Kuramae has quite a few artisans’ workshops. Sometimes the town is called as Brooklyn in Tokyo. If you visit those workshops, you may find something special is waiting for you. Those crafts are what you cannot find in the ordinary chain stores or branches of large-scale retail shops.
For example, Arkraft is a one-of-a-kind craftsman’s watch shop. All the watches in this store were made by the owner of the shop, the artisan himself. The bands of the watches have antique taste which were imported from Italy.
Arkraft, the Hand-Crafted Watch Shop in Kuramae
Standard watch of Arkraft
Watch by Arkraft
For More Information on Arkraft
Address: 1-7-101, Torigoe 2-chome, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Opening Hrs.: 1pm – 6pm Closed on Sundays and National Holidays.
URL: Though their website is Japanese only, you can see what kind of watches they have.
http://www.arkraft.net
Not so far from Arkraft, there is a wholesaler of ribbons. Mokuba means hobby horse and this shop as an extensive collection of ribbons. When I went there, the shop was already closed so I could only peek from the outside. But even from the outside, you can see they have a huge stockpile.
Mokuba, the Ribbon Wholesaler in Kuramae
I found a website of the catalogue of Mokuba. It is so interesting to see every page. There are so many kinds!
Catalogue of Ribbons of Mokuba
Whether you are a sewer or not, it would be fun to see many different kinds of ribbons. It seems Mokuba is a world-famous ribbon wholesaler and they have oversea showrooms in Paris, New York, Barcelona and Toronto. Fashion brands and artisans of the world love Mokuba ribbons.
For More Information on Mokuba
Address: 16-8 Kuramae 4-chome, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Opening Hrs.: 9am-12pm, 1pm-5:30pm Closed on Sat.& Sun.
All these places I wrote today are near from the spots I wrote in my previous posting.
