When visiting Japan, your friends back home will always want you to bring back a weird gift for them. It’s a natural reasoning, as Japan is truly home to the weird. Whilst gashapon are often a good idea for pure wonkiness, there’s another trend in Japan that might be even weirder. Brace yourself: It’s all to do with poop.
Incense burning in Japan is not just a way to relax and freshen the air; it is also one of the oldest traditional Japanese arts. Japanese incense is made with high quality natural ingredients such as herbs, spices, resins, and aromatic woods. Historically, it has been used in Buddhist rituals to purify a sacred space or make a spiritual offering. Incense appreciation (Kodo) even developed into an art form like that of tea ceremony or flower arranging in the Heian Period. Today seen mostly in the form of Japanese incense sticks, incense is another example of Japan’s success in creating traditional-meets-modern culture: Time-honored production are still used, but innovative scents and stylish displays bring incense into the modern day.
If you’re into arts and crafts, then you’ve probably heard of washi tape, the decorative masking tape from Japan that’s made of paper yet surprisingly sturdy. Washi tape comes in an endless variety of cute patterns and colors. It’s as strong as masking tape but doesn’t leave behind any traces of adhesive when removed, so it’s gentle enough to use on photos—in short, washi tape is every crafter’s dream.
In case you have yet to experience the wonders of washi tape or are looking for ways to up your washi tape game, here are a few fun and easy ideas. All you need is some washi tape and a craft knife or some fine point scissors to get started.
Tsum Tsum Disney Japan has taken the country by storm. Originally just a game for the LINE social network where players stack cute versions of Disney characters, the brand soon grew. Disney Store Japan began selling Tsum Tsum plushies and short animations of the characters began airing on Japanese TV. The phone game is also available to play in Japanese game arcades on full size machines! Tsum Tsum has become a sensation in Japan, with Japanese Tsum Tsum merchandise eclipsing the American versions.
Japanese capsule toys are some of the most diverse and interesting trinkets available in Japan. Capsule toys are more commonly known in Japan as ‘gashapon’ and can be bought from so-called ‘gacha gacha’ vending machines. These machines can be found in many places, such as in game centers and outside supermarkets. The amount of machines with extremely affordable prices – usually 100 yen, but with larger toys stretching to 400 – has led to a huge variety of gashapon. From cute to weird and even cool, there’s a gashapon for you!
You’ve purchased figurines of all your favorite magical girls and RPG action heroes. Now what do you do with them?
Learning to keep your figurines dust-free and protected from the elements is just as important as choosing how to display them. It can seem like a daunting task at first, but with a few household and store-bought items to aid you, you can make your collection shine!
