The Tokyo Craft Guide eBook

Living in Japan, and being in the Greater Tokyo Area, I often get emails asking for tips and recommendations on fabric and craft shopping in Tokyo. I love being able to share my experiences and recommendations, but having lived in Japan for a combined 13 years, Frances Arikawa and Angela Salisbury have much more experience at craft shopping in Tokyo than I do! They have combined forces to create the Tokyo Craft Guide blog – full of fabulous tips and destinations. Plus, they have just released their Tokyo Craft Guide e-book to help you get around Tokyo like a pro! Covering the five neighbourhoods full of quaint craft stores, cafes, parks and more, this really is the dream tour guide book for the crafting tourist! They are all based on Shibuya being your central point – about 30 minutes from Tokyo Station – so take that into consideration when planning your trip.

They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but this is one book where you really can. Illustrated by Hanako Clulow, the images, maps and icons are just adorable and help set the craft-alicious tone this book is all about. Photographs of store fronts, displays and items are well-chosen and not only help you know what to look for when walking along the street, but they give you a good preview of what to expect inside the stores.

Navigating the book is a breeze on your iPad or computer, with clickable shop numbers on both the map and the shop pages to help you jump back and forth throughout the book. And on each shop page, click on the map icon to directly access the right area on Google Maps online! You can also print off the maps to carry around with you for your journeys. Which is exactly what I did…

I thought the only way to truly test out the book was to take it for a whirl! I decided to head to Futakotamagawa – it was relatively easy to get to for me (although it’s on the other side of Tokyo from me, it’s only 10-15 minutes from Shibuya), all very close to the train station, and had a couple of big shopping centres for the family to explore if they wanted to do their own thing.

I was not disappointed! Futakotamagawa is a beautiful little area! Set along twin rivers, you feel like you’re a little rural even though you’re in the middle of Tokyo, but with beautiful, modern shopping centres to explore. After some lunch, we headed to explore the little block of lanes and alleyways to find Box & Needle.

As the Guide says, it’s tucked into a little side street – we only found it by the bright and colourful sign out the front (for the record, it’s the second street away from the back of the Takashimaya shopping centre). Inside you find shelves and shelves of beautiful cardboard boxes in various shapes and sizes and covered in beautiful paper, and racks of modern, colour paper. Slip your shoes off and borrow some slippers and head upstairs to the outlet section to find scrap packs of paper and more gorgeous boxes!

I couldn’t help but pick up this little measuring tape box – you know how much of a sucker I am for a good sewing-notion-themed anything!

Heading into the first shopping centre, there were two more craft stores to explore, with a surprise Marimekko store spotted too! Lido is a funky little store with bold, retro fabrics, loads of ribbon and trim, buttons, patches, beads and other bits and pieces that fascinated my 3 year old son – “Boats! Apple! Deer! Trumpet!”

Hobbyra Hobbyre is a calm, sweet store full of beautiful Liberty bolts and precuts, sashiko and embroidery kits, and more. I couldn’t walk past this fat eighth of Hello Kitty Liberty – I will use it for my Totoro quilt as the patches of “cherry blossoms”! My sister-in-law loves Hello Kitty, so it will be fun to sneak her in the quilt.

Our final stop was Mano Creare – a good one-stop-shop for all craft lovers with a range of wool, fabric, paper, felt and more! You can spy the little shelf of Echino and the cutest train fabrics above them in the photo! Just next to this shelf is a little play table for little kiddies… More craft stores need a play area, seriously!

I can’t finish this post without first showing you the iced coffee I had at the station before heading back into Tokyo central… It tasted as amazing as it looks!

Futakotamagawa is as good and as family-friendly as the Guide suggested. My husband loved exploring the little laneways around Box & Needle, and has a crush on the Moroccan restaurant we spotted – it looks rather authentic! And the kids loved looking at all the trinkets in the stores, as well as the food stops along the way. Together with the craft and fabric stores in Shibuya, you could very easily get your day of crafty shopping done without having to traverse too far.

You can purchase the book via their website or through their Etsy store. For many other craft shopping tips and pointers, check out their blog!

I was provided with a free copy of the ebook for review purposes, but all thoughts, opinions, train tickets, purchases and coffees are my own and were only influenced by the adorable craft-ness this book led me to!