Wednesday, December 19, 2012

CHRISTMAS GIFT GIVEAWAY!


We are grateful for all who have spread the world about UGUiSU on blogs/tumblr/pinterest/instagram/twitter/facebook (so amazing!) and to our loyal customers making this year an incredible one for UGUiSU.

To say thank you for your wonderful support for 2012, we would like to host a Christmas Gift Giveaway! The package will not arrive before Christmas, or will not even arrive before the year ends, but a surprise package all the way from Japan in the mail might be nice to receive in the New Year?

If you would like to participate in this giveaway, please leave a comment on this post, or on our facebook page and 3 lucky winners will receive a special gift :)
We would be so grateful if you would share this with your friends and family!

Entry will close midnight 28th December (JST).



Thank you so much for participating in this giveaway, I read and appreciated each of your comment and they all made me so happy!

Here are the 3 lucky winners!
G, Florencia Pereiro & Fiona Ling - Congratulations♡

Arigatou gozaimashita!!



ARIGATO & MERRY CHRISTMAS!


P.S.
We will be shipping orders until 30th December this year. Businesses in Japan do not go on holidays for Christmas but for New Year.
Orders received before 28th December will be shipped before our New Year holidays, orders received after 29th December will be shipped in the week of 7th January 2013!

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

NEW KOKESHI ITEMS



Have you heard of KOKESHI?? Kokeshi are Japanese traditional handcrafted wooden folk art dolls which are originally from northern Japan. These has been some kind of kokeshi fad here in Japan and the adorable kokeshi doll designs are used in numbers of stationery and zakka items. At UGUiSU we have selected some lovely kokeshi items to share with the rest of the world! Hope you enjoy them!

Adorable mini kokeshi sticky notes by a Kyoto based artist Mihoko Seki.
Fun and cute kokeshi letter set by Mihoko Seki
Ex Libris / bookplate stickers (pack of 20) by Mihoko Seki
Kokeshi mini writing pad and evelope packs
kokeshi card with round windowed envelope by takeo takei
kokeshi paper bag (pack of 3) by takeo takei
craft paper kokeshi notebook by takeo takei
COCHAE kokeshi pochibukuro mini envelope/paper pocket with a card
Yonagadou kokeshi plastic bags (pack of 10)
Yonagadou kokeshi handkerchief/wrapping cloth
the cloth can be used as scarf or as wrapping cloth like furoshiki

Adorable aren't they! You can see the entire KOKESHI collection here on UGUiSU online store.

Now orders are not guaranteed to arrive before 25 December when standard or registered airmail shipping option is selected as delivery time can take longer than usual during the holiday season. Please select EMS shipping option if you would like to receive your order before Christmas. For orders over $80 (before shipping and point discount) free shipping upgrade from REGISTERED airmail to EMS will be applied. But please hurry!!!!

Monday, November 26, 2012

ORDER NOW TO RECEIVE BEFORE CHRISTMAS!


I can't believe it's already the season, but now is the time to start thinking about Christmas! Delivery time is never guaranteed when standard or registered airmail is selected but during the holiday season delivery time for international shipping can take longer than normal time, so we recommend you place your orders as soon as possible (preferably before 30 November) if you would like your orders to arrive before 25th December using standard or registered airmail!

You can also set the recipients' address to other than yours so we can directly ship what you purchase to your friends and family worldwide! If you would like to include a message you can tell us in the remark box upon checkout.

You can still place your orders after 1st December to receive before 25th December, but we recommend you select EMS shipping option which should take less than a week to reach most parts of the world. But please also allow up to 5 business days before your orders are dispatched.

I hope you enjoy shopping with UGUiSU!!


HERE IS A QUICK HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE FROM UGUISU!

Squirrels Forest Japanese Washi Tape 3 Roll Set $8.50

Limited Edition Christmas Washi Tape 3 Roll Set {Pink x Gold}

Paper Ornament / Gift Tag Set

Wood Tape Dispensers $34

HAIBARA Chiyogami Washi Hexagonal Pen Stand $13

NANAO Japanese Candles (Set of 5 with Cast Iron Holder) $40

Japanese Nanohana Rapeseed Wax Candles Box Set $26
Fog Linen Work Linen Coated Trays $24

Furoshiki Wrapping Cloth - Maze, Cinnabar and Navy by Hannah Waldron $48

Mini Size Washi Tape 8 Roll Set $14

Japanese Paper Balloon {Decoration Set}


ENJOY!

Mentioned in a Danish Interior magazine BoligLiv



Some of the items from UGUiSU online store were included in the DIY feature about gift wrapping in a danish Magazine called BoligLiv (I think it's our second appearance in this lovely magazine?)

In these photos you see a lovely wrapping paper by a Kyoto based artist Kozue Natsuko. The design it was featured in the magazine has already sold out but other designs are going to be restocked this weekend!

Thank you Lisa for including items from UGUiSU for BoligLiv!


Credits:
Idea: Lisa Grue / Photos: Denis Sytmen for BoligLiv.

Monday, November 19, 2012

HAIBARA #04 - Beautiful Stationery and Crafted Washi Items

This post on HAIBARA, a long established washi store of Nihonbashi Tokyo, will be the last sponsor post series and this time I would like to introduce some of the most beautiful paper items of HAIBARA which are now available from UGUiSU online store.
HAIBARA Accordion Writing Pad & Envelope Letter Set {Leaping Rabbit} - Photo by HAIBARA
HAIBARA Accordion Writing Pad & Envelope Letter Set {Leaping Rabbit} - Photo by HAIBARA

Seen in the above photos are one of HAIBARA's most popular items, Accordion Writing Pad & Envelope Letter Set (JABARA BINSEN), and it just won the GOOD DESIGN AWARD 2012. In this beautiful packaging included are an accordion style writing pad that is perforated at each fold so that you can torn wherever you like depending on the length of your writing, and also 10 matching Japanese style envelopes. Both the writing pad and envelopes are made to be used vertically in the traditional style, however you can still use them side ways for western writing.

Here are some more items from HAIBARA that are now available online from UGUiSU.

Yumeji Takehisa Writing Notes by HAIBARA
Yumeji Takehisa Washi Writing Pad {Camellia}
Yumeji Takehisa Handmade Washi Post Card Set
Yumeji Takehisa Handmade Washi Post Card Set
Yumeji Takehisa Handmade Washi Post Card Set

These beautiful washi items are designed by Yumeji Takehisa, who is a very famous Japanese poet and painter from the early-20th century. Yumeji was one of the most important designers who worked closely with HAIBARA and produced numbers of excellent designs for their washi product lines. Those thin writing pads are called "ippitsu-sen" which is directly translated to "one line notes" and they are for short messages to include in something you send to someone. Needles to say, very good quality washi paper is used both for the writing notes and the deckle edged handmade washi post cards.

Below are lovely items crafted with HAIBARA's original reproduction chiyogami design papers.
HAIBARA Chiyogami Washi Paper Boxes
HAIBARA Chiyogami Washi Hexagonal Pen Stand
HAIBARA Chiyogami Washi Hexagonal Pen Stand

HAIBARA Chiyogami Washi Origami Paper Set

And the above mentioned Accordion Writing Pad & Envelope Letter Sets, also available in adorable mini size sets!

You can take a look at all the exquisite washi items by HAIBARA here on UGUiSU online store. If you are in Tokyo please do visit HAIBARA store in Nihonbashi, Tokyo where you can see tremendous amount of top class washi paper and crafted washi products!

Also you can see all the four posts on HAIBARA here. I hope you have enjoyed this sponsor post series!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

HAIBARA #03 - HAIBARA Washi Store in Nihonbashi.


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! 

Special wedding ceremonial items with gorgeous mizuhiki decorations.


Money envelopes for more casual occasions.

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!

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