Tokyo Shopping Guide
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By Marceline | June 26, 2009
It’s not laziness, honest, but a response to a request I get all the time – can I make a PDF version of the Tokyo Shopping Guide? Well, apparently I can, so you can now buy one in the shop, download it and print it yourself!
It’s great for last minute travelers who only discover the guide just before they jet off to Tokyo, don’t have time to wait for the postman and would prefer not to print out a pile of web pages. I’ve streamlined it for printing so it’s got all the same shopping information as the pre-printed version but none of the extras and only includes images of the shops and their logos to save you some ink. It also includes a special discount voucher in case you want to order the real thing, or the Ten Days in Tokyo zine on your return.
The main reason I haven’t done this sooner is that I knew eventually someone mean would get a hold of it and print copies or resell it for their own gain. But with this cut-down version, you’re not getting anything that isn’t available in the online version – it’s just edited and laid out better for quick printing.
One question I do have though – the PDF is laid out for A4 paper but I know Letter size is very popular in the US. Would a Letter-sized version be a good idea or, indeed, any other international paper size? Please let me know in the comments!
Topics: New Work, Tokyo Shopping Guide | 1 Comment »
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Discover DaWanda
By Marceline | June 22, 2009
DaWanda is probably my favourite of all the marketplace sites I sell on so I’m extra-glad about their new offer. All this week, if you buy from a shop for the first time, you’ll get 15% off your order!
Obviously, you can choose something from my shop, but you might be surprised how many of your favourite Etsy sellers are on DaWanda too, not to mention lots of Europeans who don’t sell elsewhere. Go have a look!
As an extra bonus, every order I get from DaWanda this week will get a free Cakeify postcard.
In other news, I am a bit sunburnt and my purse is a lot fuller after a lovely Saturday doing Bungo in the Back Lanes. We basically set up in the back garden of GCM member Rosie and then sat around in the sunshine selling stuff. Lovely!
I won’t be doing any more markets until August so that gives me some time to play with new product ideas and build up my stock. I have lots of ideas too so watch this space.
Topics: Events, Ideas and Inspiration, News, Tokyo Shopping Guide | No Comments »
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Tokyo Shopping Guide v2.0 – a giveaway!
By Marceline | February 12, 2009
The print version of my Tokyo Shopping Guide has now been updated and will be sent out for all future orders (outstanding orders will be posted tomorrow!). I really appreciate all the feedback you guys send me after using the guide and there are a few clarifications and updates to the information. I make sure to keep the online version as up to date as possible so it’s always wise to do a bit of checking before you leave.
Some of the updates include:
- Tama Depa now in Harajuku beside Nakamise Dori
- Updated directions for Loft and other shops that people were having difficulty with
- A branch of Lemmon is now beside Sunshine City
- Itoya in Ginza is now just 2 buildings with washi now in Itoya 1
To celebrate, let’s have a giveaway! Leave a comment on this post and tell me something you’d like to do in Japan. I’ll pick a winner who will get a copy of both the shopping guide and my Ten Days in Tokyo zine, plus some other random stuff. You’ve got til Monday 16th to enter and everyone is welcome!
After the jump is some more detailed feedback sent to me by Katie. She got one of the prototype zines and kindly tested it out for me when she visited Japan. You can see more of her photos from the trip on Flickr. Enjoy!
Topics: Shop Spotlight, Tokyo Shopping Guide | 10 Comments »
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Tokyo Shopping Guide in print!
By Marceline | August 25, 2008
I am so pleased to finally announce the print version of my Tokyo Shopping Guide. It’s by far the most popular thing on my site and makes me happy every day to see how many people find their way here from search engines, and knowing they’ll find the answer to their query. I get so many people emailing and commenting saying they’re going to print out all the information and take it with them so I’m happy to be able to help out even more by providing a pocket-sized print version. It’s A6 size so will fit in any pocket or handbag ready for consulting as you travel. It contains most of the information available online along with a few little extras. I really want to stress that the online version will still always be available for free – the printed version is an accompaniment, not a replacement.
Also available is Ten Days in Tokyo, my new zine about all the fun and adventures we had in Japan last October. It tells all about our sightseeing, shopping, eating and general fun times and is full of photos. We literally went everywhere in Tokyo so it should be a good read for anyone planning a trip or wishing they could go someday.
Both are now available in the shop for PRE-ORDER. Printing up zines costs money upfront so I’m doing a pre-order period while I do the proofreading and final tweaking. Pre-orders give me an idea of how many copies to get printed as the initial run and also help cover the costs. All pre-orders will ship in a couple of week’s time and you’ll get a free gift in your order as a thank you, yay!
So, what are you waiting for? Get ye over to the shop!
Topics: Japan, New Work, Tokyo Shopping Guide | 4 Comments »
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Japan Crafts
By Marceline | July 28, 2008
Good news for anyone planning a trip to Japan (like you need any more good news) – there’s a new blog called Japan Craft Journal where some awesome crafty bloggers have joined up to collect together all the info you might need about Japanese crafts and shopping. They’re already posting up some great tips for shops and neighbourhoods to visit so it’s definitely one to bookmark. There’s also a Flickr group so go add your pics.
Coincidentally, I tidied up my Tokyo Shopping Guide just the other day so there’s a few more useful links in there.
(and yes, my Bangkok Shopping Guide will be starting very soon)
Topics: Japan, Tokyo Shopping Guide | No Comments »
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Tokyo Shopping Guide: Kiddyland
By Marceline | January 24, 2008
Oh, Kiddyland. Even with my love of Japanese fabric, computer games, bento, washi etc. there is still one shop that is number one on my list of things to do in Tokyo and that is shopping in Kiddyland. Probably the most astonishing thing is that we managed to wait a whole 24 hours before going there. Less astonishing is that we also returned there on our last night to blow all the rest of our cash.
Kiddyland is basically kawaii heaven – there are 6 or 7 floors crammed with cuteness and it stays open until 8pm. A few of the floors are devoted to western characters like Disney, Spongebob Squarepants and the like but there is plenty Japanese joy. The best floor is the Sanrio/San-X floor where we are guaranteed to spend at least an hour. A good 50% of the floor is Sanrio stuff and most of that is Hello Kitty getting her face into an increasingly bizarre series of designs. If you want a Hello Kittified souvenir of anything you’ve seen in Japan, whether that’s a place, a foodstuff or a mode of transport, then this is the place to go. Some of the Sanrio stuff can be very expensive though. There’s also a real lack of stuff featuring the other Sanrio characters which is always disappointing.
The San-X area always leaves me a dribbling wreck with Mamegoma and Rilakkuma items that just get cuter and cuter. You will never be more tempted to buy a cuddly seal the size of a car, possibly wearing bunny ears. Round the back of the San-X area are some lesser-known characters and I immediately fell very hard for Onsenmanjukun, a group of steamed dumplings with adorably cute faces, and bought a pile of stuff (returning on our last night for more!). We were also very taken with Usurasan, a bunny rabbit that somehow got trapped in a monkey suit. Oh, Japan. There are also racks and racks of cute stationery on this floor – stickers, letter sets, notepads, pencils, calendars and so much more.
Best of all are the tv screens dotted around showing adverts for the various characters in front of you. Wondering what the deal is with Rilakkuma wearing a bunny outfit, or indeed why Usurasan is stuck in a monkey suit? Well, you will not be much nearer understanding but your brain might explode from the sheer insanity. Search for San-X on YouTube for some clips. Each floor also has matching gashapon machines so you can pick up some related random cuteness for 50p-£1 including my favourites – stationery gashapon which wind out packs of paper, envelopes and stickers for 50p a go. They usually spit them out in order as well so 3 gos will get you the full set.
The top floor has some cool blind box toys, Gloomy Bear and the like and the lower floors have a few gems including a big display of Ghibli stuff, but most of the other floors are western toys which are understandably very popular in Japan. The ground floor has all the latest bits and bobs where you can get everything from sweets to the newest crazy phone charm to pretty patterned tenugui, thin Japanese towels that are way too lovely to use.
Downstairs in the basement is the video games floor which is full of Nintendo joy, from DS and Wii games and accessories to all things Pokemon and Mario including a large plushy electronic Pikachu with changeable expressions! The one on display wasn’t working but that was probably for the best as it might have pushed us over the edge.
Prices are pretty cheap in Kiddyland, as long as you stick to the smaller things and don’t buy that car sized Mamegoma or Hello Kitty TV. I went pretty mad on both visits and still only spent about £30 altogether. If you have even a fleeting interest in kawaii then GO GO GO. Seriously, it’s one of the most fun things you can do for free in Tokyo (if you hide your purse from yourself).
Topics: Tokyo Shopping Guide | 7 Comments »
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Tokyo Shopping Guide: Loft
By Marceline | January 15, 2008
Loft was probably my favourite new discovery this visit as it incorporates lots of my favourite things – stationery, homewares, crazy cute stuff and bento. You can tell it was good as we visited three times in ten days! I’d seen Loft recommended for its stationery section, and particularly for deco tapes, but there really is a whole lot more to it than that. Pitched as a shop for young homeowners and hobbyists to pick up some accessories, it mixes lots of cute fun items with more general practical office supplies and kitchenware.
The Shibuya branch was about 5 minutes walk from our hotel and the first stop on our itinerary. We had quite a lot planned for that morning but ended up spending way more time in Loft than we expected. The first floor we entered was the stationery floor and we almost fainted at the racks and racks of cute diaries and schedule books adorned with every character imaginable. There were also several million sticker sets which we went a little crazy over but who doesn’t love cute stickers? Really, there was all the stationery we could want – writing paper, notebooks, stampers, pens, clips and even cute book covers. The one thing they didn’t have, despite us scouring the shelves, was deco tapes! Maybe they have fallen out of fashion.
Upstairs we found the kitchenware floor which had so much cute bento stuff I nearly cried. From cute plastic character sets to sophisticated adult sets, there really was something for everyone. Most interesting though were the aisles of packing and prep accessories – I got a furikake shaker in the shape of a bunny, some adorable plastic dividers and onigiri wrappers to make your rice balls look like bears and footballs. Too cute! There was also a kind of gifts and wrapping floor with gift bags, elaborate wrapping packs and cards for every possible occasion. Since it was nearly Halloween, there were loads of cute Halloween sacks and a whole range of desk and wall calendars for the new year.
The other floors had things like home furnishings, travel goods and a toys floor with things like jigsaws, fancy dress and phone charms. Despite visiting three times and spending at least an hour in Loft, I actually only spent about £30 altogether. It really is very cheap if you’re not after anything too big! There are branches of Loft all over Tokyo so definitely worth looking out for.
Topics: Tokyo Shopping Guide | 3 Comments »
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Tokyo Shopping Guide: Akihabara
By Marceline | January 3, 2008
As long time Nintendo fans, we were literally aching to go to Akihabara, Tokyo’s electronics/gaming/anime/geek area. Our guide books were utterly useless for this part of our trip only ever mentioning Akihabara for its discount cameras etc. so instead we brought with us some pages torn from an old issue of NGamer magazine which pointed out some of the places worth visiting and off we set.
Akihabara is MENTAL. Even at 2pm on a weekday it was busy busy and full of noise and flashing lights. When it started to get dark and all the neon was turned on it was like being in a movie. Definitely worth a visit just for the atmosphere. The area is a bit of a maze but quite small so you’ll have a hard job getting lost if you wander round the side streets. And that’s the best way really. Also, make sure you bring lots of ¥100 coins for the gashapon – there are hundreds of them around Akihabara.
Anyway, these were my highlights:
Kotobukiya
our first stop as it is right beside the station exit. The front of the store dragged us in with huge San-X plushies and lots and lots of cute kawaii bits and pieces. There were also cool Nintendo toys and down some stairs at the back they have shelves and shelves of boxed collectibles and, even better, trays of opened ones so you can get the ones you want without buying 20 random boxes! I was delighted to pick up the crazy panda set I was after and a hilarious miniature crocodile bento box set. Each set only costs about £1 or £2 each but they are so addictive! Out the back they have rows and rows of gashapon machines and our special ¥100 coin purses started to empty.
Super Potato
Pretty much heaven for retro gaming fans. It has about 5 floors, each dedicated to a different console/manufacturer. The Nintendo floor is near the top and was crammed with secondhand games for the whole history of Nintendo as well as toys and other merchandise. I was very tempted by the huge squashy Mario & Luigi hats – they were hilarious. We managed to cope with just getting some awesome peg board toys with various Nintendo characters which were reasonably priced at about £5 each. The top floor is the most exciting though, full of arcade machines and vending machines and a great place to stop and rest your poor feet. There was even a huge original Game Boy and a chair made out of game carts. Amazing. It’s in a side street behind the main shopping street and all upstairs so look out for the potato character sign, and listen out for the Super Mario theme! Japanese website
Aso Bit
There are loads of branches in Akihabara selling everything from kawaii toys and computer games to Pullip/Blythe doll parts and huge Gundam models. Not to mention hundreds of gashapon. We got some great DS accessories, Zelda gashapon figures, more hilarious boxed toys and, yes, a pink cushion of Rilakkuma’s friend dressed as a fuzzy bunny.
Topics: Tokyo Shopping Guide | 3 Comments »
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Tokyo Shopping Guide: Daiso
By Marceline | December 6, 2007
The one shop we didn’t manage to find on our first visit to Japan was, inexplicably, a 100 Yen store. We were told these were everywhere but we didn’t spot any. Even doing my research for our next trip, everyone just said they were everywhere which wasn’t a lot of help.
Luckily my brain does retain lots of random information and when I spotted Daiso in Harajuku I remembered it being mentioned on bento sites as a 100 Yen shop. We eagerly entered and found it just okay – some sweets, cosmetics, cute tissue packs and a wall of quite cute appliques. And then we realised there were 3 more floors!
Once we’d explored fully we had baskets of great stuff and all for under £1! The homewares basement was probably the best floor, stacked full of bento accessories and silly but cute stuff. I got an elastic bento band for keeping boxes shut tightly, panda coasters and a hilarious crochet panda bowl as well as a monkey washglove for Claire. The top floor was also fantastic with aisles of cute stationery and packaging and some hilarious foodstuffs including a microwaveable Hello Kitty cake mix complete with a mould of her head! We also found another smaller branch in Sunshine City in Ikebukuro where I got the great fruit animals notebooks.
There are branches of Daiso all around Tokyo (and worldwide now too!) so keep an eye out for the logo – you can get lots of great gifts here and for practically nothing! Daiso has also just opened its first UK branch, as part of the new expanded JapanCentre in London. Looking forward to visiting that soon!
Topics: Tokyo Shopping Guide | 2 Comments »
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Paper Shopping Guide
By Marceline | December 6, 2007
Paula sent me a link to her great guide to paper shops in Tokyo at Paula’s OriHouse. It’s mostly related to origami paper but her notes will let you know if they also sell washi. She’s provided directions and maps and a few photos of the shops so you should be able to find your way there pretty easily. The information is in both English and Dutch. If you’re an origami fan, this should be very helpful.
Topics: Tokyo Shopping Guide | 2 Comments »
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