Umi Fuku Zakka [海福雑貨}

I mentioned on my IG post that this would be first and last visit to Umi Fuku Zakka [海福雑貨]. Ha! Famous last words, total love at first sight with this place. Their website does not do the place justice. Having said that UFZ was surprisingly busy. Which good is but not when the place is small and you have a big bum, trying to squeeze past people and keep a hold of your purchases. 

One of the owners Mami-san (pictured below!) was very friendly and was chatting away to other costumes when I arrived. Soon after I was offered a cup of green tea. She also allowed cameras which was great as I can show you the amazingness that is her shop. There are 2 other owners 海福雑貨. There is some connection to Nastumehiro and carried a few similar brands. It had a few leaflets and other information on other stores, workshops and events. Incidentally I passed a cool yarn shop on the way there that had a knitting circle going. 

Asides from the few similar brands a 海福雑貨 has a lot of vintage and zakka items. Not only that but vintage stationery supplies that makes the sweet dreams of some of my Instagram friends. Among them were vintage pens, nibs, ink stamps, paper ephemera etc. Unlike Natsumehiro I actually regret not buying more. But as something's weren't priced it was difficult to tell and manovuering my way around other shoppers didn't help. Some things were reasonable making me want to stock and others make made me cringe. I already want to go back and have a proper look through their draws at some of their paper ephemera. 

I could go on and on but I think the photos speak for themselves. The only thing that could be found in a regular shop were the mt tapes. 海福雑貨is a rare and great find and def worth another visit despite my best intentions. Oh and yet again another unsatisfactory 'web shop' it is a real mess and doesn't give a real indication of their stocks and supplies. It's definitely a shop to be visited and rummaged through. But you can gauge the type of shop it is from this post an their Facebook page. Enjoy!

Address: 252-0311 Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Minami-ku, Higashirinkan 3-18-3 1F　

Tel: 042-705-3392 

E-Mail: mail@umick.com

Hours: 11:00-18:00

Kamakura with Kat

This blog was never meant to be mostly stationery and letter writing. While I’m doing more (but still not enough) I don’t blog about it enough. So this is my first attempt to remedy this, my future post will be out of order and at random as I archive my escapades. I want to start with my day out with Kat of The Craft Bureau. This was our second outing and was just much fun as the first.

Kat travelled to Kamakura and I took her around. I took her to see the local sites as well as my favourite places including Kotori and Tuzuru, unfortunately Yohira was closed! We started at Hase with a trip the Kamakura Diabutsu or big Buddha (大仏), the second largest bronze Buddha in Japan. This was one of the highlights of my first trip to Japan 4 years ago.  200¥ for entry is an absolute bargain in my option and we were lucky that it was rather quiet as was Kamakura in general.

I must admit we got sidetracked in the shops, with it being quieter on the streets this was easily done. I noticed a few nice little places which I hadn't noticed before. The time we spent shopping mean that we had to give a miss Hachiman-gū (八幡宮) the biggest shrine in Kamakura. Oh well it gives us an excuse to go again. We did make it to Hase Dera 長谷寺 where the majority of these pictures are taken.

We shopped in my favourite places, Kotori, Tuzuru and Shatoh. I will post a separate post on my purchases. It was so nice to take someone else around for a change, rather than the other way round. It made me appreciate that area I live it and how lucky I am. I learnt more about Hase Dera this trip which I won't write here I'll keep that for my Traveler's Notebook. I'll let you enjoy the pretty pictures but for information on Kamakura and places to check out the Japan Guide is good.

 

Onkochishin

Way back in May during Golden Week, I found a great little shop in Ofuna not far from the station. It was a very lucky find whilst out and about and since its discovery I have been a regular. ‘Onkochishin’ is a gorgeous shop selling retro furniture and antiques. Filled with not just with Japanese but Western items some of its furniture has been upcycled rather than restored and turned into something absolutely beautiful and new. Onkochishin means Respect the Past, Create the New so a very fitting name for the shop. As motto it is one I like on a personal level and try to live by.

There is the usual mixture of toys, tea sets,  fabric, tables, chairs, pottery, jewellery, books, magazines and my one of my particular favourites; typewriters which I drool over each visit. However, my favourite thing about Onkochishin are the vintage postcards which are a sold at 50¥ each. Not only within my budget but suits me and my paper/postal fixation. I coud spend all day going through their postcard collection. Ninety percent of the postcards are Japanese but there are some international (I found a great on Windsor Castle on my visit trip). They also span decades as well as countries and there are few that are used. So great examples of old, Japanese and foreign stamps and postmarks can be found if you take the time to look. I love finding postcards sent from overseas written in kana with foreign stamps.

Needles to say if I was staying permanently in Japan or had money to burn my purchases would be a lot more than postcards. For now I’m happy with my vintage postcard collection and the few small Christmas gifts I’ve found. An added bonus is that the staff are always really warm and welcoming. I’m always provided with a seat so I can settle down and go through the postcards properly and comfortably. The last few visits I’ve even been given a cup of tea. Onkochishin is definitely one of my favourite haunts and I would strongly recommend it to anyone in the Ofuna area.