Tokyu Hands - "For Your Creative Life"

I went in to Tokyo yesterday for my first explore. I was left pretty speechless by the experience. I'm still finding it hard to describe :) You'll just all have to go see for yourselves.

One thing that is apparent is that with at least half the entire population of Australia living within a 2hr train ride of the centre, almost any obscure niche market becomes worth persuing.

On the recommendation of my friend Andrew, I visited a store called Tokyu Hands, in Shibuya. He knows me pretty well and said, fairly understatedly, that I would like it. So I found the place (after wandering around Shibuya, reeling off photos like the dazed tourist I was) and went in. About maybe 3 hours later when I came to, the cow was gone, and in my hand I had a bag of magic beans...

Tokyu Hands calls itself the Creative Life Store - and that pretty much describes what it is.

If you are involved in any creative persuit then this place Has What You Need. It even has stuff you didnt even know you needed, till they placed it on a shelf in front of you.





Needless to say, it melted my brain, and I walked out some hours later a happy man with a lighter wallet and a bag of raw dream-stuff.



























Sadly, I could only maintain consciousness long enough to take photos of the "engineering supplies" section. They also have a full blown workshop, and will cut, bend, drill, dovetail any materials you buy in the store to your specifications. metal, wood, plastic. AND the most incredible range of tools ive ever seen anywhere. AND a design workshop, where they will print, cut and laser carve(!) stuff for you.

The place is 8 floors in all, divided into sub floors. These photos were just from one section of one floor. Their paper-art section was amazing too. As was the lapidary and jewellery making section, the woodwork section, the cooking supplies section, architectural modelling supplies, etc. ad infinitum.



And the english Store Guide points out that each floor has a "Counselling Centre" - presumably to help people come to terms with the experience. Or perhaps just to deal with people found wandering aimlessly through the store, with no recollection of who they were or how they got there...



Ill leave you with a picture of the booty. Bear in mind that this was just my first visit. Once ive trained rigourously for many weeks, prepared myself mentally, written my name, address and phone number down on a bit of paper pinned to my shirt, I'll be right back there.

"When you can snatch this Number 2 Micro-Torx Driver from my hand, only *Then* will you be ready..."