Friday, July 25, 2008

Tomato, Tokyo


One of the most talked about fabric stores in Tokyo would have to be Tomato located in the Textile town of Nippori. If you have a couple of days in Tokyo I would definitely make this your first stop. The ground floor is stacked to the rafters with what looked like clearance fabric, priced Y100-300 a metre. There were a lot of prints that have long disappeared from the online stores. The motto here is....if you like it buy it! Chances are you won't see the print again or it will be double the price. The other thing is to come with plenty of time to spare. Most fabrics are on rolls and stacked 5-6 rolls high on the shelf. It's difficult to see straight off what there is, you have to search. Take your time, I often missed a real gem that was later pointed out to me by my sister who was trailing behind. On the upper levels you will find higher priced quilting and fashion fabrics also worth a look. The U.S. quilting fabric on the top level averaged Y880 a metre.

The sister store next door stocks buttons, trims, felt, notions, stamps and knitting needles. Worth a browse..I found a few things here. Which I noticed were cheaper than when I saw them elsewhere.

Directions

Take the Yamanote line from Shinjuku. It will take you about 20mins and the fare is Y190 one-way. Once you are out of the barriers turn right and head down the stairs. Just follow the signs to textile town.

Tips
Minimum cut 1 metre
Closed on Sunday
Cash only
edit - I just came across this post by Tokyo mummy which has some great photos taken inside of Tomato and some shopfronts of other Stores in Nippori. Now you can see what I mean about all those rolls!!

5 comments:

paula said...

more, more please! i'm off to tokyo in 3 weeks and am lusting for this kind of info. the lovely pip from meet me at mikes referred me to your blog (how good is she!). really hoping that you have a ream of similar info to post before i go!

Nanette said...

Excellent work, Ladeez! Like Paula, I'm off to Tokyo soon and will be glued to the screen for your next post..And Belinda it was so wonderfully generous of you to chat with me on the phone the other night. Truly lovely to hear your voice!
xx

Michelle said...

Thank you for this blog - I'm hoping to head over to Jpan in October of November, and I've been trying to glean all the crafty info from my friends who've already been.

Anonymous said...

Hi! I was in Tokyo in March this year and I have written down very clear travel directions to some of the must-go craft meccas in Tokyo. Check out my post at http://hominginstinct2007.blogspot.com/2008/03/essential-tokyo-shopping-guide-for.html

Anonymous said...

I am a japanese fabric addict - old and new . Thanks for such informative site and have loved your visuals.