ACCORDING TO THE Observatory for Economic Complexity which tracks international trade, Malaysia’s import of used clothing in 2019 totalled USD105mil – the majority of these are from the US and Japan. Five to six containers are shipped to Malaysia per month to feed the demand for secondhand Japanese goods.
In Penang, both on the island and the mainland, I stumbled upon many Japanese secondhand shops that sell everything from clothing, furniture and kitchenware to handicrafts, hardware and toys.
Not all of them have as vast a collection to offer as Fujisan Trading, a secondhand shop in Seberang Perai Selatan. It has been around for more than a decade.
