Japan Day 3 - Tokyo and Yuzawaya Crafts Store

I checked back in my archives and can you believe it's been since May when I last wrote about Japan! If you need to catch up, you can click on the Japan label at the bottom and read all the posts. So here we are again; now we are in Tokyo.

One of the things I was dying to do is see the eight-story crafts store I had heard about from my online friends. I grew up crafting and have tried so many different things. My favorite now is papercrafting, but I also love sewing, embroidery, beads, crochet and many more things. Can you tell how exciting this store would be for me? I was so excited to find out that Japanese people love stamping and paper too!

Johnny and Matt were such good sports. After we checked into the hotel (we got a good deal on a Japanese business hotel instead of a pricey tourist hotel) Johnny looked up the store and got directions. We didn't get there until late, so we didn't have tons of time to shop. The store was pretty small and it only had four floors, so I was pretty disappointed. I looked around at the stamps and fabric and got a couple of things. Then we left, feeling a little let down.

Or at least we tried to leave, because when we did we realized that it was an eight BUILDING complex and each store and floor had its own specialty. There was a floor with beads, one with dolls, one with bears and I can't even remember what else! There was canvas and pencils and art supplies and calligraphy and oh so many other things! I felt like a child at Christmas. We were exhausted and hungry and it was time for the stores to close so we finally left.

We never got a chance to go back there, but we went to a smaller one-store version in Kobe where I got some beautiful modern kimono fabric for my mom.

All digital layout items from Ashalee Wall at Oscraps.com. Fonts are Ireland and Industrial 736BT. Text reads: "Imagine my excitement about the eight-story crafts store I heard about in Tokyo. I thought about it for weeks before our trip. Imagine my disappointment when we got there and found only four small floors. I enjoyed shopping and looking at the stamps and fabric, but on the way out we saw the sign. Imagine my delight when I found out that it was not eight stories, but eight whole buildings! I could have stayed there all night, but the store was closing. I hope I can make it back there someday for a real shopping spree! "