ¥1,000–3,000. If you drive, a partner credit card gets you four hours of parking free, which changes the maths on a longer mall visit. Come in the evening for prepared foods, and expect the store to be busiest around events at the nearby hall.

One thing to plan around: the parking lot fills and the entrance is held with traffic cones until a guard moves them, so the road in clogs. It suits anyone staying nearby who wants a large shop under one roof, and anyone who would rather take the train and skip the car entirely.