Crazy for Paper: Japan Haul

Showing posts with label Japan Haul. Show all posts

Monday, April 8, 2013

Japan Haul: All About Rilakkuma

I must admit... this grouchy looking bear is growing on me. Who couldn't love Rilakkuma after you see him all over Japan? Even Akemi started noticing him and calling him cute! I targeted the Rilakkuma store located inside Kiddie Land in Harajuku for one reason... my friend Linda is a Rilakkuma fan. I thought I'd just pick up a few things for her, then I remembered that her birthday was coming up, so I ended up getting a lot more goodies for her. I really wish I could've bought her the whole store!

Now I'm typically a Hello Kitty fan myself, but when you go to Japan and see all the other cool stuff, you don't even think about buying Hello Kitty. I guess it's cause I know I can get her back home? Rilakkuma is not as common in Hawaii... but I did see some new designs that place him in paradise! How ironic.. I go to Japan to find Rilakkuma in Hawaii!

So here's the stuff I ended up picking out... hope she doesn't have them yet!

This is a Rilakkuma solar powered figure. His head bobs up and down in the sun...

I also got this pencil pouch.. mainly because she also likes the Eiffel Tower.

I couldn't resist this fuzzy pencil holder.

Here's a close up of the chopsticks. Doesn't every Rilakkuma fan need Rilakkuma chopsticks?

And here is the mother of all deco tapes! I swear it is wider than duck tape!

I liked the mini magnets a lot.. also go the clip magnet. Those are good to hang on your fridge in the event of a clip emergency.

And couldn't forget the Rilakkuma Gachapon! I didn't open it, but I think its Rilakkuma with a hamburger.

And all us paper nuts need labels right?

I did try to find some Japan exclusive stuff... This is a cell phone charm of Rilakkuma on the Kaminarimon (Large Lantern in Nakamise).

And Rilakkuma playing Gangnam Style with the Tokyo Tower.

This shopping bag was actually purchased at Character Street in the Tokyo Station. That place was fun too.. will post more about that later!

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Japan Haul: Gachapon!

I think I mentioned in a previous post that Akemi fell in love with Gachapons! Gachapons are the capsule toys you can get from Japanese vending machines. Gachapons ranged between 100 and 300 yen each and were all over Japan. I think this may have actually cured her of wanting junk American vending machine toys for awhile.

Here's what her stash looked like before we opened them...

And here's all the goodies inside!

Look how happy she is!

And here's close ups of all the goodies...

Cool yah!?

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Japan Haul: Puri Cubes!

The last time we went to Japan, Paul and I saw a Puri Cube Machine at the Hakuhinkan Toy Park in Ginza. Not even sure how I found it, but I remember finding a link to it on the internet, so we decided to check it out. I recall getting to the Toy Park just before they were going to close, so we didn't have much time to check out everything. Paul really liked the idea of making Puri Cubes for our friends back home, but the problem was that they weren't with us to take their photo! So my husband.. being the maverick of figuring out ways to make things work, figures out that he can use photos from his phone, hold it up to the camera on the machine, and have the camera take a picture of the picture on his phone!

By this time, the store had closed, so we vowed to return again before the end of our trip to get the job done. But then the earthquake struck.... the day after the earthquake, we tried to go to the Toy Park again to see if we could accomplish our goal, but they were closed after the earthquake to fix up the store. Poor Paul.. he was really bummed.

So now that we had a 2nd shot to make this happen, he was determined not to fail this time. Akemi and I roamed around the store while he got busy and made 5 by camera photos alone. We also saw that the machine would take memory cards from cameras too. That would have been so much easier! Oh well... Then Paul, Akemi and I all got our's done too. I gotta admit, it was pretty funny to see our faces printed on these little discs... It pops out of the machine in the black cartridge below....

Then you choose your Puri Cube character (write down the number of the item) and give it to the cashier. They then pull out each character charm and you pay there. Total cost was about 200 yen for the Puri Cube photo and between 300-400 yen for each figure. Total was about 500-600 yen each (~$5-6).

Paul and Akemi couldn't wait to go back to the hotel to assemble each one. Can you see which one is me?

They had a great selection of figures, but I ended up choosing the Maneki Neko. Akemi choose a Daba (bunny) and Paul wanted to be Godzilla. What a cool & fun omiyage gift! Hope the boys like it (that includes you Stef).

Friday, March 8, 2013

Japan Haul: Nakamise and Daiso

Yes, there are still more Japan haul posts! I'll try to combine them so you don't get too bored...

Whenever I ask my mom if she wants anything while I'm on a trip, she doesn't normally make any requests. This time, she did ask me for some Kanzashi for her hair, so I was on a mission to find something. She said she preferred red, but unfortunately, I couldn't find red anywhere. Her hair is shorter now, so I think pins work better for her than a rubber band. This is the set I picked up for her in Nakamise. I liked all of the flowers in the set. Hope she likes it.

I also got a Teru Teru Bozu doll for my friend Les. She likes Kawaii stuff too, especially smiley face stuff. I thought this would be good for her to hang in her car since she's a photographer and rain is always a problem. Not sure why he's yellow though.. I think they are supposed to be white? Couldn't find a white one.. Sorry Les! Make sure you bring it to Hilo the next time you visit!

Next on my list of stuff to get was a Doraemon figure. Finally figured out he's a robot cat. Guess that explains why he has no ears? I saw him all over Japan last time and this time I wanted to get one to bring home. He looks like the statue in front of the Ban Dai building.

When you press the button on his belly, his eyes spin. See? Now it's hearts! Weird I know, but he is Japanese after all.

The next haul is from Daiso or 100 yen store. Wanted to get some Japanese stuff for my office and thought those gel clings would be cute for Girl's Day that's coming up. I also liked the bags in the lower left corner and couldn't resist the bear shaped measuring tape!

These next critters were found in Nakamise- on one of the side streets. I remember finding them last time and picking up some cute stuff, so I checked in while Paul and Akemi were eating some Arare.

I liked this Tsuru pin for some reason. I don't normally wear pins, but I like Tsuru's, so I got it anyway. I never see cute tsuru characters anywhere, so I snapped this one up quickly.

And I think I told you that I really like tiny clothespins now right? These bunnies caught my eye too.

And who can resist this cute neko? I don't even like cats but he was so cute, I got him for my office.

Now I didn't get much Hello Kitty stuff since she's all over Hawaii, but I did scoop this cell phone charm up because she's pulling a rickshaw!

You can see the rickshaw better in this photo...

And finally, I got this cute clip set. I was going to give it away, but I think I'll keep it for myself.

Hope you are enjoying the posts so far!

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Japan Haul: Daiso & Misc. Goodies

One of my favorite stores in Japan is the Daiso or 100 yen shops for obvious reasons. You can get some really cool stuff for a good price.

My sister-in-law sometimes makes bento for her kids and tries to make them cute like how the Japanese do. I thought she would get a kick out of these animal toothpicks and shoyu bottles.

Here's a close up of the toothpicks...

And a side view of the shoyu bottles..

Also picked up a hiragana chart for my nephew. He can't even read yet, but thought we'd start him off right. Also got him a shinkansen (train) and found this Cars candy at Kiddy Land earlier. The candy is a chocolate egg with a cars toy inside. He's Cars crazy, so I'm sure he will like it.

Another good find but not at the Daiso store, was these Frixion pens by Pilot. They come in different colors and are eraseable with the eraser on top. Not sure if other erasers will work on the ink, but the ink is said to last 10-15 yrs? Not sure if that has been tested or not... Anyway, another hot commodity from Japan. Found these at Itoya in Ginza, but also picked up a Disney version at Tokyo Disneyland.