Lovely Letterpress

Decided to beat the public holiday crowds and head out of Tokyo to Chofu today to check out  Tegamisha's handcraft market and came away with some lovely letterpress goodies and a sweet bird shaped candle wrapped in ornate paper and string. There were so many nice designs I could have gone mad buying paper bags, stationary sets and notepads and had to restrain myself from buying some illustrated underpant notelets by Japanese Illustrator Keiko Shibata but kind of wish I hadn't now. 

Furoshiki design collaboration

Loving the Hennie Haworth Furoshiki cloth designs recently created with Tokyo and LA based design collective Link. They're a fresh, contemporary take on the traditional cloth designs normally made for furoshiki, the ancient Japanese art of fabric folding. Beautiful designs yet functional and a great eco-friendly alternative to the millions of plastic bags which seem to be handed out automatically for even the smallest of items in Japan. Visit 'Craft' for an easy step-by-step guide to the furoshiki wrapping technique. I will be popping down to the iichi Gallery Market in ecute Shinagawa which runs from the 26th September to the 10th October to buy mine. If you're not in Tokyo or can't wait until then, you can order it from UGUisu a gorgeous online shop full of Japanese goodies.

Mogu Takahashi Exhibition at Cafe Drole

Popped down to the Mogu Takahashi exhibition 'Kawaii Ugly San' at Cafe Drole in Nakameguro yesterday which was full of doodle-style wall displays and random colourful objects dotted around the cafe. I really like Mogu's work for its playfulness and free-flowing style. She also makes really cute postcards, notecards and clay tags - Kawaii desu! Mogu is off to Europe next but Drole Cafe is still worth a visit for its quirky décor and oishii cakes. Definitely in the run for being one of my favourite cafes in Tokyo. There's also a second Cafe Drole in Daikayama which I discovered when I got lost on my bike on the way to the exhibition - seem to find a lot of things by getting lost in Tokyo!

Cover Jam and Kate Coffee in Shimokitazawa

Spent the afternoon with Sam-san at Kate Coffee in Shimokitazawa, a really cute place upstairs full of retro mix and match sofas and chairs. They also create their own zines, leaflets and postcards with lots of hand drawn doodles and sell lovely handmade bags and pouches by Kick. Their curry lunch plates and cakes are delicious too! Next stop was round the corner at Jam Cover which has to now be my ichiban shop in Shimokitazawa. It's amazing but beware you could loose hours in here there is so much to look at! It's a hoarders paradise. They have lots of plastic retro jewellery, broaches and hair clips but also create their own fabrics, letter sets and stickers. Pretty much anything stationary you could think of they have - even number stencil sets and label templates to make your own tags. A lot of their designs look Scandinavian but there are also a lot of Parisian trinkets. I love their Russian doll note books and vintage necklaces draped over old books.