Shopping in Kumamoto, Japan!

Hi there! 

I am currently on vacation in Japan with my family. I stumbled upon a fabric shop near the Kumamoto Castle area that I want to share.

I was walking along in the Shimotori shopping arcade and spotted a fabric shop! At first I saw the trays of cotton out on the table outside the store. I was sucked in! I unfortunately didn't take any photos inside the shop because I was too busy looking at all the fabric. Since my mom and I planned a stop at Toraya in Osaka later in the trip I tried to limit myself to some Kumamon fabric. If you don't know what Kumamon is, it's the mascot of the Kumamoto prefecture. It's basically the cutest black bear with red Pikachu cheeks. 

That's just his head but you get the gist. He's adorable. So here's what I ended up with:

I'm sorry for not having the best photo quality right now. I'm using my phone. So I ended up with a little more than just some Kumamon fabric. I got a red quilted Kumamon fabric, three cotton Kumamon with dots fabrics, a blue bunny fabric, a hexagon design fabric, and laminated Kumamon fabric. Oh, and also a coin purse frame. The store worker was nice enough to include two fabric Kumamon buttons for free :)

If you want to get to the store its at the Shimotori shopping arcade. If you're facing Kumamoto Castle on Ginzo Dori, it's on the left side of the intersection. From there, it's a little ways in on the left 

Go through that way. 

The shop has a lot of cotton and tons of buttons. So many buttons. They also had some apparel fabrics and faux furs. It's worth a look if you're shopping there anyway. 

I also picked up a couple of Japanese sewing books at a bookstore in the area called Tsutaya that are found all over Japan.

The one on the left is actually a "draft your own pattern" book (which I didn't realize until I took this picture...oops) and the one on the right is called I Love Tops. Both books are all top patterns. (I'm not much of a dress/skirt wearer and I'm afraid that Japanese pants sizes don't even come close to my size). 

The I Love Tops sewing book was reviewed on Japnese Sewing Books

This is from the other book:

There are 173 different tops total. WHAT!? That is so many. 

This is an example of the drafting instructions. This is definitely a book I'll wait to try until I'm more comfortable with sewing. It's so nice to look at though!

I'm planning on posting about my visit to Toraya in Osaka within the next week or so, so keep an eye out for that! 

Happy sewing!

-corrie