Tokyo post 13 April

 I ditched the pre-planned itinerary today and had a leisurely morning so I feel a lot better now. I started with a journey across the bay to visit Small Worlds, the much-hyped Tokyo miniatures museum. 

I enjoyed parts of it but overall I wouldn't say it was amazing. There was a heavy focus on technology and transport like airports and space ports which I'm not so interested in.

Launching space rocket which was kind of cool

big room recreating Kansai airport - literally just a room full of runways and planes driving around slowly, the Japanese visitors seemed fascinated

The best room for me was the Global Village, a sort of fantasy take on various world architectures. Unfortunately this was also the most dimly lit room, making it really difficult to see a lot of the incredible detail. They are very into whimsical touches, and every nook and cranny has something twee or unusual going on, like octopus dancing under bridges, or sea monsters surfacing in the bay. The global village had a wizard's village and a steampunk town and a sort of Bladerunner asian city.  There are buttons to push everywhere but many of them only add a sound (hard to hear over the blaring muzak in every room) or initiate some miniscule movement somewhere in the vast modelscape (like the octopus waving two of its legs) which could be quite hard to spot. Some didn't work at all, there seemed to be some derailed trains. Others were more satisfying and turned a ferris wheel or lifted the roof of a house.

Towards the end there were some classic miniature room boxes such as this bakery.

All the exhibits are mainly one large floor, although there are also a few in the cafe area (where I had a surprisingly-for-Japan truly mediocre meal).

Then it was back on the train to head over to Cohana, the luxury sewing accessory store that keeps running full page ads in my quilting magazines. This is not a cheap place, but everything is exquisitely made and so tiny and cute. I succumbed first to a Sakura (cherry blossom) special edition pair of tiny scissors, and matching pins, and it was a downhill slope from there to include two pincushions and a wee little wax canvas work tote to put them in. My luxury treat from Japan. (I'm sorry about how awful my loot pics are, the lighting in my hotel room makes it virtually impossible to avoid shadows and/or glare)

I walked the short distance to Ozu Washi, a 360 year old traditional washi paper store. It's huge, over three floors. On the ground floor are displayed goods from paper (I picked up a couple of lovely wallhanging scrolls but they're packed in a tube so I haven't unwrapped them) and all kinds of paper sheets, some displayed like fabric (I asked and they let me take a pic from a distance). On the next two floors are galleries of paper art, museum artefacts from their history of papermaking, and a film in English about how paper is made. You can also pay to try papermaking yourself, I watched a few other tourists having a go. Really interesting.

I haven't really been doing the 'tourist trail' but from here I wandered into Asakusa which is tourist central. I don't really enjoy seeing streets thronged with tourists and all the accompanying hot dog stands and fast food etc., but down a side street I did stumble across a quiet shop selling better quality goods, particularly furoshiki, the Japanese wrapping cloths that I bought some of on previous visits.  She had some lovely things and also books in English on ways to use them.

I also saw this poor guy, a giant spider crab, which I instinctively find repellant but at the same time I felt sorry for him, destined to be someone's dinner.

Tokyo post 12 April

 I'm getting tired now - it's been 23 or 24 degrees for a few days, and the constant exertion of trying to exist in a land where I can't read the signs and can only understand a little of what is said, is very wearying.  I think I need a holiday from my holiday! It's still great to be here though.

Monday was a sumo day, walking around the area where a lot of the sumo stables are located, and the Tokyo arena, and buying sumo souvenirs.  Tuesday I went to Nezu Shrine where there is a beautiful hillside covered in flowering azaleas, really amazing.

In the afternoon I went to Nippori fabric town, and tried to walk straight to Tomato fabrics without looking right or left. But I did get sucked into a few of the many haberdasheries and fabric shops. These are some leather zip pulls and leather sew-on flowers, and some woven ribbons. Then I went straight to the Tomato store on the left hand side of the road and resolutely did not cross to the other branch opposite nor any of the enticing stores over there. I was very conscious that I didn't have DH and his muscles for carrying the purchases, and fabric is heavy. Not to mention that I am beginning to worry about getting me and all my loot to college on the train.

At Tomato I was looking for bag fabrics.  There is a heavyweight cotton here, almost like a light canvas, which is great for bagmaking and comes in many lovely prints.  I got a mixture of half yards for pouches and 1.5 yards for bagmaking.

cats in a sushi bar!

Today after watching some sumo practice, I headed over to Noe cafe. It was a bit of a trek, two trains and a walk, but turned out to be so worth it.

The owner, whose name I don't know, is a big-time collector and visits all the big shows such as London, Paris and America and must spend a fortune.  She also seems to have subscribed to every Betterley series ever released and builds all the kits herself superbly, as well as kits by many other artists. The upstairs of the cafe is her exhbition room which is just crammed to the gills with the most amazing mixture of scales and themes, all mixed in with antiques and laces and dolls and needlework tools etc etc. You hardly know where to look. Everything is exquisite and in the best taste. She is an artist by training and has arranged everything so beautifully.  I took so many photos but can only show you a few.

loved this half-scale box with the ribbon - she had another one in a different theme

she made the houses on the right and left, and taught them as classes I think

Then I went to Ikebukuro to visit some of the geek shops in Sunshine City, and on the way back stopped into the branch of Yuzawaya in the Tobu department store where I picked up a Clover magnetic needleminder, a threadcutting ring (which I hope will expand to fit my big fingers), two little bag handles and some 'cat sushi' fabric that I will make a gift from.

I've done so much as I am out and about every day, but it seems pointless and boring to give you a big list of where I've been. One of the more amazing things was a sound and light show of cherry blossom around a big area in Shinjuku Gyoen park. They had lit up a lot of the trees, and also were using laser effects on some of them which made it look like petals were falling then rowing back. Everyone was given a lit lantern to take on their walk through the dark park on paths outlined with lamps, really quite magical.

Tokyo post - 9 April

 Happy Easter - I'd forgotten all about it until I got a few emails from home. It's just a normal Sunday here of course. And the sun was out but not too hot, so a nice day for walking around.

Yesterday was a lot more blustery with a bit of rain. I headed over to the Japan Open-Air Folk House Museum which is one of those places where they have relocated a lot of traditional buildings and bunched them together as an open air museum.  Quite interesting to walk around although the houses are pretty empty for the most part.  Volunteers lit an open fire in one which immediately filled the house with smoke (no chimney) which was very evocative - but reading the English descriptions of what life like, it sounds like it was pretty harsh for most people back in the day - especially women.  They do indigo dyeing workshops at the museum and I was able to buy this lovely dyed cloth with traditional motifs.  I think it is a 'tenugi' which is a multipurpose cloth that can be used for everything from a head scarf to wrapping presents. The fabric is like a coarse cotton - I might make a bag or pouch out of it.

Then I headed to Shinjuku to visit a few craft shops.  First of all, Odakaya, a multi-floored labyinthine sewing and craft store which has expanded into a nearby building since I last visited.  It is quite fun just to poke around all the different departments, everything from hatmaking to macrame to dressmaking to cosplay, jewellery making etc etc. I bought a few things here and there, like a little quilting ruler marked in centimetres, some little metal samurai helmets and demon masks for my Japanese dollshouse, some more little bag zips and so on. I also found a sashiko printed cloth for a sumo wrestler so I had to get that, along with some sashiko threads and needles. I've never done Sashiko before because I didn't think I could master the geometric perfection that is normally required, but they had a sample made up and this one looked a lot simpler.

I got some rustic bag handles as well, for making Japanese style bags from the books I already own at home.

They've moved their fabric department into the new space next door.  I didn't see anything I couldn't live without, especially once I saw the queues for getting yardage cut. Japanese people love to queue even more than the Brits I think.  But I did see these strange panels printed with large food items to make up lifesize baked goods and cakes (pictured) and there were also sushi and raw meat panels which was a bit bizarre. I guess they are for children to play shopkeeping with.

While walking around Shinjuku, I saw this display of plain canvas totebags but in all different shapes including a few we don't see in the UK like the styish drawstring version.

I headed over to the large branch ot Tokyu Hands in Shinjuku, which bills itself as the home of creative living.  Tokyu Hands is a bit like IKEA without furniture only more upmarket, floor after floor of attractive little bits and pieces including stationery, toys, home decor, all kinds of craft items, Muji-type items and so on.  Quite fun to wander around in.  I was quite tempted by their display of Chinese dollshouse roombox kits, especially this tea room. But it would be too big and heavy to pack and I expect I could order it in the UK.

I enjoyed looking around but didn't really buy much apart from some cherry blossom stickers and a zipper pouch for my knapsack.

Today I headed over to a neighbourhood called Monzen-Nakacho and  wandered around a big outdoor flea market/antiques fair in the grounds of the Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine. Very interesting, although a bit strange to see all the stalls set up amongst the gravestones and sub-shrines in the grounds.  I had a good rummage in some secondhand kimono stalls but couldn't find any cotton yukata, everything was polyester or silk.  I did get some little remnants of synthetic and cotton kimono fabric which were only about .64p each.

I also found this adorable little mini Japanese cast iron kettle.  Apparently it wasn't actually used for tea or sake, I couldn't understand the vendor's full explanation but judging from the miming, it was used for something to do with brush painted calligraphy. Maybe for adding warm water to mixing inks?

After that I headed over to another even bigger temple, the Narita-San Fukagawa Fudo-Do Temple where I followed the tour route around the inside.  I bought two luck charms, one has a miniature version of the classic Japanese school child's leather knapsack which I will put into my dollshouse.

I also enjoyed visiting the nearby Fukagawa Edo Museum, which is a life-size recreation of an Edo-period town that you can walk around, quite neat.  They had a dollshouse-sized room box replica of a early 20thC shop.

And in the exhibition area, this beautiful sampler of classic Japanese joinery typically used for sliding screens or for room divider panels.

You won't be surprised to hear that I popped into Daiso (equivalent to a £1 shop) and bought another small folding bag because I am beginning to doubt that all of this stuff is going to fit into the folding bag I brought with me.

My big adventure today was to visit a public baths not too far from my hotel.  Bit nervewracking but they are used to foreigners (no English spoken but some English signs). Womens baths were a variety of temperatures, some too hot for me at 42C, others more like a jacuzzi, but it was really nice to just relax after all the sightseeing.  Nobody looked funny at me even though I was the only westerner in there at the time. I don't want to get my blog flagged for language so I will just say that everyone was equal and happy in their natural state, quite liberating in a way. I might go again if I have some more free time.

Tokyo post - 7 April 2023

 I think I am going to blog as and when, rather than stick to a weekly schedule. Because a weekly post would end up way too long plus I would forget all the details by the end of the week. I am mainly going to concentrate on crafty doings as usual, I don't want to bore you too much with travelogue.

Before I left, I got the borders on to my Australian BOM quilt. I'm not entirely happy with it. I think overall, the quilt looks a bit wishy-washy. The borders look like an afterthought to make the quilt bed size (when the embroidered blocks are so embellished that I don't really feel it's suitable as a bed quilt anyway). The scallops are so large that I think they look a bit clumsy, plus mine have odd gaps between them because I had to space them out because I made the top a bit larger. I am not ruling out removing the final border and having a re-think. Any suggestions gratefully received. 

On Wednesday, after DH dropped me at the station, I got myself to Heathrow ok on the trains without throwing my back out. The British Airways flight was fine, just long and tedious at 14 hours. I started a new vanilla sock to knit while watching the inflight entertainment, read my Kindle and even managed to doze fitfully during the night.  Arrival was fine, got through all the formalities and made it into the city to my hotel where I will be staying for a week and a half. It's been quite warm at around 20 degrees, and a bit muggy which I don't like, also blustery and rainy.

I headed out today to catch the very tail end of the cherry blossom season - most of the early blooming variety has fallen now, only a few later varieties still standing. It must have been stunning a few weeks ago. After I leave Tokyo, I will be heading north so hopefully will catch more blossom there where it blooms a few weeks later.

There are a lot of boutique shops in this area (Nakameguro) and I spotted some kimono in a window, incongruously made out of denim.

Then I made my way over to Jiyugaoka to visit the Aphyu Tatting Lace shop. Jiyugaoka is just a normal neighbourhood, I didn't see a single other tourist out there because why would they.  Lots of interesting shops and eateries but there is no big tourist attraction nearby as far as I know, and it's a bit of a way from the city centre.  I enjoyed walking around because it wasn't touristy and wasn't crowded. The shop was a good size, and included tables where the owner gives classes. 

I was able to chat to her in my rudimentary Japanese, she was surprised to hear that tatting isn't so popular in the UK now, because the Japanese perception is that there is lots of tatting in the UK because it's tradition. She showed off some handpainted shuttles ordered in specially from Roseground in the UK.  She said it isn't so popular in Japan although recently some younger people are taking it up to make themself jewellery such as earrings, necklaces, bracelets etc.  She sells several patterns and kits for those, and had some elaborate works on display such as a 'cake party' with all the patisseries made from tatting, clothing embellishments, bags etc. I just think it's cool that there is a whole shop dedicated to tatting. I don't think I know of any bricks and mortar shops in the UK for tatting or bobbin lace exclusively. I guess Tokyo is so big that they have a sufficient customer base.

I haven't tatted much at all for years and have basically forgotten most of what I learned.  But I bought two of her cute kits to make covered drawstring bags: one quite basic which is just rings connected by thread, and another a bit more complex although she said it is still considered easy. Although the instructions are probably in Japanese, the diagrams will be comprehensible as there are some standard graphics used for tatting charts. The owner was very friendly but doesn't really speak any English, so I was glad I could communicate somewhat. I couldn't have done it on my previous visits to Japan.

After a stop into BookOff to look at their craft books, it was back on the train to head to Hirama station where I took a short walk through another normal neighbourhood, along the tracks to Crib Quilt shop. 

This shop is owned by the well known Japanese designer Masako Wakayama, who welcomed me at the door. I able to point right away to her book that I had bought in a bookshop on my last trip, and thank her for the table quilt and cushion I made from it, using some of her fabric panels that I found in the UK.  She was relieved I could speak some Japanese as she doesn't have much English, but her daughter (also there but working in the back) is fluent in English.  They travel widely from the sound of it: they've been to Ally Pally in the UK and last month were in Paris (probably at the L'Aiguille en Fete that I was meant to be at, if it weren't for the strikes!). She designs the 'American Country' line of fabrics, with a new iteration every year.  She showed me the American Country 22 panels which were so cute.  I bought three different ones and a couple of packs of coordinating fat eighths. The panels include wall quilts, as well as smaller items and small cushions. I suppose it's a bit paradoxical to be buying Japanese designed fabric inspired by American country themes, but there you go. I like her colour palette.

She also had fabric on the bolt, some tables for workshops, and various made up samples including a little tiny micro purse on a chain which I couldn't resist buying a kit for. I guess it's a necklace or a bag charm, it's too small to even put a coin in I think.

Yesterday I checked out a small branch of sewing and craft store Yuzawaya, conveniently located in a department store not far from my hotel.  I got a couple of the little metal zips that tend to show up in Japanese bag patterns, and a little resin kit to make tiny plates of patisserie which I think will be ok for dollshouse scale. I also got a Japanese quilting thimble by Clover, it's like a thick leather ring which you wear on your ring finger so that you can push through the needle that you are holding between your thumb and index finger. I looked at the fabric but didn't see anything I loved. I am thinking I might go back to Nippori fabric town, even though fabric is so heavy.

Speaking of dollshouse stuff, Crib quilts had a couple of miniature rooms that the owner's friend had made for her.

If you are wondering how I am getting around, I pre-purchased a Japanese SIM card for my phone so I can use Google Maps, which seems to be working really well.  Last time we had a pocket wifi which was an extra thing to carry. I got one of those as well but won't need to carry it around since the SIM seems to be working great. I can even use my phone on the trains and Underground, they must have repeater stations set up underground and on board. Using the Tokyo train system is pretty much like using the London Underground and trains, just more complex and busier. And a lot more rules about behaviour (no eating, no talking on the phone, no talking loudly etc - it's great). I've bought a SUICA card which is like an Oyster card, so I can just tap in and out at the ticket barriers. I got a bit confused a few times but most of the signs include English so with a bit of casting about, you can find the train line that you are looking for. Most people are still wearing masks in the station and on the trains, despite the government recently relaxing the guidelines, so I wear one too to fit in. But it makes me feel even hotter when I am already too warm in this weather, so I always whip it off as soon as I am out of the station.

It's almost weird to actually be here, after all the months of planning. But I am quite pleased about being able to actually talk to people a little, it makes such a huge difference in shops. I am still virtually illiterate since I know so few kanji -I have spent a lot of today  slowly sounding out signs written in hiragana and katakana, and chose to eat in a restaurant at lunch with a picture menu that I could point at. So far I have managed to avoid poisoning myself with gluten, I even visited a gluten free bakery after reading about it on Facebook and treated myself to a few things near the tatting shop.

So, first post from Japan and more to come.

Almost time

 It's Sunday and I am flying on Wednesday to Japan. I have initiated my anti-jetlag measures by going to bed an hour early last night and getting up an hour early this morning. I will continue to bring both forward an hour until I go,and adjusting my mealtimes accordingly.  Basically it's an early start on the  'feeling like sh*t' period of jetlag so that you suffer partly at home then the destination period of suffering is shortened.  I tried it last time we went and it worked fairly well, I adjusted within a few days of arriving compared to the week of disrupted nights and exhausted days the first time we went. The time difference is 8 hours.

I've also been doing longer walks of around 3.5 miles every few days to train up for sightseeing, although the almost daily rainfall has made it a somewhat damp experience. Good old British spring weather.  One of my walks comes back along a park through a stream valley, where there are some nesting swans which are nice to see.

I finished the second CrossStitcher SAL house so I'm stopping there for now, I won't start the next one until I get back.

So instead I have returned to my long-neglected Little House ABC Sampler where I am starting the final row.

I pinned on all the scallops onto the border strips of the Australian BOM but had to do some last minute bodging to widen their bases a little. The original quilt has a folded flange of blue fabric between the scallops and the quilt centre which I didn't like the look of in the photos, it  was tending to ripple and collapse due to the length. So instead I sewed my blue strip as a final border to the centre. That makes my top a little wider and longer than the scallops were designed for. Now I am appliqueing the scallops with a machine blanket stitch which is a slow process, I've done two strips so far. In case I don't get it done before I go, I have written Future Me a note on what my plan is for assembly.

I've been monitoring the weather in Japan for the locations I will be visiting, which has remained on a wide spectrum from 24C down to 6C.  I got out all the clothes I was thinking of taking , and spent some time trying them on and whittling them down to some final choices. Although it all feels like a guessing game. Normally for hot weather (in which I suffer), I wear sleeveless tops but those aren't very modest in Japan. Unlike many destinations, it's not so easy to buy extra clothes in Japan as their sizing is typically much smaller.  I did a trial pack - the big case that will be going straight to school is fine, but the smaller case that I will be travelling with is overflowing so I need to make some more decisions.  I've also had an email from my airline warning of industrial action at Heathrow airport the day I am flying. It will mainly be delays in Security I think, but I am trying to pack for the eventuality that my suitcases may not arrive at the same time as I do. Which means cramming more into my on-plane item.  I have to get all of this to Heathrow by myself on the trains so it can't get too out of hand. Coming back there will be space for purchases since I will have given away the gifts, eaten the GF food  and I may leave some stuff behind.

The rest of the week has been pre-emptive preparations such as staking garden plants that haven't appeared yet, lining up the houseplants and writing watering instructions for DH, moving money into the credit card bill paying account, doing laundry etc etc.  Yesterday we started putting stuff back into the caravan because it will be going for its service while I am away so it needed things llke its battery and water pump. Lots to think about.  I will never be one of those people who impulsively rock up to the airport with their passport and credit card.  Although I certainly see plenty of posts from some of those same people on the Facebook travel groups moaning about all the things that went wrong on their trip, were closed, had big queues, that ruined their trip and so on, basically because they hadn't prepared so weren't expecting it.

I stumbled across a new group on Facebook (yes, I do spend too much time looking at Facebook) for Interrailing for older people.  I had an Interrail pass for a few weeks in 1982 and rocketed around Europe in classic 'if this is Tuesday, it must be Belgium' fashion with my backpack.  Many of the countries I whizzed through, I have never been back to. It does sound somewhat tempting now that I have more time. That triggered a spate of Youtube research into Interrail and Eurail passes nowadays - they have changed a lot obviously. It's now an app rather than a paper pass, and you can get intermittent travel days within a time period rather than only having a continuous pass.  However, there seem to be a lot of cons as well and it doesn't necessarily save you very much money. The main pro seems to be the flexibility to change your mind and your itinerary.  Something to think about for the future. After my initial spate of travel in the first two years of retirement, I haven't any fixed plans for 2024 yet - although my bucket lists extends for several pages.  The travel equivalent of SABLE - stash acquisition beyond life expectancy  :)