Gifts and souvenirs

Tokyo · Paper and stationery

Haibara

A paper house founded in 1806 that sells washi paper, small envelopes and postcards in the house's own designs. A pad for short letters with illustrations by the artist Takehisa Yumeji costs ¥660, and a pack of five small gift envelopes (pochi-bukuro) ¥495. The shop is above exit B6 of Nihonbashi Station, and is open on weekdays 10:00 to 18:30 and on weekends until 17:30. It is closed on Japan's national holidays.

¥660 · ≈ $4MapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026

About this place and what is nearby

Tokyo · Paper and stationery

Isetatsu Yanaka

A publisher of chiyogami paper, paper decorated with traditional Japanese patterns, founded in 1864. A pack of 30 sheets measuring 12 by 12 cm, ten patterns in three copies each, costs ¥1,155 in the official online shop, and you cannot choose the patterns. The shop also has envelopes, fans and paper toys. It is open every day, about a five-minute walk from the Dangozaka exit of Sendagi Station.

¥1,155 · ≈ $7MapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026

About this place and what is nearby

Tokyo · Incense

Kyukyodo Ginza

A house founded in 1663 in Kyoto as a medicinal-herb shop, which began making incense around 1700 and has been in Ginza since 1880. Today it specializes in incense, letter paper, postcards, envelopes for gift money and calligraphy tools. A box of incense sticks starts at about ¥825, and small scent sachets for the wardrobe from ¥176. The main branch in Ginza is open every day 11:00 to 19:00, except 1 to 3 January.

¥825 · ≈ $5MapsSource

✓ Price checked October 2026

About this place and what is nearby

Tokyo · Japanese sweets

Toraya Akasaka

The main store of Toraya, a maker of Japanese sweets whose signature product is yokan, a sweet bar of red bean paste. A box of five small yokan costs ¥1,782. The store is open on weekdays 9:00 to 18:00 and on weekends and holidays from 9:30, and closed on the 6th of every month except December. According to Toraya, sealed yokan keeps at room temperature and can be eaten up to a year after the date on the package.

¥1,782 · ≈ $11MapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026

About this place and what is nearby

Tokyo · Lacquerware

Kuroeya

A shop for Japanese lacquerware (urushi) that has been in business in Nihonbashi for more than 300 years, and sells bowls, trays and chopsticks from different production regions in Japan. A round personal tray in real lacquer in the Negoro style, made in Yamanaka, costs ¥17,050, and chopsticks cost much less. The shop is on the second floor of the Kuroeya Kokubu Building, about a minute's walk from exit B9 of Nihonbashi Station. It is open only on weekdays 9:00 to 18:00, and closed on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

¥17,050 · ≈ $108MapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026

About this place and what is nearby

Tokyo · Knives

Kama-asa Shoten

A kitchenware shop on Kappabashi street, founded in 1908, that sells Japanese knives alongside iron pans, rice pots and sharpening stones. A santoku knife, the all-purpose Japanese knife, starts at about ¥14,700, and most models cost more. The shop engraves a name for free on a knife bought there, and is open every day 11:00 to 17:30, except the last day of the month when it closes at 16:30. Knives go only in checked luggage.

¥14,740 · ≈ $93MapsSource

✓ Price checked November 2026

About this place and what is nearby

Tokyo · Knives

Ubukeya

A blade shop in business since 1783 that makes and sells knives, scissors and tweezers. Hair tweezers with a tip 2 mm wide cost ¥4,400, and scissors and kitchen knives cost much more. The shop is open 9:00 to 18:00, on Saturdays until 17:00, and closed on Sundays and holidays, and it also takes in tools for maintenance and repair. Knives and large scissors go only in checked luggage.

¥4,400 · ≈ $28MapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026

About this place and what is nearby

Tokyo · Textiles

Kamawanu Daikanyama

The first Kamawanu shop, opened in 1987, which permanently stocks more than 250 patterns of tenugui, a thin cotton towel that you can also use for wrapping or hang as decoration. Most of the towels cost ¥1,430, and there are also furoshiki cloths for wrapping gifts. The shop is open 11:00 to 19:00, on Sundays until 18:00, and closed on Tuesdays. Kamawanu also has a branch in Asakusa, which is also closed on Tuesdays.

¥1,430 · ≈ $9MapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026

About this place and what is nearby

Kyoto · Knives

Aritsugu

A maker of knives and kitchen tools whose main store sits in Nishiki Market. A santoku knife 18 cm long is listed in its price list at ¥28,600, but the price list is current as of May 2025 and the company writes that prices may change. Aritsugu's website says that the name engraving service, offered in the past, has been discontinued. The shop is open 10:00 to 17:00 with new sales until 16:30, closed on Wednesdays, and knives go only in checked luggage.

¥28,600 · ≈ $181MapsSource

Kyoto · Tea

Ippodo Tea Kyoto Main Store

A tea house in business since 1717, with a main store and a tearoom in Kyoto. From 1 October 2026 the cheapest tin of matcha, 20 grams, costs ¥864 instead of ¥648, and most types of tea go up by tens of percent, some of them up to double. Because of the matcha shortage the company continues to limit quantities, so you cannot always buy several tins of the same type. Ippodo also has shops in Tokyo, in Marunouchi and in Aoyama.

¥864 · ≈ $5MapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026

Kyoto · Incense

Shoyeido Kyoto Main Store

An incense maker whose main store has been operating in the same place, south of the Imperial Palace, for more than 300 years. A box of 20 sticks from the Horikawa series, with a soft sandalwood scent, costs ¥1,100. Scent sachets for which you choose the fragrance and the fabric bag are sold only in this store and in the branches in Osaka and Ginza. The store is open every day 9:00 to 18:00 and closed only at the start of the year.

¥1,100 · ≈ $7MapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026

Kyoto · Chopsticks

Ichiharaheibei Shoten

A chopstick shop in business since 1764 that stocks more than 400 types, for everyday eating, for tea ceremony meals and for cooking. A pair of ironwood chopsticks 23 cm long costs ¥2,640, and a pair of hand-carved rosewood ones ¥4,180. The shop is on Sakaimachi street south of Shijo, and is open on weekdays 10:00 to 18:30 and on Sundays and holidays 11:00 to 18:00. It also has irregular closing days, so it is worth calling before you come.

¥2,640 · ≈ $17MapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026

Kyoto · Fans

Miyawaki Baisen-an

A fan maker in business since 1823 that itself makes almost everything it sells, from hand fans to decorative fans. A folding fan for summer starts at about ¥4,400. On the ceiling of the second floor of the main store there are 48 fan paintings from 1902 by painters from Kyoto. The store is open every day 10:00 to 18:00 and closed between 29 December and 4 January, and it also has a branch in Ginza.

¥4,400 · ≈ $28MapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026

Kyoto · Tea ware

Kaikado

A workshop that has been making by hand since 1875 round tea caddies of tinplate, copper and brass, whose lid closes by itself when you line up the seams. A caddy with a capacity of 40 grams, which according to the company is used mainly for matcha, costs ¥21,450 in each of the three materials. The main store is open 9:00 to 18:00 and closed on Sundays, Mondays and holidays. When you order from the website the delivery time is long, because every caddy is made by hand.

¥21,450 · ≈ $136MapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026

Kyoto · Textiles

Eirakuya Hosotsuji Ihee Shoten

A cotton cloth merchant founded in 1615 that today sells tenugui and furoshiki, some of them in old designs of the house that were reprinted. A tenugui measuring 91 by 36 cm costs ¥3,520. The main store is on Muromachi street, about a three-minute walk from Karasuma-Oike Station, and is open 10:00 to 19:00. Eirakuya has more branches in Kyoto, among them in Gion, on Shijo street and in Kyoto Station.

¥3,520 · ≈ $22MapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026

Osaka · Knives

Sakai Ichimonji Mitsuhide

A Sakai knife shop on the kitchenware street Doguyasuji in Namba, which also sells sharpening stones and cutting boards. A santoku knife starts at about ¥14,400. A name is engraved free on a knife bought in the shop, in Latin letters too, and a knife cannot be returned or exchanged after engraving. The shop is open on weekdays 9:30 to 18:30 and on weekends and holidays 10:30 to 18:30, and knives go only in checked luggage.

¥14,400 · ≈ $91MapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026

Osaka · Food

Konbu Doi

A kombu seaweed shop on the Karahori shopping street that has been in business for more than a hundred years, and sells natural kombu of the makonbu type from Hokkaido, from which dashi stock is cooked. A bag of 30 grams of cut natural kombu costs ¥600, and there is also seasoned kombu for snacking and dashi concentrate in a bottle. The shop is open 9:30 to 18:00 and closed on Sundays and holidays.

¥600 · ≈ $4MapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026

Osaka · Japanese sweets

Tsuruya Hachiman Osaka Main Store

A maker of Japanese sweets that opened a shop in Osaka in 1863, and its main store is in the Imabashi district. The sweet identified with the house is Hyakuraku, a monaka: two crisp wafers filled with bean paste, and five pieces cost ¥1,242. From 1 September 2026 the house raised prices on some of its products. The store is open on weekdays 8:30 to 19:00 and on weekends and holidays until 17:00, and its tearoom is closed on weekends and holidays.

¥1,242 · ≈ $8MapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026

Nara · Handicraft

Nakagawa Masashichi Shoten Nara Main Store

The flagship store of Nakagawa Masashichi, a company from Nara that sells housewares and handicraft products from all over Japan. Its well-known item is the hana-fukin, a thin kitchen cloth that costs ¥880. The store is open every day 10:00 to 19:00, about an eight-minute walk from Kintetsu Nara Station.

¥880 · ≈ $6MapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026

Nara · Sake

Harushika (Imanishi Seibee Shoten)

A sake brewery that has been making sake since 1884, and its shop in the Naramachi district sits in a building that was once part of the brewery. According to the Nara city website, a tasting of several types of sake costs ¥700 per person, with no reservation, between 10:00 and 16:30. The shop is open 10:00 to 17:00 and also sells sake-based sweets, for those who do not drink.

¥700 · ≈ $4MapsSource

Kanazawa · Gold leaf

Hakuichi Higashiyama

A branch of Hakuichi, a gold leaf maker from Kanazawa, in the building of an old public bathhouse in the Higashi Chaya district. A small tube of edible gold flakes (0.03 grams) for decorating food costs ¥2,160, and keeps for a year from the production date. The shop is open every day 9:00 to 18:00 and the cafe until 17:00. Soft-serve ice cream wrapped in a whole sheet of gold leaf, sold on site, started at this branch.

¥2,160 · ≈ $14MapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026

Kanazawa · Gold leaf

Kinpaku-ya Sakuda

A gold leaf maker near the Higashi Chaya district that sells gold products and runs a gold leaf application workshop. The cheap item is oil blotting papers for the face, made from the paper used in beating the gold: 30 sheets cost ¥385. The workshop lasts about an hour, four times a day from 9:00, and participants get a 10 percent discount on purchases in the shop that day. The shop is open 9:00 to 17:00, and the hours change with the season.

¥385 · ≈ $2MapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026

Uji · Tea

Nakamura Tokichi Honten

A tea house in Uji whose main store combines a tea shop and a cafe. A 30-gram tin of matcha starts at ¥1,980, and the expensive types reach tens of thousands of yen. From 1 September 2026 the company raised prices on some of its products. The shop and the cafe are open 10:00 to 17:30, admission to the cafe closes at 16:00, and there are no advance reservations.

¥1,980 · ≈ $13MapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026

Uji · Tea

Tsuen Tea

A tea house that according to the company was founded in 1160, and sits at the eastern end of Uji Bridge, across from Keihan Uji Station. A tin of Fujikage matcha, 30 grams, costs ¥2,376, and there are also gyokuro, sencha and tea-flavored soba noodles. The shop is open every day 10:30 to 17:30, and last order in the tearoom is at 16:00.

¥2,376 · ≈ $15MapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026