In the I-totally-don’t-need-this-but-am-strangely-compelled-to-buy-it-anyway category, these square fruit balloons are a quirky modern take on kami fusen, a cheap, Meiji-era toy. Of course, in true ultra-Japanese style, they’re made of paper!
If you’ve become remotely infected with the burning desire to buy some square fruit balloons for yourself, they’re sold at the Cibone store in the (otherwise utterly tedious) Ginza Six shopping complex in Tokyo for ¥800 per pack.
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“A fascinating mix of history and mystery.” —Booklist
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly e-magazine Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
Only In Japan 
These are gorgeous! How surprising! 🙂
Kinda cool. D ❣️🍵
Sent from my iPhone
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Hi Jonelle
I am enjoying your posts and especially your shibori . I gather you must be also be a textile artist and/or quilter/sewer/ I love Japanese cottons for quilting! I am wondering if you can give me info on where and how I could find (haven’t been able to find on internet) quilting fabrics by the designer Itaya Naomi. I am including pictures of some of her fabrics as an example. Was available in the U.S. a while back and then \I was told that stores in |North America were no longer able to get it. I am wondering if you have ever come across this designers quilting fabric and if, where I can find it and general pricing. Any resources would be appreciated. Thank you so much. I look forward to hearing back by email at ev.fonn@hotmail.com
Claudette (B.C. Canada
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Hi Claudette! So great to cross paths with another lover of textiles & quilts! I haven’t had time to do much sewing since I started being nose to the grindstone on book deadlines, but a quick search turned up quite a few Itaya Naomi fabrics on Etsy. If you go to etsy.com and search, you might find what you’re looking for. As fabric stores become even more scarce than bookstores, I’ve been finding more and more of what I need online. It’s a bit tricky to know if the weight and hand of the fabric are right for what you want to use it for, but once you get a feel for what various terms mean to various sellers, there’s a wide world of good stuff to choose from now. Good luck finding what you’re looking for, and I’d love to see what you make!