I'm an American who went shopping at a mall in Japan. Here are 13 things that surprised me.

After my family moved from North Carolina to Okinawa, one of Japan's 47 prefectures, one of our first outings was a trip to a local mall. It definitely didn't disappoint.  

I've since been to numerous shopping centers around Japan, but the one I most frequently visit is Aeon Mall Okinawa Rycom, which is close to my home. 

These are the things that surprised me most about shopping there.

These small carts are convenient for people who don't want to or aren't able to carry heavy shopping bags.

Since this mall has so many good stores, I always end up needing a cart for my bags.

Okinawa is known for being kid-friendly, and sure enough, Aeon Mall has complimentary, sanitized strollers for infants and toddlers.

They come in forward-facing and rear-facing variations, and some also recline. My daughter's favorite one is shaped like a little car buggy. 

The strollers are a win-win for both of us — they keep her entertained, and they provide a great place to store my shopping bags. 

When I lived in the US, I went to some malls that had carts for kids, but they definitely weren't all free, sanitized, or suitable for infants.

In the malls I've visited in Japan, I've seen all types of stores.

Many carry high-end designer brands, like Prada, and also have affordable stores, like Daiso, where almost every item is 100 yen, or about $1. The latter is like a dollar store in the US, but immensely better. 

At Aeon Mall, I can shop for familiar global brands like H&M and Zara, both of which I've seen in malls in the US. However, my personal favorite is 3 Coins +Plus, a Japanese store where most of the items cost under 300 yen, or about $3, with some premium products.

Everything I've bought at the store — like the kettlebell I got for 800 yen, or about $6, and the wooden doll stroller I got for 1,500 yen, or about $11 — is decent quality and very reasonably priced.

I was surprised to find that the sizes in many clothing stores here range from small to extra large — fewer options than I was used to seeing.

In the US, I usually wear a small or a medium, but I find myself fitting into large or extra-large sizes in Japan. It can be very difficult and frustrating for an average-sized American to find a lot of clothing options here.

That being said, as a 5-foot-2-inch woman, I've had no trouble findings pants that are the perfect length. Almost every pair I've tried on in Japanese stores fits me just right.

Trying clothes on inside fitting rooms in Japan is a different experience than it is in the US. In Japan, customers remove their shoes before entering some dressing rooms.

It's common for people to take off their shoes before entering homes and temples, along with some stores and restaurants, to keep spaces clean and signify respect in Japanese culture. 

The coverings prevent shoppers from getting garments dirty with makeup or other products while they're trying on clothes.

It's somewhat common for people in the US to leave clothes they don't want to purchase in dressing rooms after trying them on. However, I've never seen someone in Japan walk out of a fitting room without putting items back on the racks or handing them to a nearby store employee.

The malls I've visited in Japan have clean bathrooms, and the one I stepped into in Aeon Mall has bidets with heated seats and separate rooms for parents with babies.

The amenities in this room include padded changing tables, a chair for children to sit while adults wash their hands or get bottle-ready, a garbage bin specifically for dirty diapers, a private nursing room, and a hot-water dispenser for making formula or warming up bottles.

This space is a little slice of heaven for parents.

In the US, I've only seen lounges for mothers in upscale, large malls. They weren't as accessible as they are in Japan, and I usually had to search for them on a specific floor.

I've never come across a bathroom designed specifically for children in the US, but the one in Aeon Mall couldn't be cuter.

The smaller toilets, sinks, and urinals give kids a little bit of independence. 

Supermarkets are typically located at the end of the malls in Japan, where I'd often see large department stores in malls in the US.

It's really convenient to shop around the mall for a couple of hours and end my trip at the grocery store, where I pick up food for the next few days. I can finish all my errands in the same place.

When I lived in the US, my local mall and the grocery store were on opposite sides of town. If I needed to make a return at the mall and also pick up food, I'd have to make two stops, which was much more difficult and time-consuming than walking to a different part of the mall.

Aeon Mall has a two-story food court with skylight dining on the top floor. The nice sit-down restaurants there offer so many different cuisines, including Japanese, Korean, Indian, and Italian. 

Even though every single mall I've visited in Japan has a tidy food court, the dining room in Aeon Mall is the cleanest one I've seen in any shopping center. It has plenty of seating options, including comfy lounge chairs and outdoor patio dining. 

One of my favorite features of this particular food court is the children's area. I've seen very few places equipped with tables and chairs that are perfectly sized for children. As a parent, it's so nice to see these options for kids. 

One of the most pleasantly surprising things about Japanese malls is the food courts — I can't get over them.

Because I was used to seeing a lot of food courts with overpriced fast food, sticky floors, and dirty tables in the US, I expected to find the same thing in Japan.

However, the food courts here are clean and offer a variety of high-quality food that makes my mouth water. Some people come to Aeon Mall just to eat lunch or dinner at the food court. 

When I sit down in the dining room, the restaurants serve my food on real dishes with real utensils instead of putting it on plastic or Styrofoam. It almost feels illegal to use a steak knife in a food court.

The technology in Japanese malls is eons ahead of what I've seen in shopping centers around the US. 

After ordering food at Aeon Mall's dining room, I received a beeper that notified me when my meal was ready (it's typically made fresh rather than sitting in a warmer).

In some restaurants in Japanese malls, robots deliver customers their food, and I've also seen vending machines that serve hot and cold drinks.

My favorite feature of Japanese malls is the self-checkout stations. The futuristic machines know exactly what's in my basket, and I don't even have to take the items out to scan their barcodes. 

Within seconds of setting my basket in the bin, the machine accounts for every item, and the scanners are extremely accurate. Even when clothes are tangled in my basket, the machine captures the price of each garment on the screen.

After I put my items down, I confirm that the price is correct, pay, and bag everything up. Then, I'm good to go. The whole process is so quick and efficient.

The US could take some notes from Japan when it comes to building and maintaining shopping centers.

For one thing, I'd love to see malls in the US adopt more amenities that cater to children and families. The sanitized strollers, baby rooms, and children's bathrooms I've seen in Japanese malls are minor touches that make a big difference in families' shopping experiences. 

I also love the dining experiences I can get at shopping centers here, especially in comparison to the food courts in the US. It's so nice to have a wide variety of fresh options in a clean dining room, and I'll miss it when I eventually return to the US.