Japan Trip Part 4: The Loot
A big box arrived in the post from Japan last week - full of many of the kids’ book related treasures I acquired in Tokyo… Here are some of my favourites…
The Very Hungry Caterpillar containers and drink bottle. The containers stack into each other, and the big yellow one is the perfect size for me to take a sandwich to work in!
The Very Hungry Caterpillar stationery - also perfect for a serious career woman like me!
These Hungry Caterpillar souvenirs were found in a shop in ‘Tokyo Character Street’, which I literally stumbled across on my way to finding the post office as we were catching the train to leave Tokyo. Character Street is one part of the massive shopping real estate under Tokyo Station. It’s dedicated to anime, manga, games, and character goods, including Hello Kitty, Snoopy and Leggo shops. Clearly I got stuck in the Hungry Caterpillar section…
But I also found these Gaspard and Lisa tiles.
Moomin plastic sleeve and keychain (for your mobile phone) and gorgeous letter sets from Ito-ya. (Fabulous NINE-storey stationery store in Ginza; I was in heaven…)
I’m prepared to let Rowan use this one… a Maisy cup, bought from a random homewares store.
And my final kids’ book related purchase was red a ‘Gummi Girl’ by Yoshitomo Nara, cult Japanese pop artist and author of picture book, The Lonesome Puppy. Gummi Girl is made of moulded plastic, and she came with gummi-girl shaped jubes. She was available in an array of colours (blue, green, etc) but the red is definitely my colour. I bought her at a beautiful shop called Sweets and Objects located in the very, very exclusive Omotesando Hills centre in Harajuku. There is something very mysterious about the expression on this Gummi Girl’s face and she currently keeps me company on my kitchen window sill as I do the dishes.
And I also had a bit of a splurge on craft purchases (linen fabric, tape, pattern books). I was very restrained though…
Very hungry caterpillar merchandise… so jealous Katie. I would LOVE some tupperware with him/her on it! Wow. A truly wonderful find, who would have thunk it!
29 Jul 2008 at 11.46 pm
WOW! Such fantastic goodies!
I’ve tagged you guys if you feel like playing?!
30 Jul 2008 at 12.25 pm
on my god… i can’t believe you are not sharing!
31 Jul 2008 at 12.00 pm
oh my god… i can’t believe you are not sharing!
31 Jul 2008 at 12.01 pm
Is it really expensive to shop in Japan? It’s somewhere Geoff and I have wanted to go for so long and are debating a trip with the girls. He’s already been (without me!), but I worry it would be cost prohibitive, especially with all the irresistible shopping.
07 Aug 2008 at 8.52 pm
Hi Victoria!
I was pleasantly surprised by how affordable Japan was. The food in particular was very good value. We ate a lot more cheaply than we would for the equivalent in Australia, and it was always of a very good quality. Accommodation was about the same price as it would be in Australia for the equivalent standard. Shopping was generally cheaper than I expected, although clothes seemed expensive. But yes, resistance is difficult! I think at the moment the Aussie dollar is faring well against the Yen, although we met US tourists who weren’t so happy… It was our first visit and I can’t rave on enough about Japan - I think it’s an excellent place to travel, especially with kids.
Thanks for your comment!
07 Aug 2008 at 9.46 pm