Are Japanese people really polite?

Please note that this article is not based on any particular research, but based only on my personal perspective. I had always been vaguely thinking about this, because Japanese people can be very nasty and I have confronted those Japanese people who are considerably rude. When I was surfing on wordpress articles the other day, I…

Japanese Hakone Yosegi Himitsubako puzzle boxes or Karakuri boxes, Secret box, Trick box for purchasing in Tokyo

Updated on 11th April 2024   We are Tax Free Shop! The prices are all excluding 10% tax. With your passport, you can enjoy shopping without the tax (when the total of your purchase exceeds 5,000yen). Otherwise 10% tax will be added to the prices. Shipping to outside of Japan will all be tax free…

Dragonfly silver brooch by Mr. Shigetora Takahashi

Mr. Shigetora Takahashi （高橋茂虎）from Tokyo has developped  his silver making skills by self taught effort and he had been specializing in making unusual insects motif accessories  like a dung beetle and spiders etc. He has still been accumulating the knowledge of making silver accessories and has still been developing his skills of making the, but…

Beautiful little porcelain containers by Mr. Shinya Taniguchi

Mr. Shinya Taniguchi is my favorite potter, who is based in Kyoto. His creations are very simple and it is hard to differenciate them from those mass produced products, because they have perfectly been made by his intricated technic. This container is simple with blue lines on the lid. He does not use any mould…

Inlaid porcelain sobachoko cup by Shinya Taniguchi

Soba choko is a porcelain small cup to hold soba dipping sauce and it is generally used when you eat Zaru soba, which is chilled soba noodles served normally on a zaru (a strainer). Soba choko cup can also be used as a serving bowl and also for drinking sake etc, so many people collect…

Kimono obi bags, pouchi, pencil cases etc

Obi (帯）is a sash, which is a part of kimono outfits (traditional Japanese dress) and it is important decorative part for women’s kimono (men’s tend to be simple and narrower design). They come in numerous number of different designs and many of them have seasonal designs decorated on them, like cherry blossoms in Spring, gold fish…

Blue silhouette vases by Mr. Nobuaki Honda

I introduced blue silhouette series sake cups and pitchers previously (here is the article) and these  vases are created by the same craftsman, Mr. Nobuaki Honda. The deep blue color is reminiscent of blue ocean of Okinawa, where is surrounded by beautiful beach. These can, of course, be used as vases, but they are attractive…

Clear glass cup and Angel wing shaped chopsticks rest by Ms. Motoko Yagi

TT The glass cup and the angel wing chopsticks rest are made by a young and talented hand blown glass artist named Ms. Motoko Yagi in Japan and she has been known for creating beautiful Suigetsu series glassware https://mabysoshite.wordpress.com/2015/06/24/%e6%b0%b4%e6%9c%88-suigetsu-series/ . The clear glass cup is blown without touching it excessivly, while it had been produced, so it appears…

Simple glass vase with a bamboo handle

As you may have experienced, Summer in Tokyo is very humid and hot, so we have traditionally been trying to feel cooler by doing various things. These can be like eating cold ramen and shaved ice, like listning to sounds which sound like and are associated with cold things, and also like looking at those…

Blue silhouette sake cups and decanter by Mr. Nobuaki Honda (本田伸明）

These decanta like containers are called Katakuchi (片口）, which literally  means one side lip. Katakuchi can be bowls and dressing containers etc, but these particular shaped containers are generally used for serving Sake. Mr. Nobuaki Honda was born in Oosaka in Japan and he later moved to Okinawa island to pursue his career as a potter….