Category: Shopping

Review – Sakura Signatures Fidget Toys

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“Don’t play with that!”
“Put that down!”
“Stop fidgeting!”

Those of us on Team Neurospicy have heard these lines all through our lives. Thankfully people are becoming much more understanding of things like fidgeting, and focus disorders in general. Enter the fidget toy. Designed specifically to fill that need, they’re available in all sorts of fantastic permutations and designs, catering to every type of movement. And nowadays, with the advent of things like 3D printing, making them has become more accessible than ever. Which also means making designs to cater to every aesthetic!

Enter Sakura Signatures, a small business designing and making all sorts of fantastic fidget toys and other custom products. They make a variety of products, but of course I was drawn to these.

First off, how adorable is this takeout bento packaging?! If you purchase two fidgets, you can select a third one for free and get them packaged like this. Since I wanted a few different mechanisms, I had to go for it.

For my bento, I selected three different designs with three different fidget methods. The matcha whisk is a nice loud ratcheting spinner, the bao is a quiet magnetic slider, and the tuna maki is a soft clicking key button. I love that they offer multiple styles and volumes, for all your fussbudget needs. You can also choose to get them on a keychain, like I did, or without the chain. I’m just very prone to losing things so I knew being able to attach them to a keychain or zipper would be best.

If you would like to see these in action (and really, isn’t that the most important part?) here’s a video of me testing them all out. Ignore the giggle. I just really enjoyed them!

@kimono_tsuki

Check out these absolutely precious fidget toys from @sakura_signatures! fidget fidgettoy kawaii matcha bao sushi

♬ original sound – Kimono Tsuki 着物月 – Kimono Tsuki 着物月

The dumpling is my favourite, due to the mechanism and the general quietness of it, but they’re all going to get a ton of use. If you’re like me and need to play with things to focus, and want something that suits your style and would not look out of place as an obi-kazari, be sure to check out Sakura Signatures. Personally, I’m really hoping they bring the Advent Calendar back for next year.

 I purchased this item myself and chose to review it.If you have a topically appropriate craft, product, or service you would like me to review, please contact me. 

Tokusen.Store – Shop Feature

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I have been wanting to try out Tokusen.store and their incredible selection of imported products for a long time now. They had a booth at the Asiasie Festival I went to recently and I figured it would be the perfect time to grab a variety of things to try. I then managed to haul them across the border in my suitcase and have been using them all regularly since I settled back in here in California and I am very excited to share the experience with you!

They pride themselves on bringing small-batch, proudly crafted products from Japan to Canada (and the US) and making sure these ingredients are accessible to everyone.

Our mission is to select the best local products from Japan, to promote the know-how of its artisans and to make their work accessible to all.

Our vision is that it should be natural to enjoy Japanese know-how right from home, in Canada.

To offer our customers a superior quality product, we select our products according to a value system rooted in Japanese culture:

源 · Gen Terroir as a guarantee of quality.

雅 · Ga The elegance of the product.

道 · Dō The way forward through hard work.

I decided to choose their Origin Box Set, Aka Yuzu Kosho paste, and Ramen Shichimi spice blend to try out and share, and here are my thoughts about each product.

White Dashi (origin box)

Dashi is a stock typically made with kombu and katsuobushi. This is a blend of concentrated dashi and light shoyu, and it imparts a beautiful umami and smoky flavour without feeling “fishy”. Until now I’d been using concentrated dashi granules but this product is an absolute game-changer. The granules still have their place in my pantry, both for their budget-friendliness and their shelf-stability, but when I need a more elevated and well-rounded flavour I will definitely be using this.

Yuzu Ponzu (origin box)

This is a delightfully crisp and clean blend of soy and yuzu citrus. It added a fantastic brightness to salmon I made and will definitely bring a summery vibe to noodles and fried foods. You can use it as part of a dressing or marinade, or a dipping sauce all by itself. It’s far more versatile than I was expecting, and has become a quick favourite.

Tamari (origin box)

A perfect balance of light and deep flavours; fantastic as a dipping sauce all by itself or a small splash at the end for adding a bit of umami.

Haizakura (origin box)

A rich, aged soy, well-balanced and well-rounded. Fantastic in  marinades or as dipping sauce for stronger flavours.

Usukuchi (origin box)

A very light but flavourful soy, perfect for dipping or using in lighter dishes. Perfect in tamagoyaki, for adding depth but keeping the omelette light and airy.

Ramen Shichimi spice blend

Hold on to your tongues here! This is a potent blend of shichimi spices with a potent dose of togarashi/capiscum that brings the heat. Use it sparingly, but defintely try it out in things other than just ramen. I put a pinch of it in the yuzu marinade I made for salmon and it was such a great balance with the clean citrus!

Aka Yuzu Kosho Paste

Oh look, more heat. Can you tell I like things spicy? This is actually a bit less potent than the ramen shichimi above but still brings a fantastic lightness to anything you use it in, thanks to the combined pepper and more yuzu.

A few things I have cooked so far using these wonderful products:

Ponzu-marinated salmon, tamagoyaki, teriyaki chicken and rice. I used a bit of the shiro dashi and usukushi shoyu when making the rice in both dishes and it adds an incredible depth of flavour without being overpowering.

Overall, I am incredibly impressed with the products Tokusen.store has chosen to focus on and bring to our doors. I will be stocking up every time I’m back in Canada, because they’re Montreal-based and the shipping is a lot more affordable. However you look at it though, if you’re in North America they’re going to be more accessible than ordering direct from Japan. I cannot recommend them enough and can’t wait to see what new products they bring to their storefront for us.

 I purchased this item at a discounted price for honest review purposes.If you have a topically appropriate craft, product, or service you would like me to review, please contact me. 

Festival Asiasie at Time Out Montreal

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Last weekend I had the pleasure of dragging Lynn and Sophie to the Festival Asiasie Pop-Up at the Time Out Market here in Montreal.  The market was great, but incredibly crowded. I suspect they got way more foot traffic than initially anticipated, and I hope the vendors all made some fantastic sales. I just hope that they find a larger venue if they do this again next year! I tried to capture the vibe and the chaos without focusing too much on strangers, but it was nearly impossible.

My initial plan was to share all the amazing goodies I brought home as soon as possible. Unfortunately, along with those goodies I brought home some miserable virus or other. I’m still sick but semi-functional, so I wanted to make sure I took the time to recommend all these amazing small businesses and craftspeople bringing both modern and traditional Japanese (and other Asian) goodies to us here. Wherever possible, I have linked to their socials and online shops as well!

 

Atelier Tsubaki

Atelier Tsubaki focuses primarily on gorgeous, handmade origami jewellery, but when I saw this necklace I fell in love. It’s an actual ume & uguisu (plum & warbler) hanafuda card coated in resin so it’s nice and sturdy and durable, and I already have the perfect outfit in mind for it, but it’s currently in California. I’ll be sure to take photos when I wear it!

If you’re looking for some unique handmade pieces, definitely check out their works.

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Bask Hour

Bask Hour make some incredible, elevated scented candles and diffusers focused around a variety of Asian fragrances. They’re made with soy, coconut, and beeswax for a nice clean burn and have crackly wooden wicks.

I know my mother is a huge fan of bright, citrusy smells so getting the Yuzu for her for mother’s day was a given. It’s deliciously balanced with grapefruit and rounded out with hinoki cedar to prevent it from being too sharp. I also love the mini paint can packaging, and their branding in general is great. I can’t wait to try out a few more of their fragrance offerings.

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Boutique MeiCo

The owner of MeiCo takes the beauty of kimono and transforms pieces that are too small, too fragile, or too damaged and turns them into stunning, wearable and useable items for modern life. I selected a keyring strap for my mum and a little lip balm holder for myself, since I am forever losing lip balms in the depths of my purse. But these are just a very small sampling, she makes absolutely stunning bags, hats, and my personal fave, bomber jackets. They’re out of my budget at the current time but hopefully one day I can splurge. She’s even offered to make some using pieces in my collection that are unuseable, and I am very tempted.

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Brasserie San-O Sake

Brasserie San-O focuses on using koji, or the fermented rice used to make sake amongst other things. They have a wide offering of drinks, condiments, and products and starters for making your own fermented goodies.

They were offering samples of their non-alcoholic ume sake and it’s absolutely delicious and refreshing. Please ignore the weird-looking cans, they were selling these at a discount due to a technical hiccup with the can-sealing machine. It had no impact on the flavour, I assure you!

I also grabbed a jar of their shoyu koji condiment, and it’s added a delicious salty umami balance to chicken so far and I intend to put it on a pork loin as soon as I have the energy to cook!

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Eliane Oba Ceramica

Since I live between two households at the moment, I am trying to avoid buying large housewares, especially fragile ones, so my original plan was to buy two handmade hashioki, or chopstick rests. These lovely black fan-shaped ones have an imprinted seigaiha design and I thought I was set. Until this teacup called my name. “Diaaaane,” it said. “Look at my beautiful glaaaaze. Taaaake me wiiiith you.”

How could I say no to such a gorgeous cup? I’ll just have to make sure to pack it well when I bring it to California! Eliane also included two sets of lovely bamboo chopsticks, which I don’t need but still appreciate!

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KotoAn Wagashi

I’ve had KotoAn’s wagashi offerings before, and they never fail to impress. They typically make a variety of nerikiri sweets with different flavours of filling, from anko to yuzu to raspberry. They’re always a pleasure to eat – the only negative is cutting into the beautiful designs!

I shared this box with my folks, don’t worry, I did not eat them all by myself in one sitting!

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Lam Atelier

Kat, the artist behind Lam Atelier, makes adorable prints, shirts, pins, stickers, and all sorts of merch based on traditional and kawaii imagery from all over Asia.

I of course selected this adorable maneki-neko pins, but I was very tempted by the hilarious Buff Sanrio character stickers.

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Miya Candles

Miya Candles is a one-woman operation, and she makes the most charming variety of hand poured, scented candles. I could not resist the funny little  Daruma face here. The scent throw on these is excellent – he’s been sitting on my dresser since I bought him and the fragrance is still noticeable in my entire bedroom.

All of her candles are at least this adorable, if not cuter, definitely worth a look!

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Sakao Tea

This tea could not have come at a better time! I’ve purchased from Sakao before and am always happy with their offerings, but this yuzu-pepper-sencha blend has been a gift from the heavens with my congestion this week. It’s bright and crisp without being uncomfortably spicy. I would drink this by itself, especially as a sick-day pick me up, or with a nice spicy meal. Something it could stand on its own with. I would bet it would also be lovely used in a rub or marinade!

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Thé Gurus

Thés Gurus is another brand I have tried before and know I enjoy, but when I saw this little set of pre-measured matcha and cute little shaker, I was influenced, as they say. As someone who spends so much time travelling back and forth, it will be really nice to have an in-transit option that isn’t an over-sweetened coffee chain matcha latte. This is proper, high-grade ceremonial matcha, just packaged for convenience.

Admittedly I’m not a huge fan of single-use packets but at least they are recyclable!

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Tokusen.Store

Tokusen is a high-end direct-from-Japan importer of sauces, marinades, and cooking products. I’ve been wanting to review a selection of their offerings for quite some time now and never got around to it, so when I saw they were going to be selling at this market I made a point of grabbing a variety. I will be doing a proper review of these all when I’ve had the opportunity to use them all a few times. The products I purchased are:

This entry will be updated once the full review is live!

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There was also a booth with tons of gacha machines, and I’m proud to say that I did not succumb! I also stopped by Kimono Yuki‘s booth but behaved and only bought a fan because I was overheated, no textiles. Mostly because I just have no dang space at the moment.

After shopping we grabbed dinner at the Time Out market. I just had to share how beautiful this dang poke bowl from Le Blossom was. Look at it! So fresh and bright, and the flavours absolutely lived up to the aesthetic.

Please forgive any typos or nonsense in this entry – I read over it and spell-checked multiple times but I am still very sick and also incredibly distracted by a hockey game.

Field Trip – Wabi Sabi Japan Living, Palm Springs CA

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If you follow any of my social media where I post short-form videos, you have seen my quick 360 tour of Wabi Sabi Japan Living in Palm Springs recently. If you’re not following my socials, you might be missing out on fun things!

I have been wanting to check out this store since I first started visiting Keith here in southern California, but it just never worked out until recently. We’re typically in the Palm Springs area in the evenings and the shop closes at 5. But recently we made a point of heading out that way specifically so I could browse, and I’m so happy I did!

When you first walk in, you’re greeted with a beautiful abundance of handmade ceramics and a wall of more adorable chopsticks than you could begin to imagine. There is also a fantastic selection of books, from art and ikebana to a huge variety of cookbooks. I fell in love with Japan Style but could not justify it at the time, and then Keith sneakily grabbed me a copy for Christmas. As they say, to be seen is to be loved. ♥

 

Facing the back wall, there is an absolutely breathtaking assortment of Japanese ceramics and dishware, in a very reasonable range of prices. You can purchase individual plates or full sets if you’re setting up a home or redoing your entire kitchen. There were so many pieces I wanted to take home, but both money and storage space are at a premium in my life right now so I had to exercise restraint. I particularly fell in love with some of the more earthy, textured pieces and some delicate mino ware floral bowl sets. If and when we’re ever lucky enough to have a larger kitchen and room for entertaining, I know exactly where I will be going to stock up!

As you head deeper into this little treasure trove, you’ll find the food and drinks. There’s a fantastic selection of dry goods, condiments, teas, sauces, and then a more grown-up section featuring Japanese whisky, gin, and sake options as well as a few specialty liqueurs. I’m a sucker for whisky so I’ve added a few to my list of things to try when my current selection has run dry. Let me know if you’d be interested in reviews of Japanese brands of alcohol, particularly sake and whisky!

At the far end of the store you’ll likely find the staff. The shop is owned by partners Darrell and Osamu (Sam). I spoke to Sam briefly on the phone and met Darrell in person when I went, along with a few other lovely store employees. Everyone there is incredibly friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful. They’ll be happy to welcome you in and either let you browse or offer up suggestions if you’re overwhelmed by the beautiful variety of products!

If you’re curious to see what treasures made it home with me, here is my haul!

As you can see, I couldn’t wait to crack into the crystallised shoyu. I put it on tamagoyaki and it’s so good. I can see it working with so many different foods! I will likely do more detailed reviews of the incense sampler and the tea in the future if you are curious!

If you’re in the Palm Springs area, I highly suggest checking out Wabi Sabi Japan Living! They’re open from 11 to 5 every day, and can be found at 300 N Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92262.

Just for clarity, I was not compensated in any way for this post. I contacted them beforehand to make sure they would be alright with being featured, and making sure I had permission to photograph, but there was no other discussion or promotional agreement of any sort. These opinions are all straight from my heart, as always!

Biku Designs Recycled Kimono Jewellery

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I’ve been admiring the jewellery from Biku Designs for quite a while now. Owned and created in Tokyo by a lovely woman named Victoria Close, all the beautiful items are made using recycled kimono fabric and representing the values of mottainai. Between gift shopping during the holidays and making more practical purchases like tatoushi and arms for the mannequin I didn’t have much of a budget for pretty fun things. However, to celebrate the new year they released a fukurobuko (福袋), or lucky bag. This a tradition where vendors will offer a bag or bundle with a surprise selection of products available for a really steep discount.

I snatched one up right away, knowing it would give me a lovely variety of items to wear and feature, and I’m so glad I did. The items arrived well-packaged in a lovely little custom bag, emphasising the fukubukuro aspect of the bundle, which was a lovely touch. Each item inside was separately wrapped in red tissue, which made unwrapping it feel like a special event.

I kind of wish I’d waited to open it so I could take better photos, but it arrived while I was at work and I was so excited and impatient I ended up tearing into it and only snapped a few photos on my phone. Today, though, I made sure to take better photos that really show off the beauty of each item.

First was a beautiful fabric cuff, tied in a knot that reminds me of an obijime. I love that there’s a chain on this, because I’ve got very broad wrists and a lot of times bracelets are snug on me. Making this so adjustable is a very thoughtful finishing detail.

Next are a beautiful pair of stud earrings with embedded kimono fabric. You can tell Victoria put a lot of care and attention into these, as the patterns are perfectly balanced. I don’t typically wear stud earrings but they’re all my mother wears and I know she’ll love these, so I’m happy to give them to her.

The third item is a brooch, and again the attention to detail is obvious. The underside is just as well-finished as the top is, and the pattern feels balanced. This will also work very well as an obidome, and I can’t wait to pair it with an outfit!

Last up are a pair of french wire earrings with blue and white fabric under resin cabochons. These are the sorts of earrings I love and wear quite frequently, and I know these will be a cherished part of my regular rotation.

Every single item is clearly made with an abundance of care and attention. There’s not a single messy or unfinished edge to be seen, and everything feels delicate while remaining solid and wearable. If you’re looking for accessories with a bit of wa flair to add to your everyday wardrobe, or a gift for someone who loves Japanese textiles, I definitely recommend checking out Biku Designs.

I love all the items included, and the colours feel very “me” – blues and greens, like my hair! I had been in contact with Victoria before, and included a link to this blog but I have no idea if she actually selected the items for each bag or if it was just a happy accident. Either way, I’m thrilled!

You can find Biku Designs on their website, facebook, instagram, and twitter. Unfortunately the lucky bags are sold out, but there will be plenty of new stock on the website in the near future.

 I purchased this item myself and chose to review it.If you have a topically appropriate craft, product, or service you would like me to review, please contact me.