Daikanyama Shopping Haul

Here's some of the things I bought from Daikanyama.  Actually, this first pic is a top I bought from a shop called "Index" which is located in the basement in Shibuya station. Basically, everywhere you turn in Tokyo you will encounter a clothing store, so it is quite easy to get sidetracked whilst strolling along.

 This top and cardigan is from H & M in Shibuya.

These are the fabrics from Cath Kidston. Aren't they so pretty? The top two are laminated fabrics which will become bags eventually.

 This is a "pillow spray" made in France, which is sprayed onto your pillow before you go to bed. It has a lovely crisp linen scent.

 Fabric from Cabbages and Roses, in beautiful muted colours.

 These lace socks come from "Tabio", a store selling only pretty socks.

 A page from the Cath Kidston catalogue. I'm going to try and replicate some of these bag designs with the fabric I bought.

Cute stuff from Aranzi Aronzo.

I found a clothing store having a sale and picked up these tops for a good price. The shoppers in there were in a buying frenzy.

 Lastly, a few little things from Cou Cou. I'm going to turn the socks into soft toys.

Daikanyama is such an interesting shopping destination. I hope I can return one day.

Let's Go to Daikanyama - Part 2

I couldn't eat at every cafe, but I wish I had tried out this Chocolate Cafe! Once again, another sweet menu board and pretty little potplants.

Well, I shouldn't grumble, because we did eat something totally scrumptious at the "Le Cordon Bleu" cafe for our lunch.

Eataly.

Here is an example of the cute little dogs that were a common sight around town.

Tsumori Chisato - I have a couple of her bags.

Cath Kidston was the one store I really wanted to visit, as we don't have it in Australia. But, I had an old map and when we got to where I thought the shop should be, it wasn't there. However, we stumbled upon the shop at its new location by chance. Yay!

We wanted to buy a bag each at Cath Kidston, but they were quite expensive - good quality though. Luckily for me, they sold all the fabrics there, so we purchased a few different designs to make our own bags.

Many buildings had a European flair.

 Just cute stuff every which way we turned.

Merceria Pulcina was another store I especially wanted to visit, but they were sadly closed.

 I love whacky softies. These ones are are exceptionally hilarious.

 The last stop for the day was "Cou Cou", which is a store selling lots of things appealling to females, such as: underwear, stationery, homewares, seasonal decorations, softies and nice smelly things. Everything in the store costs 315 yen. These set price stores are extremely popular in Japan, but it is easy to overspend! I, of course stocked up on bits and pieces here- there are plenty of good choices for gifts for girls.

http://www.coucou.co.jp/

I really enjoyed my day at Daikanyama, but one day is not really enough time to explore all the shops and cafes. It's a great destination for walking, shopping, eating and people watching. I highly recommend Daikanyama, so do visit if ever you are in Tokyo. I'm sure you'd love it too!

Let's Go To Daikanyama! Part 1

 My boys wanted to go to a model train shop out in the suburbs, so my daughter and I went to Daikanyama for the first time. To get there, take the Tōkyū Tōyoko Line from Shibuya - it's only one stop away. Daikanyama is known for its zakka and cake shops, so of course we were going to love it. Japanese seem to have a knack for cute illustrations, as seen on the above menu board.

 As soon as we stepped out of the station, we were met with a gorgeous organic cosmetic store and cafe. I highly recommend taking a map along with you, as the streets are little and windy; not in a grid pattern at all, so it's very easy to become lost.

 You could define a Daikanyama-ite as, "a cute Japanese person who wears funky and offbeat clothes, pushes a stroller with an equally cute baby wearing an adorable outfit, walks a toy poodle on a leash and who enjoys sipping cafe lattes at a French style cafe" There was a distinct similarity amongst the inhabitants. I would like to live here for a while.....

 There are multitudes of lovely clothing stores, which all seem to be unique indie shops. I didn't notice any chain stores. All of them were extremely enticing.

Our first stop was the Aranzi Aronzo store. I have wanted to visit here for years! It just smacks of cuteness.

Japanese stores always display their goods so stylishly I think.

 Zakka stores feature heavily in this town, so I was very happy.

 This was a really sweet zakka store.

 Cocca sells unique hand made fabric and goods.

 Outlet is good for cheap nick naks.

 We had lunch here at the "Le Cordon Bleu" which is a French cafe run by a real Frenchman! They had some cute tote bags for sale here - I now wish I had bought one.

Cabbages and Roses is an English soft goods store. I purchased a piece of linen floral fabric here.

 What I like about these little suburbs is nothing is uniform; each shop and house is so unique. This town is perfect for walking, as there are so many interesting things that catch your attention. I really love the use of dark wood in Japanese architecture.

Look how adorable everything is. You never have to look far to find the next cafe.

More Daikanyama next post.