10 Things I Brought Back from Taiwan & Japan
Clothing, coffee, camping gear, and more from my trip.
I traveled back to Taiwan for two weeks and visited Japan for about a week in March. Here is some cool stuff I found along the way — clothing, home goods, camping gear, coffee, and more. Here are my top 10 finds:
TOKYO CRAFT LANTERN HANGER
I picked up some camping gear on this trip — I'll share more about that another time. But this piece has been on my wishlist for a while. I tried to find it when I was in Japan but couldn't locate any store that carried Tokyo Crafts. Then I found a shop in Taiwan that carries one my of favorite camping brands and ended up getting this lantern hanger. It comes with a strap loaded with hooks, and the whole thing is clean and functional.
BETWEEN SPACE & SOUND TEE
I picked up this tee in Japan while visiting the exhibition — Between Space & Sound at Karimoku Research. Artist Deven Turnbull created the space around a set of hi-fi speakers. The tee features one of the rooms in the exhibition, Sound House, with a printed top-down outline of the space.
GOLDWIN 0 SCREEN PANTS
I originally wanted the black colorway, but the Ginza store was sold out in my size and only had this color. Still a great pick — the fabric keeps the pants structured and crisp without sacrificing comfort at all. They also come with a stuff sack so you can pack them flat. I think these will be a go-to for spring and summer.
PROFESSOR E AGED POLO
This polo is a knit construction, with grey threads woven throughout the fabric. One of the grey threads almost came off, but honestly that's part of the charm — I really love the aged, worn-in look. One fun side note: when you purchase anything in store, the staff handwrites your receipt and tucks it into a large kraft paper envelope. A small but special touch.
OTO RUSH GRASS TABLE MAT
Motive is a furniture store near my hometown in Taoyuan, Taiwan that I had always wanted to visit and finally got the chance to this time around. The store carries a lot of mid-century modern furniture and, surprisingly, has recently started carrying Lichen as well. I found this Japanese rush grass table mat — it feels like a miniature tatami mat for tea and drinks. I'm not sure exactly where it'll go in my room yet, but I just had to get it.
CAT TOY
Found this at the BEAMS store in Shinjuku. When we asked the staff about getting one, she brought out several of these little orange cats for us to choose from — each one slightly different from the other since they're all handmade. I picked the fattest one.
EYEVAN GLASSES
I had one mission for Tokyo: find a new pair of glasses. My last pair was about five years old and I wear them every day, so it was time. I did my research beforehand and ended up at Eyevan. The staff was great — he kept pulling out different frames he thought would suit my face, and eventually we landed on this one. Pretty happy with them so far!
BEER GLASS
We visited an izakaya (Japanese pub) one evening in Tokyo and had a really unique experience. It was cash only — you put your bills into a box in front of you, and the staff takes out some cash every time you order. We got a round of beers served in these glasses and I thought they were adorable. Using Google translate, I asked the bartender if we could buy one and he kindly agreed!
MOCHI GRILL
Found this at a Mont-bell store, but I'm not sure what brand it is. It's light and compact when folded. The top grate can be flat or folded making it perfect for grilling mochi or toast. I've already used it on my last camping trip. Grilled mochi with brown sugar is so good >o<.
COFFEE BEANS
Before heading to Taiwan, I ordered a bunch of coffee beans from various roasters. I wanted to try so many different roasts and ended up getting two bags from each brand. Everything is light to medium roast.
One particularly special bag of coffee ③ is from Weekend Coffee in Kyoto — this shop is tucked into the corner of a parking lot and had moss growing on their wooden shelves. It was one of my favorite cafes we visited in Japan so I had to grab a bag of beans to try at home.
That's My Top 10! ◡̈
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