come home. this japanese magazine is so lovely. lovely. now that i am back in japan for a month holiday i bought the latest copy. and fell in love with the magazine all over again. it's full of great home decorating inspiration. and good ideas for decorating your crafty nooks. there's quite a building furniture projects. some wooden ones. and some made out of pipes. very clever. i'm anxious for h-kun to give these a go.in this issue comes with a really nice notebook designed by orne de feuilles. there is also a couple of pages about nippori textile town in tokyo with a cute little map. and there is a section on how to remake a men:s white dress shirt. with a few great ideas.

if you are interested in seeing more photos or purchasing this magazine, please click here.

Just our thing

Jennifer over at Moving Hands has just posted about a book she picked up at her local library in Tokyo.



The book is a guide to all the crafty stores to be found around Tokyo. What a lovely idea. It looks like it's all in Japanese, which might not help most of us, but the pictures look enticing nonetheless.

Now I'd love a local library where Japanese craft books were available in abundance to borrow.

Japanese craft shopping in Bangkok

I was recently in Bangkok and stumbled across several stores selling Japanese goodies. I thought I would share my sources, if you find yourself in that neck of the woods.

Bangkok has two Kinokuniya book stores. But only the branch inside the Isetan department store sells Japanese craft books and Magazines. This has taken me two trips to find this out. So don't bother checking out the branch in the Siam paragon unless your after english titles. The prices are higher than the Yen jacket prices . But still quite reasonable and nothing beats flicking through these gorgeous books in person. 

Kinokuniya (Inside Isetan)

2nd floor, Central world plaza

Bangkok (nearest BTS - chidlom)

Another great shop is Loft. This japanese store can be found in many cities across the globe. Lots of cute stationary and kawaii items. You will also find Blythe dolls and holga cameras here. 

Loft

3rd floor, Siam Discovery Center

Bangkok (nearest BTS - Siam)

Muji

You will find a Muji concept store within the Zen department store. Beautiful clothes and homewares with a simple, natural aesthetic. 

Muji

Inside the Zen department store, Central world plaza 

Bangkok (closest BTS chidlom)

Only the linen in the image below is Japanese. But the cottons which are manufactured in Thailand are lovely too. You will find a good selection of fabrics at the Fabric house. I stumbled onto this store when exiting Kinokuniya. The prices are extremely reasonable and the quality is superb. Cottons 85baht a metre and linen ranges from 375-295baht a metre.

The fabric house

2nd floor, Central world plaza

Bangkok (nearest BTS chidlom)

i will be closing down my little shop of japanese goodness. next tuesday. because i am leaving japan. moving back to canada. with my japanese fella. i will miss country. and culture. immensely. if you are interested in a bit of japanese culture ... wander over to my blog: http://goodness.typepad.com . i have been posting about things i love and will miss from japan. from a to z.  

Kobe Shops

i was in kobe on the weekend. just for a few hours. but i made the most of it. i got out that book from the last post. and found some shops to visit. my favorites being a pair of sister shops. they are both small. full of charcter. and styled just perfectly. just what i like.

the first is called rollo stock. and is the kind of shop i would love to own. they have a good mix of imported (and some japanese) fabric, trim and buttons. oh, i am in love. everything is just perfect. it was hard to stop spending my money.

here is the tape section. mostly imported from europe. oh, i am in love with all of it.

the second shop is around the corner. and was opened after the first shop got too busy. this shop is called rollo. and this shop has mostly antique buttons and beads. my gosh.

h-kun and i had a wonderful time looking at all the little treasures. in this busy little shop. and i found a few to bring home. well, a few more than a few. i hope to get back there again someday.

if you ever get down to kobe. make sure you stop by these shops. you will not be disappointed. to get there take the JR train to the motomachi station. you can find a map of how to get there on their website.

http://www.tit-rollo.com/

come home magazines are one of the best things at the book shops over here in japan. they're full of so much inspiration. and the design is so natural. so simple. and so inviting. well, they put out a shop and cafe guide book for japan. and there are so many great finds in there. hidden gems.

the first half of the book is focused on tokyo. full of pictures. and maps. since most visitors to japan spend a bit of time in tokyo ... i scanned some of those pages and put them on flickr. see the flickr button to the right. everything is in japanese. but if you see something you like then just ask the hotel staff. or your friends over here. and they can point you in the right direction. i hope. there are also some shops in kyoto, kobe, fukuoka, and the tokai area. if you'd like your own copy of the book, just let me know. i can hook you up. quite easily.

and this is the come home magazine. that inspired the shop and cafe book.

these magazines are lovely. lovely. full of so many ideas for your home. for your clothing style. mixed with a bit of crafting. and cooking. i love them. and so do many others.

*** since some of you are interested in getting come home magazines. and others might be. here is my email address. alittlegoodness@gmail.com . if you email me then i will get back to you with prices and such. **