Treasures from Japan

Ahh, treasures from Japan.

When we lived in Beijing, I became very close to the most amazing Japanese woman - Megumi-san. Alas, two years into our posting, she disbanded for Tokyo and I had to finish the rest of our posting without her, which meant my time there went from absolutely awesome to just plain old awesome.

Since returning to Tokyo, Megumi has indulged my deep love of all things Japanese (including my obsession with several of its festivals, like Tanabata and Setsubun) by sending me gorgeous things like faux cherry blossoms and patterned fabric and stickers to die for.

When Husband went to Tokyo last week, Megumi loaded him up with treasures that had me flipping and flopping whimsically all over the couch. Just look at these precious things...

The water calendar features a teensy Eiffel Tower (Megumi and I have a thing for Paris), the Patapata calendar (I have several of these) features sweet cakes to tempt the tastebuds on your eyeballs, and the traditional Japanese calendar has sheets of gorgeous paper slipped into a little plastic holder.

Sigh. So lucky that I need to have a calendar in every room of the house unless I tragically forget which day I'm living. If you're wondering what the catlike thing is - it mews until you pick it up (or throw it out the window) but it really is adorable. Ella loves it, but then she'd love a piece of recycled garbage if it was in the shape of a cat (or horse, or rabbit).

Honestly, there's so much to become obsessed over in Japan, from the food to the sights to its very way of life. When we visited Tokyo in 2007, I honestly became obsessed with the range of magnificent calendars (I think I bought eight, and that was showing restraint) and other papergoods. Oh, they do papergoods so well. Even when wrapping things.

So, thank you, Megi for indulging my paper passion, along with my favourite toe-socks, stickers, origami paper, Japanese candy and even a lucky waving cat (so kitsch - I seriously love these things).

I miss you, Megi. Thank you for the gorgeous treasures. When can I come and live with you?

x