Home and Cafe Brands We Bought in Japan

BrandsWalk Creative |
Japan has a way of doing that thing where you walk into a store "just to look" and leave with three bags and a completely revised opinion of what everyday objects can be. Good design is everywhere there, tucked into quiet side streets in Kyoto, hiding in concept stores in Omotesando, stacked on shelves in places you'd never find without a local tip.

Some of these picks are practical. Some are purely for the joy of owning something beautifully made. Most are a little bit of both, which is honestly the best kind of thing to bring home.

Here are a few things that made the cut.

Ogawa Coffee Grinds and Drip Bag Set

First stop: Ogawa Coffee in Shimokitazawa. If you've ever been to this neighborhood, you already know it has a certain energy that's hard to describe, part record store, part vintage market, part the best coffee you've had all year. Ogawa fits right in. The combination of thoughtful interiors, genuinely warm service, and exceptional beans made this an easy purchase.

The Guatemala El Injerto was a barista recommendation, chosen for its fruity, deep flavor profile, and it delivered. The drip bag set comes with five of their most popular beans and makes for a great gift for any coffee lover. If you find yourself in Tokyo, the Shimokitazawa location is not one to skip.

PAMM x Hasami Coffee Mug

This one is a collaboration between Hasami, the renowned Japanese ceramics brand, and PAM, a clothing and lifestyle label with one of the most interesting retail spaces in the city. Their store in Omotesando is a renovated traditional Japanese home over a hundred years old, with the original wooden structure preserved and green metallic accents woven throughout. PAM leans toward women's apparel, but their homeware and lifestyle collection is worth a look. This Hasami mug, with its blue illustrative patterning, is the kind of everyday cup that quietly makes your morning routine feel a little more considered.

Nakamura Tokichi Honten Matcha Set

A last-minute detour to Uji, the matcha capital of Japan, turned out to be one of the best decisions of the trip. Nakamura Tokichi Honten is a well-regarded matcha brand with deep roots in the region, and a visit to their cafe makes it immediately clear why. Two matcha tins, Hiroha No Shiro and Jingai No Mukashi, along with their Sencha tea leaves made it into the bag. Bold, refreshing, and genuinely complex in flavor. One heads-up: the lines can get long, so arrive early.

Homeware

APFR Room Tag

APFR, short for Apotheke Fragrance, is a Japanese fragrance and lifestyle brand best known for their incense sticks, holders, and candles, each carrying hints of traditional Japanese scent. The closet tag was an easy choice for travel, small enough to slip into the luggage without a second thought.

Hang it on a door handle in your closet, bedroom, or bathroom and let it do its thing. The Oakmoss and Amber fragrance has been quietly doing a great job in the bathroom ever since. Multiple locations across Tokyo if you want to explore the full range in person.

Studio The Blue Boy Musubi Pillow

Studio The Blue Boy has been on the radar for a while, initially for their incense holders. On this trip, a new pillow collection had just launched, and there was exactly one left in stock at Nubian Torannomon Hills. It came home that same day.

The salon pink pinstripe colorway is the kind of thing that photographs well but looks even better in person. You tie it into a knot, place it on the bed or sofa, and somehow it manages to be both a comfortable pillow and a genuine design statement.

ILKW Snowman 22 in Butter

ILKW is a lighting brand out of South Korea that has been difficult to track down in the US. Finding their products at General Furnishings Co in Tokyo felt like a small victory.

The Snowman 22 is their largest table lamp in the Snowman series, finished in a pastel yellow called Butter that works in just about any setting. USB-C powered, easy to live with, and genuinely beautiful to look at every day.

Lind DNA Coasters

These came from the gift shop of a Hans J. Wegner design exhibition visited during the trip. Lind DNA is a Danish brand, and these coasters are exactly what you'd expect from that tradition: simple, well-made, and thoughtfully colored. Sometimes the best finds are the ones you weren't looking for.

Rabbit Chopstick Holders

Found at a small ceramics store in Higashiyama Ward in Kyoto. The shopkeeper was warm and had an impressive range of rabbit-themed ceramics on display. These chopstick holders are small, light, and just the right amount of fun for a dining table. Exactly the kind of thing that's easy to pack and easy to love once you're home.

Penco Clips and Tape Measure

Penco is a sub-brand of Hightide, a Japanese stationery company that started in Fukuoka back in 1994. The retro styling and color selection on both the clips and the portable tape measure are hard to resist. The clips have found a home holding coffee bags, receipts, and polaroids. If well-designed stationery is your thing, Hightide Store in Miyashita Park in Shibuya is worth the visit.

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