No one does stationary better than Japan…and if there is another country with a bigger array of pens, pencils etc etc etc, then please let me know. If you have lived in Japan, or just visited, you may have been to a book or department store and stumbled upon the world of pens….every colour, shape and style you could hope to find. Always, there is an area of note paper for you to try before you buy. I have left the image large, so you can zoom in and see for yourself. The land of pens….indeed.
flower power
This rather nifty looking flower bed three wheeler is located near Kawasaki Station and is quite eye catching. Obviously the unit is stationary (though the kids still jump on and pretend to ride), but what an amazing idea to liven up the local mall or shopping centre ! Only in Japan ? Maybe not his one, though it is well maintained and the flower bed looked well loved. Nice. ….oh and there was no pun intended between trike and Kawasaki either !
Available from some ¥100 stores like Daiso, the LP Record carry, or storage bag is a must for any old wax collectors like me ! I can recall me old mate Phil from London, who would carry a sturdy wax bag on record hunting trips some years back. This is obviously not as strong as that, but if you are on your way to the Post Office with an eBay sale, or have just scored some great finds in a recycle store, this lightweight and portable record bag is very handy. The magic price as well !
Flowers – that of the gift giving variety – are inexpensive and available at most grocery stores in Japan. For the life of me, I cannot fathom why flowers are so overpriced in countried like Australia and New Zealand. ¥300 to ¥500 is very cheap for a bunch of flowers, when prices are much much higher (read $5o or higher) in places like Sydney or Melbourne. I wouldn’t know a carnation from a lily but that ain’t the point. The inexpensive price for a nice bunch of flowers is the point !
If you dig motorcycles, there are a couple of ‘super stores’ well worth checking out. The Red Baron stores are great, so too the Bike Seven stores. Their slogan says ‘Riders Dream Shop’, which indeed it is ! There is so much on display in these stores it is mind boggling. Jackets, boots, gloves, helmets, magazines a zillion accessories and so much else ! There is even a section of the store dedicated to girl riders ! How cool is that ! The image above is taken from the Tsuchiura store but locations can be found on their sites…Check out the awesome looking trike which was on display outside the store !
Japan is a fine producer of tasty chocolate
Japanavision 