Page 347 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide: Japan

SHOPPING IN JAP AN  345

Wood-Block Prints
Known as ukiyo-e (see p89), wood-block prints are uniquely
Japanese mementoes. Antique and original prints are sold
in specialty shops and can be very expensive; modern repro-
ductions are widely available and often of good quality.

Wood-block print of Mount Fuji
Print of a scene in a women’s bath house by Yoshiiku by Takamizawa
Ironware Toys and Lucky Charms
The center for iron tea kettles (tetsubin) Decorative figures and toys are enormously popular
in Japan is Morioka in Northern Honshu in Japan, and there are plenty to choose from.
(see 281). These items Wooden dolls may be expensive as many are
were orignally handmade and have become
manufactured for collectors’ items.
use in the tea
ceremony. Many are
now mass-produced.
Nonetheless, they Charms
make useful, Charms, such as
durable purchases this classic lucky
but are heavy to cat, are often sold
carry home. at temple and
Iron tea kettle shrine stalls.
Tin robot
Clothing and Textiles
Candy
Kimonos run into tens of thousands of yen to buy new
but will last for years; second-hand ones are more afford- All manner of candy, cookies,
able. Light cotton kimonos, known as yukata, are also less and rice crackers can be found in
expensive to buy. Lengths of silk or hand-dyed fabrics are specialty shops and in depart ment
readily available in department stores. stores. You can usually choose
from a selection and have your
choice decoratively wrapped.
Some tourist sites sell their own
distinctively shaped candy.

Straw-soled sandals

Kimono Fox-printed candy from Cookie shaped
Tsuruoka like a leaf
Boxed Candy
The Japanese
themselves often
give boxes of
candy as
gifts. These
are decorated
as characters
Indigo casual in a Kabuki
jacket and trousers play (see p41).

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