Reflections on Japan: through the eyes of a quilter

I have said many good things about Japan already, and of course encourage you to visit there.

A few parting thoughts from my trip there before I turn my eye back to the projects at hand (hand quilting the baby quilt!!), and the current creative irons I have in the fire here in the California bay area....

Japanese Candy: web link

Very close to the famous knife shop Aritsugu (in Nishiki Market, Kyoto), there is a candy shop that sells all sorts of amazing hard sugar candies.  They have the most delicate flavor on earth and are a real treat.  I am not sure what the name of the shop is since all their signs were in Japanese only.  

The flavor is ever so slightly cherry and maybe vanilla too.  Anyhow, if you figure out how to get more of these over the mail, I'd love some.  It's probably likely I'll have to go back and find more on my next trip.  Their sticks are so tiny!  It feels almost civilized to eat one in public as an adult.

Yuzawaya in Kichijoji:

I had been to Yuzawaya here about five years ago, and although the train station is the same, the physical location of the store has been changed.

I didn't realize that initially and I was wandering around inside of the shop wondering if I was it a different, smaller version of the store I had been to before.

I would say it is still worth a visit, but it is closer to the U.S. version of JoAnn's fabrics, vs. a shop dedicated to quilting.  

They had some very unique items though, so certainly worth a look around.

I liked the 'made for Japan only' Liberty of London fabrics with Hello Kitty motifs.  They were so adorable and happy, I got a couple of very small cuts of them.

I also liked the 'tie-dye' looking fabrics meant for Hawaiian quilting.  I have always wanted to play around with those, so I got enough to make two or three blocks.

The Red Thread blog has a great post on how to get to their new location.

Tokyo Tree:  I tried to get tickets in advance so that we could check it out, but it was sold out for many months.  This is on my list of places to visit next time.