Buying an American Knife in Japan
Japan is well known for knives. Many travellers will take home a chefs knife purchased from one of the prestigious knife stores in Tokyo or Osaka. I recently had the privilege to travel to Japan, myself, and purchased a knife. However, despite wanting to own a carbon steel santoku, I left the country with an American knife instead. (I still hope to purchase a nice carbon steel santoku one day. I just hadn't done the research prior to the trip to justify the purchase.)
The knife I brought home is a Leatherman Skeletool CX—a popular EDC multitool that's fairly minimal in its toolset. I didn't visit Japan planning to buy it; it just happened to be sitting there in a cabinet as I was browsing an outdoor store. As soon as I saw it, I knew I would probably be taking it home. The simple reason is that I'd wanted one for at least two years (primarily for outdoor adventures) before that moment but couldn't justify it due to Leatherman's ridiculous mark up of prices to Australians.
To give an idea, the Australian Leatherman website currently lists the tool at $241.95. The listed price in the Japanese store was ￥14,980 (~$150) down from the RRP of ￥19,800 (~$200). Being an international traveller, I could make the purchase tax-free for extra savings which effectively took the total price to almost half of what an Australian would pay.
I cheekily made the purchase knowing that I'd just obtained a great deal. At just 142g, I look forward to carrying it with me on future hiking and camping adventures.
Finally, shame on you, Leatherman.