This series of blog posts where originally published on shopkintsugi.net.
After the success of Part I, I decided to make Part II also about Nippori. Here I will introduce a few more stores, mostly for the sake of completeness, and also will include my favorite leather shops.
NO. 54 MIX NIPPORI
This smallish second floor store stocked all you need for your leather working practice, from tools to glue to of course leather. Considering hoe small it is, the selection is very good, and you may easily find half an hide here. Bonus points if you speak Japanese: the owner and his wife know a lot about this craft and can easily help you if you have trouble choosing.
Closed on Sundays and Holidays
Open 11 am – 17:45
NO. 67: AND LEATHER
Another leather store with a great selection of colors, cuts, and animals. This is one of the few stores open on Sunday too.
Open Monday to Saturday 09:30 – 18:30, Sunday and Holidays 09:30 – 17:30
NO. 41-44 NAGATO
Nagato is, together with Tomato, the most famous store in Nippori. Personally I am not a huge fan, especially of no. 41, the main shop. I find it disorganized and it is hard to find natural fibers only (of course they do carry them, but I somehow never find what I am looking for…ever). The knit shop (no. 42) carries a lot of funny prints, and I found it useful when I was looking for swimsuit fabric. However, no. 43, the wool shop, is quite nice, and often has a scrap bin with a lot of nice wool suitings. Compared to Elegance, I think the quality is a bit lower, tho this store is open on Sunday too.
This concludes Part II of the Tokyo Fabric Shopping guide! Let me know in the comments if there is something in particular you would like me to cover, or if it would be useful if I wrote a small glossary of sewing terms in Japanese.
E xxx
