Haggling in Japan Does Not Work. There Are About Four Places Where It Quietly Does.

Why this phrase

Kofuku plays the tourist who has read that Japan is fixed-price; Hana plays the shopkeeper, twice. First exchange is the dead end in a normal shop, and her refusal is the real one: 「すみません、値引きはちょっと…」, where the trailing ちょっと IS the no. Second exchange, at a flea market stall, the same line lands. Keep the exception list honest. Big-ticket items at a large electronics store when you have a competitor's price, and the concession often comes back as extra points rather than a lower number. Small independent secondhand, antique and used-camera dealers, NOT the fixed-price chains like Book-Off or Hard-Off. Flea markets, including the temple and shrine markets. Market stalls near closing, where you often get an extra item thrown in rather than a discount. Ordinary shops, chains, department stores, konbini and restaurants: never. And the rule that keeps it polite is one ask, then accept the answer.