weary, i rest my eyes and think of times past

I’ve been rather reflective lately, which isn’t mirrored by my lifestyle at the moment. Life is like spinning plates, and I wonder which one I will catch when they all come tumbling down.

I wanted to return to London with the sense of curiosity and adventure I’d retrieved from living in Tokyo but life got in the way. It’s been some weeks since I managed to explore somewhere new, but my friend H has managed to spark my crafty senses once more. She took me to a place called ‘Fabrications’ on Broadway Market, where oversize knitting needles lean against the wall and instill a sense of Alice in you. http://fabrications1.co.uk/

We then wandered down the road to ‘Our Patterned Hand’ where H had found the fabric for the top she was wearing. Modern fabrics mixed with a window of buttons, who could resist these little yellow jewels…

http://www.patternedhand.co.uk/

I was given a leaflet with my purchases for http://www.wool-n-dance.com/ a woolly art movement that goes from country to country spreading woolly crafty goodness everywhere they go.

I’ve also found one that I missed – I will have to go back on a Saturday:

http://www.beyond-fabrics.co.uk/index.asp

a whirlwind of wishes

It’s been rather hectic these past few weeks. Back in London, back at work, back on a project; it could seem like the last nine months in Tokyo never happened if not for the feeling it’s left with me. I said that Tokyo made me feel adventurous, and I want to keep that feeling.
The calligraphy class I attended was wonderful. It started with taco rice at the Okinawan Festival in Spitalfields, then we travelled to Hammersmith for food and calligraphy at Suzu, a small Japanese tapas place (their words not mine, don’t even get me started on the misuse of the word tapas). I’m too embarrassed to show you my efforts at calligraphy but I will upload a picture of the taco rice once I figure out how to connect my mobile to my laptop (and me a Computer Science graduate).
I also joined a knitting meetup (www.meetup.com) in Costa Coffee in Piccadilly. It seems there are many more crafty groups in London than I realised. This one was a very friendly bunch of people but I’ll be trying all of them one by one. After all, why limit yourself to mint choc chip. Buying yarn was a little harder. You really have to seek out these stores in London. I eventually went to John Lewis, fourth floor, which has a sale on at the moment, averaging £2.10 a skein. Oooooh I hear you cry, get me some of that!

the borrower arriety

Has anyone ever experienced reverse culture shock? I flew back to London on Tuesday and since then have felt like a fish out of water. European sizes are bigger than the average Japanese equivalent. I always know when I’m back in England as my feet don’t touch the floor when I pee.
I’m looking for somewhere to stay in Streatham Hill – south of the river again for me. It’s a curious mix of post war mansion blocks and gated new build estates with a few clusters of Victorian red brick streets. The lack of space I can call my own is contributing to the feeling of not belonging in this world. Perhaps once I find a place to live it will get easier.
I’ve also scoured the meetup.com website for interesting groups to join. My first will be a calligraphy class with a Japanese teacher. I’ll post my initial results when I get back – be prepared for some uneven squiggles.

nippori textile town

I couldn’t leave without adding a post about Nippori Textile Town. Again, it’s one of those places where store owners have gathered together to sell similar wares. Most people take the Yamanote line to Nippori station, though because I live on the Chiyoda line I would go to Nishi-Nippori and walk for five minutes to Nippori.
Most of the stores are quite small and seem to be independently run. There’s a fantastic second hand kimono shop on the right hand side of the street towards Tomato (see Halcyon Tokyo map). The funniest store I’ve been in is a small store full of trimmings, where the owner spends his day overlocking remnants of fabric.

The official site is at http://www.netlaputa.ne.jp/~nippori/ where you can access an English map.

if you could sum it up in one word, what would it be?

I started this blog because I’ve lived in so many places but never recorded how a city makes you ‘feel’. It’s like I have a different character when I step off the plane (usually grumpy from being squashed and hot for twelve hours). Does anyone know what I mean?
Tokyo makes me feel adventurous, ready to try new things. Some have been successful – skiing, knitting – and some have not (ikebana, climbing). Mr M describes Japan as calculated, as in everything is pre-determined, but then he does have to work here and has come across more situations where things happen seemingly randomly and then he finds out later that they have been scripted months earlier.
I return to London in two weeks. Having been away, what word will I choose to describe it? Watch this space.

a quiet retreat

The thing that surprised me most about Tokyo was how quiet it was. My assumption was that Tokyo, with its high-tech environment, glass and steel high-rises, and 39 million people, would match the hustle and bustle of London. Instead, as I lay awake in the pitch black of my bedroom on my first night here, I could hear nothing; no cars, no footsteps, no sirens wailing as they rush across the city. It was slightly eerie and took a while to get used to.
As I spent more time here I realised that this was the character of Yoyogi Uehara. Slightly sleepy, residential, with pottery shops, flower stores, dog clothing and supplies, and a plethora of cafes and restaurants to rest in in between the upmarket consumerism. Each neighbourhood in Tokyo has a different character and I was lucky to find one to live in that suited me perfectly.

meguro interior streets

Before moving to Tokyo, we packed up our London flat, put half our belongings into storage and painstakingly planned what we couldn’t live without for the next two years. Out of our furniture, we chose the smaller items such as the two seater rather than three seater sofa as Japan is known for its shoeboxes and lack of living space. Five months later we found ourselves in a larger apartment than expected. We finally received our shipping a month late (during which time we ate on the floor using the ironing board as a dining table) but the apartment looked a little bare.

Half of our apartment in Tokyo was furnished with items from an area called Meguro Interior Streets.This area has every kind of furniture imaginable and we, with our retro hats on, fell in love with every item in a shop called Lewis.

The store sources most of its items from Scandinavia, shipping carcasses of furniture and lovingly reupholstering each piece with original fabric. The manager drives a hard bargain – still not sure whether it’s the done thing to bargain in Japan – but we came away happy. Most of the shops along this street seem to use Yamato as their delivery partner so you’ll get your furniture pretty quickly for around Y10000 per piece.

Read more about meguro interior streets at http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20061013mw.html