Japan Haul: Shimojima!

I know.. more haulin posts!  Crazy yah?  Well, if you usually visit my blog for craft stuff, this haul post might actually interest you...  I usually try to get to a craft store where ever I travel to.  Last time I went to Tokyu Hands and got some Washi from a store in Nakamise.  This time, I did more research and got some leads from some friends (thanks to Cami, K.I. and Norm) to check out some new places.  One of the recommended sites was Shimojima.  I never heard of it before, but found out they carry many of the same Heiko products.  I'm not sure if they are the parent company for Heiko?  Anyway, just imagine 8 floors of Heiko and you'll get the idea.

Luckily, we stay in the Asakusa area when we go to Japan, so I told Paul there was one in the Asakusa-bashi area, which was a few blocks down.  We decided to walk instead of catching the subway this time, which was nice.  We got to see some smaller shops that we never saw before since we normally head in the other direction from our hotel.

This is just a sample of what I picked up... The prices were so cheap compared to back home.. guess we are mostly paying for shipping right?  Anyway, take a look at some of the goodies....

I could't pass up these baskets.  I got one more that I didn't get a picture of, but its a chicken that was really cute.  These baskets were crochet to look like animals!  Don't know what I'll use them for but I had to pick them up.  They were less than 400 yen each.

Also found some Mamegoma stuff.  He's hard to find.  I think he's really cute and wanted something with him on it. Settled for a ruler and eraser since I can always use those.

I also found these cute doggie stationary stuff.  My niece loves dogs and these dogs were so cute!  (I'm telling you.. even Japanese dogs are cuter than ours!)  Anyway, got her a pencil case, pencils, eraser, and mini notebook that she can use at school.

And decided to grab some omiyage for Akemi's friends at Japanese school.  She's pretty close with them and they play "school" after class.  One girl is the teacher and the rest are the students, so I thought they would like these Rilakkuma notebooks, pencils and erasers.  I used to collect Japanese erasers when I was growing up. Remember the smelly ones?  Mmmmmm...  By the way, these were a bargain at  100 yen for the pencil sets, less than 100 yen for the erasers and 125 yen for each notebook.

And finally, got some craft supplies.  The set of Japanese paper dolls were actually picked up at Oriental Bazaar for a friend.  She makes a lot of cards, so I thought she could use them in her projects.  I also found the pre-made mizuhiki embellishments for a good price!  Yay!  They came out to a little over 100 yen a piece, but considering how much we pay for embellishments in the US, this was a good deal.

On top of all that, I also got me a few sheets of washi paper.  The full sheets were smaller than ones I picked up at other stores, but for the price it was worth it!  Each sheet was less than 300 yen!  Crazy yah?  I didn't go crazy, but I did pick up a handful of papers.  I'll take pix of the wash I picked up and post them later.  I took this photo of the washi paper shelves I found in Shimojima and later saw the no photos sign!  Doh!  Good thing I didn't get caught!   Used the panoramic feature on my iphone to take this shot, so you might have to click on the picture to get the full effect.

There was a sign that said to take up the washi in the plastic to the counter.  You need to do this so that they can scan the item from the plastic.  Just take up all the papers you want and tell them how many sheets of each.

In addition, I picked up a pack of Japanese printed bags and some other miscellaneous items.  Overall, a good deal on lots of stuff.  Good thing this was one of the last stores I went to, otherwise, I might've filled up the whole suitcase with craft supplies!  Since I had such a successful shopping trip at Shimojima, I decided we didn't need to go to Tokyu Hands this time around since the closest one was in Shibuya and we were running out of time. I'll definitely hit them next time.  Still waiting for Joy to set up a Ben Franklin Japan Craft Shopping Tour... Right Joy?