flyerred

Can anyone recommend shops around Tokyo to get glasses prescriptions filled? What is typical turnaround time in Japan? 10 days as is typical in the US? I'm a non japanese speaker, so english language ability on the part of the optician will be needed. I'm leaning more towards more fashion styles, likely a round frame.

shinjukuflyer

I got mine from Jins (they have locations all over Tokyo) and it took about half an hour.

I want to say if it's near one of the major shopping areas then some English will be understood, enough to get by.

flyerred

You went in with a prescription and they made your glasses and had them ready in ~30 mins? That fast?

mjm

If they have the lens type you select or require for your prescription it takes very little time. 30 mins is very common. I waited over an hour once. :-) Most stations have glasses hops near them and prescriptions are written universally the same.

fimo

20-30 mins for standard prescriptions where they have ready stocks of lenses. If you need tinted, transition or progressive lenses then a few days wait may be necessary. Suggest you also ask your hotel concierge for what shops might be nearby instead of having to go out of the way from a recommendation here.

shinjukuflyer

Yeah. This was my first pair of glasses. I went with a prescription from the ophthalmologist, picked out a frame, and they had it ready a short while later. Also price-wise was very reasonable, around 6,000 yen IIRC. Though that probably depends on the type of frame/lens you get, mine was a very standard prescription.

abmj-jr

The opposite of this is a very non-standard prescription like mine. Mine is so unusual that neither my own optometrist nor any of the lens outlets in my city have the blanks and even the custom houses have to special order for them. I doubt any Japanese local shop could produce them very quickly, either. For that reason, I always carry a spare pair and on at least one occasion had to use the spares when my first pair took a dive on the shinkansen.

You need to plan ahead. If you have simple or very common lens requirements, you can probably get replacements in less than an hour. But otherwise, probably not.

Daytona

You can go in with a known prescription, or you can have your prescription measured at the shop.

You can usually have your glasses ready in about 30 - 60 minutes, mainly depends on the type of lenses you require.

For example, the selection of lenses are usually something like this:
- Standard lenses - 1.55 refractive index
- Ultra-thin aspherical - 1.60, 1.67, 1.74
- Progressive - 1.60, 1.67, 1.74
- PC-friendly (filters the blue spectrum from LCD screens) - 1.55, 1.60, 1.67

The higher your prescription is, and the higher the refractive index of the lenses, the less likely the shop will have them in stock - which usually means 7 - 10 days wait.

I got my glasses at Zoff, I usually get the aspherical 1.67 lenses and they can make it in 30 minutes (I have -5.0 prescription on my eyes). However last year I went there and want to get the PC-friendly 1.67 lenses, I have to wait 10 days.

railroadtycoon

Fast places like ZOFF do them pretty quickly. Went in (without a prescription, tested on site--free of charge), chose the frames I wanted, went to eat lunch, and came back and picked up a new pair of glasses, pretty cheap.

Taiwaned

If you want a quick cheap fast prescription glasses for a standard lens, then J!ins or Megane or the many other storefront stores are perfect. They are like LensMasters, LensCrafters, Image Optical stores in North America.

With J!ins glasses, they are cheap because they are house brand frames and lens.

I like my J!ins computer glasses, reading glasses, driving glasses but never happy with my regular day use J!ins glasses. They scratch faster and do not last as long as some of my other pairs.

I ended up purchasing custom glasses with designer frames, it took 3-4 business days and it was many times more expensive than J!ins. For daily wear, it was a good decision.

beep88

Incredibly cheap(price-wise, not quality) glasses: JINS

single vision: 30 minutes (almost always)

Progressive or their own version of 'transitions': 1 week

Lots of customers from neighbouring Asian countries and even HK. So language is not an issue at common tourist area locations. You pick your own frame with little sales advise. The eye test is a series of "which is better, A or B?", or you answer "up, down, left, right". You can of course provide your own prescription, but they still put it into the test lenses for you to try on before placing the order. It's that professional.

Of course fair to say you can't compare their progressive with brand name. But 10,000 - 15,000 for a complete pair of 1.67 progressive... with very professional eye test included. My eye test took almost 30 minutes, and similar to the refraction portion of the eye tests I have by Canadian optometrists.

>> With J!ins glasses, they are cheap because they are house brand frames and lens.

Their single vision lenses are HOYA branded. At least some of them are. Progressive are house brand.

Compare that to the Canadian "Clearly" online shop, which also use their own progressive lens. but cost CAD 200/pr - with rare 50% off. Coincidentally they ship all their orders from Vancouver to Japan for their Japanese subsidiary.

For JINS, progressive lens = 5000 yen/pr .


Other chains include A-Look, Megane Ichiba (usually same location, Megane Ichiba being more upscale with the frame selection).

All these chains have their frame selections online, prices include basic lenses of any prescription, though definition of "basic" varies. For JINS, aspherical lenses are no extra charge. Others may not be.

http://www.meganeichiba.jp/

http://www.alook.jp/

http://www.jins.com/jp/

http://www.zoff.co.jp/

Yub

J!NS has opened a store in Union Square in San Francisco. They are also opening stores in Santa Clara, CA and Arcadia, CA this summer. Though I haven't done a direct comparison, the US pricing doesn't seem as inexpensive as it is in Japan.

We have an optometrist friend that buys her own glasses at J!NS in Japan rather than in the US because she finds the fit of some J!NS frames to be much better for her (low nose bridge). I'm thinking of getting a pair at J!NS on my next trip to Japan.

If you are a Costco member, all Costco Japan locations now offer same day service for stock lenses, and may be done in as little as 30 minutes. I had a pair of glasses with progressive, high-index lenses mounted on rimless frames done there, and I'm very happy with them. However, my order had to be sent out and took a couple of weeks because they didn't stock lenses for my level of astigmatism.

http://www.costco.co.jp/p/10348?lang=en

flyerred

I have a very high prescription so I'm looking for a quality shop that can provide a high rate of compression.. I don't mind paying a bit more for a more durable, stylish product. I'm open to paying a premium for such things as titanium frames.

abmj-jr

You might want to get another opinion. My correction is closer to -14 and I get them with a high index plastic that is actually quite light. The old glass lenses were heavy but not these.