Japan Day Five - Fabric Town and Asakusa

We were back on the Shinkansen yesterday and off to Tokyo.  Even though the trips are a couple of hours each way from Nagoya I really love watching the Japanese scenery rush past; little towns, big cities, the sea, patchworks of rice fields flooded with water waiting for planting.  I alternate between gazing out the window and getting work done at 200km per hour and so the Tokyo Fabric Shopping Guide book is really coming along.

It was a grey rainy day yesterday but that didn't dampen (sorry!) our spirits.

Firstly we headed for Nippori Fabric Town, such a treasure trove.  Not only did I buy some pretty Japanese cottons, but also a couple more second hand kimonos, some super cute clothes for my little one and some leather working tools for The Man.  We certainly didn't make it into all 100 stores in the area, but then again, I don't think I could have carried any more purchases anyway!

Heaving left that heavy load in a locker, we hopped on another couple of trains and went to Asakusa.  The little tourist street looked so pretty with the light reflecting off the damp ground.

It was a great day for puddle-jumping frogs and those dressed like one.

Confessions of a Shopaholic in Tokyo

I've had a ball my first day in Tokyo. We arrived here around lunch time after a three hour train ride that just flew by.



Our first stop for the day was Nippori Textile Town. Mmmm.. lots and lots of yummy textiles. Of course, I bought way too much, but really, do you blame me?



On the main street of the textile area were many small Mom & Pop fabric shops and we browsed through these as we worked our way up to the famous Tomato fabric store. It had lots of gorgeous stuff, which of course I indulged in, but was so crowded that I maybe didn't buy as much as I could have. Mind you, I don't think I could have carried more than I have already bought.



Here's a few pictures of a small selection of what I bought today. I also bought lots of kawaii fabrics from another store, but they were all wrapped, so I'm going to save looking at them again until I get back home in a few days.

I just love the two fabrics on each end (the black and the red). I bought 5 meters of each as I'm thinking of making aprons or skirts with them.

I would have loved to have taken some photos inside the store, but it wasn't allowed. So for a moment, close your eyes and picture five floors of fabric... good isn't it.

After Textile Town, we headed for the famous Electronics Town, Akihabara. Actually, other than our capsule hotel, we only made it to one store, Yodobashi Camera. It's not just a camera store, but is nine floors and sells most electronics and conveniently has a floor of restaurants. The wood-fired pizzas there helped us regain energy for a few more hours of shopping before the place closed for the night. I splurged. I was very good with the camera equipment, but went a bit nuts with the computer USB toys. I bought three, yep three laptop coolers. One for my home laptop, one for my husband and one for my work computer. I also bought a USB fan, good for these upcoming summer months, a USB computer vacuum cleaner and a new USB hub to help plug them all in.

I don't quite know how I'm going to carry everything home and am very glad hubby will arrive tomorrow night. He's a great Sherpa.

And this, is my bed for tonight. I'm capsule number 803.

It's now time to lay my weary head and get ready for day of Shibuya department store shopping. Good night!