So I was just on holiday for two weeks in Japan and I massively enjoyed it! It was during the middle of the cherry blossom season so it was very busy with lots of things to do. I travelled to many places and saw some amazing things! I could go on about it, but only some parts are relevant to the blog!

One thing I definitely wanted to do was buy high-quality origami paper, specifically washi or chiyogami. You can order lots of different kinds of printed origami paper here in the UK, but the texture can be a little flimsy. Also sometimes you will see products labelled as washi or chiyogami pattern paper; this is just regular paper with the themed pattern printed on, which is a bit misleading.

What surprised me was just how many different accessible craft stores there were. On my first day I found a gemstone and beads shop on the high street. I had a lot of things I planned to buy, so I did not purchase anything craft-related until I randomly came across a craft floor in a department store in Ueno.

In Japan, department stores comprising of multiple storeys with different types of shops on each floor are very common. When I was looking for clothes, I came across Matsuzakaya Ueno (松坂屋上野店). It has famous brands like Uniqlo and GU under the same roof, but I also noticed by chance that the top floor was all about crafts. They stocked goods for many types of handmade crafts – sewing, knitting, crochet, beading, felting, doll dressing, etc.! But unfortunately there was no paper to be found here.

I have dabbled with tsumami kanzashi before, for example the White organza kanzashi headpiece with regular fabrics, from learning through online tutorials. I purchased two tsumami kanzashi tutorial kits (a trendy barrette design and a more traditional design), plus a pack of mizuhiki cord for other future projects.

Japan is also home to TOHO beads, a very high-quality bead manufacturer. I have used these before in projects such as the Phone strap charms and I really like how uniform the bead sizes are. Unsurprisingly they were slightly cheaper here and I could have easily let my budget go out of control here… I got a couple of packs of seed beads in assorted colours, as well as two tutorial kits for making a beaded bird charms (blue budgerigar and penguin). They are shaped like little coin pouches which is cute!

If I was into sewing more, I would have loved looking through the various fabrics in stock…

It wasn’t until I arrived in Kyoto that I wanted to look for paper properly. I figured that with washi being a traditional technique, it would definitely be found here in the old capital.

After browsing the Nishiki Market and then looking for a specific gyoza store for lunch, I walked by the Shokyukyototen 書遊京都店. This is a general stationery and art supplies store, but I happened to spot a small selection of origami paper through the front door. Here I bought two 15cm, one 7.5cm, and one 6cm packs of paper.

There is a really nice finish to washi paper which is why I like it so much. This piece of paper here shows gold lining on the flowers which shines in the light. It really is on another level! Washi is generally made from wood fibres and it is tougher than ordinary printer paper, so it folds well with more complex models.

Finally I decided to look up if there were any other stores I could go to and I got Kamiji Kakimoto Kyoto 紙司柿本. This store specifically stocks washi of different types and sizes, as you can use it for multiple purposes. Here I got three assorted packs of 15cm paper and two in 9.5cm. I do like to have origami paper in different sizes as it saves me having to cut them from larger pieces. I also specifically bought packs with patterns other than the usual floral designs.

I just wanted to highlight that when I handed my items over to the cashier to purchase, she got out a large piece of printed paper and proceeded to artistically wrap my items into a neat package. It would make such a nice gift if you knew someone who was into origami! I also got a note with their business details on it. I haven’t quite figured out how to use their website yet but apparently they ship internationally.

This shop was near Teramachi Street which is a lively area of shops stocking both traditional and modern goods.

Japan was truly an experience and absolute heaven for crafters, and I can’t wait to use the stuff that I’ve purchased!