Saturday, 31 December 2011

Tokyu Hands

Top of my list of shops to visit in Japan is Tokyu Hands. This appears to be my dream store with many floors of kawaii stationery, cute household objects and random craft goods. Tokyu Hands stores seem to be in relative abundance with multiple branches in Tokyo and Osaka with a few bonus stores scattered across the rest of Japan. Hopefully I'll have time to visit the brances in Tokyo - Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ikebukuro and Ginza, and Osaka - Umeda, Shinsaibashi and Sannomiya.

Having briefly browsed their extensive website I've already started to build quite a hefty wishlist including a panda stationery holder, cute panda mug, panda sticky notes, bear storage pot, apple puzzle and a spoon with a happy face...I'm just pondering whether it would be taking it too far to go all out and buy a panda costume!

The recent video for my favourite band Kaiser Chiefs was shot in Tokyo and featured the band visiting a branch of Tokyu Hands. I was super excited to find that the Kaisers are super fans of Tokyu Hands too! You can see the video here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=3QBdIKukKnE

Panda Stationery Holder
Panda Sticky Notes
Happy Spoon
Panda Costume

Hajimemashite ^_^

はじめまして。タラです。どぞよろしく。

Hello world ^_^ I'm Tara, or as my friends like to call me *sparkles*. I hope to use this blog to keep notes of my planning and research for my dream trip to Japan! I love all things kawaii and have recently discovered a love of JDorama so I expect these topics will also feature frequently.

I've always been fascinated by the beauty and traditions of the Far East, in particular Japan. I guess the culture seems so different to the traditions and history I have been exposed to in the UK, and the more I learn about Japan the more my interest grows. I started studying Japanese at evening class a couple of years ago and can just about greet people and order food and drinks. I can read hiragana too, but my understanding of katakana and kanji is awful. I'm going to try and brush up on my Japanese during 2012 and hope to join a new class later in the year.

It's my dream to visit Japan during Hanami, or flower viewing season, so I'm planning in making my trip around late March/early April 2013. For me, it's an added bonus that Japan is the home of all things cute and kawaii and appears to be shopping heaven! I cannot resist inanimate objects with cute faces so I know my bank account fears me visiting Japan. I've been busy saving for a couple of years, and it's now time for my research and planning to begin! Exciting!

I hope as this blogs grows that it will provide a useful resource for fellow Japan enthusiasts and can become a source of inspiration for others trips.

Well, that's all from me for now.

Tara x