In this third post on an exclusive washi dealer HAIBARA with over 200 years of history, I would like to feature their existing store in Nihonbashi, Tokyo that is filled with some of the finest washi papers you can find and all the beautiful paper goods and crafted items of Japanese washi paper.
The HAIBARA store is currently run at a temporary space as there has been a huge development going on in Nihonbashi where the original HAIBARA store building was, right next to where their temporary store is until the new store opens in 2015.
Once you walk past the Noren (Japanese fabric divider that is widely used by stores on their entrance door in Japan) and into their store, you will be amazed to see a tremendous number of envelopes, paper pockets and letter sets! Among all the wonderful washi products they carry at the HAIBARA store, what catches your eyes most would probably be the traditional ceremonial envelopes in the counter showcases and on shelves.
These envelopes called noshi envelopes are generally used for giving money as gifts on all sorts of occasions. You can see so many different mizuhiki designs which are tied around the noshi envelopes as decorations.
Mizuhiki is meant to enhance the happiness of person who receives the gifts and the size of the envelopes and the grandness of the mizuhiki decoration must be carefully chosen for the amount of money that is going to go inside the envelopes. This kind of thing is sometimes difficult to understand but the knowledgeable staff at the HAIBARA store will assist you and they even do the beautiful calligraphy for you to write your names on the envelope, which can be quite embarrassing if you don't have such beautiful hand writing!
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| Special wedding ceremonial items with gorgeous mizuhiki decorations. |
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| Money envelopes for more casual occasions. |
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| These are for mourning occasions. |
I must admit that I had never seen such amazing selection of these traditional envelopes in one place, and they have the best designs with best quality even for the ones used for more casual occasions. Simply mesmerizing!
Below are some of my favourite lovely products made with HAIBARA's original reproduction chiyogami design papers.
The HAIBARA store is well worth a visit as well as the area Nihonbashi which is full of culture and history (
please see this post if you would like to know about Nihonbashi). The good thing is that the washi paper and washi products are fairly light in weight so even if you do a good amount of shopping they will be easy to carry back home in your luggage if you are traveling!
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Original HAIBARA store in their beautiful building that was built around 1930.
Some of the architectural features will be brought into their new store design. |
It is pretty easy to find the HAIBARA store with only a few steps from the C4 or C6 exit of the Nihonbashi station. Be sure to have plenty of time to spend there because it's a true treasure trove especially for the paper lovers like myself!!
HAIBARA WASHI STORE
2-8-11 Nihonbashi Chuo-ku Tokyo 103-0027 (Temporary address until 2015)
Weekday: 10AM - 6:30PM / Saturday: 10AM - 5PM / Closed on Sundays & Public holidays.
See location on Google Map
