Erica Ward is a traditional-media artist and illustrator born in California and residing in Tokyo. As well as selling her original art, Erica creates prints, postcards, stickers and posters from her art work.
Her prints make very affordable gifts and fantastic souvenirs of Japan.
Prints start at ¥1000.
Available online with selected prints and postcard packs at Studio Biku

Mapponica was born from a desire to highlight traditional Japanese paper-making processes, which are slowly being lost in Japan. Each mat board is carefully cut into a patchwork-like map pattern, hand-printed and dyed washi is selected which is then painstakingly adhered to the frame. Mapponica works with 100% Japanese products.
Prices from ¥12,000.
Japan Maps available at Studio Biku and a wider variety of maps online.

From merchandiser at Chanel, Paris to small business owner in Tokyo, Juliette creates one-of-a-kind art pieces with a nod to Japanese pop culture. Her sleeping/ resting Daruma are a fantastic way to bring peace and tranquility to a room, as well as giving you a wonderful talking point.
A selection of Daruma and dioramas are available at Studio Biku.

Melissa Finkenbiner is a cross-disciplined fine artist and metalsmith. Each element of her work is linked by the use of recycled and sustainable materials combined with earthy elements. She creates for  eco-conscious art lovers and for people who want to connect to the global cultures and landscapes she has lived in.
Plastic Water is made from paper molded in the shape of taiyaki fish. Melissa carved her own mold, used paper from scraps from previous art pieces, and combined them with clear plastic waste she saved over the last year and a half. Melissa wanted to give this one time use plastic a second purpose while also bringing awareness of the shear quantity we consume and leave on this planet.
Taiyaki are vailable online with four different colours at Studio Biku.

Perfect projects for holiday quiet time or to kick-start your creativity into the new year. Japanese-themed embroidery kits featuring traditional Japanese designs created by Dominique at Three Houses Designs. Each kit contains everything you need to get started with your project (printed cloth design, hoop, needle, floss and a stitching guide and instructions).
Kits start at ¥2000
Available online as PDF patterns or in kit form at Studio Biku

Kimekomi Bauble Kits come in two different colour-ways with everything included to make two baubles. Also included are the tools you need to make more baubles (craft knife, scissors, craft pick, glue) as well as a detailed instruction sheet.
This is a perfect holiday project for your family and friends.
¥4000 per kit.
Available at Studio Biku while stocks last.

Personally collected and curated vintage paper ephemera by Christina Lopp are included in these one-of-a-kind craft kits. For the creatively crafty people in your life, especially the ones with a strong sense of sustainabilty, these card and sketchbook kits make the perfect gift.
Christina has also thoughtfully included her favourite pens (mine too!) and her favourite glue sticks in the kits. All you need to do to get creative is open the packet.
¥3000 per kit.
Available at Studio Biku

In the Autumn season Studio Biku hosted lots of workshops for the very first time:

• Die-cutting cards and postcards
• Patchwork baubles
• Obi bags with Mikan Bags
• Kimekomi baubles
• Pen Art with Ken Frog
  

Gift a workshop for a friend/ family member or book a private workshop for a group experience.  To find out about the new workshops coming up in 2024, hop on the mailing list to hear about the line-up.
Sign up here.
Book a workshop.

Ito Maki Maki Studio is a freestyle, fiber arts business located in a small town in Nara, Japan founded by Elizabeth O'Brien. All of their beuatiful pieces are woven in their home studio, and as much as possible, use natural, non-synthetic materials. The core belief of Ito Maki Maki is to embrace imperfections and take things slowly.
Often, Elizabeth's two children, who have Down Syndrome, join in the crafting and weaving, in order to equip them with skills and an art expression.
Prices start at ¥12,500
Available online at Ito Maki Maki Studio

North Candles was founded in Hokkaido by husband and wife team, Alex and Mami. All candles are hand-poured and use vegan-friendly soy wax. You have to smell these in person to get the full imapact of how accurately the scents have been captured. The coffee candle smells like a high-end coffee roaster and the vanilla, like a custard pudding!
Prices start at ¥1500 for small candles.
Available online with seasonal selections available at Studio Biku.

Get your living space ready for the winter by adding a touch of colour and texture to a favourite snuggly reading chair or your sofa. Patricia from Tabi Tabi Ya creates beautiful pieces from personally-sourced  vintage kimono, combining different textiles in patchwork. Each piece is a work of art.
Prices start at ¥5800. Available online and a small selection at Studio Biku.

When the nights draw in, pop on a beautiful Kumiko lamp creating a beautiful glow through the authentic Japanese washi paper. Daniel creates each piece by painstakingly cutting wood strips and assembling them in an intricate traditional pattern.
Pieces start at ¥10,000 with a small selection available at Studio Biku.

Blending the old and the new in this fun collection, modern acrylic chain and vintage kimono . Perfect for people with metal allergies and for the colour lovers in your life. Ultra-light with absolutely no fiddly fasteners make these the perfect 'pop-on' for those jeans and tee days or when popping out for lunch or coffee.
Each neckpiece arrives boxed in a branded Bikudesigns box and is completely one-of-a-kind.
Prices start at ¥4000.
Available online and at Studio Biku.

Perfect for day-to-day phone and wallet storage but also ideal for travelling (these fit a passport perfectly!)
Made from authentic vintage obi, personally selected by Clementine, and created into a useful bag with a fully modern twist, incorporating a mesh backing and an adjustable cord strap.
Priced at ¥11,800 with a small selection available at Studio Biku.

A perfect way to organise your personal ephemera in your tote bag. One for your makeup, one for personal items (think painkillers, Band Aids, lip balm, hand sanitiser), one for life admin (bank books, credit cards, bills).
Beautifully made, gorgeously vibrant and all one-of-a-kind made from vintage  kimono and all lined with contrasting fabric.
Prices start at ¥4500.
This collection is available exclusively at Studio Biku

Japan is known for its speciality Kitkats in a host of flavours, many of which are seasonal. How about matcha, match latte, chocolate orange or cheese cake? Melon, sweet potato, strawberry, mint, sake, soy sauce or sakura?  Or even the grillable, Caramel Pudding?!
The packaging in Japan is on another level, but is also over-plentiful (something many peiple despair of). Enter Julie from Chou Chou San who is solving packaging waste one pouch at a time.
Choose your favouraite chocolate memory, cookies or even dog and cat treats- she covers all bases.Sustainability can be fun!
Prices start at ¥1700 (small).
Available online and at Studio Biku

I can't wait for the next event at Tokyo American Club on 16th April.

The Club will be open to the public and 40 amazing creative businesses will be popping up with their wares to bring you a wide selection of Omiyage gifts to take home for your summer holidays.

Here's a list of some of the vendors who will be there:

From Juju With Love
Mapponica Japan
Jikuu Japan
Moniko
Melissa Finkenbiner Fine Art
Erica Ward Illustration
The Handmade Edit
DDs Den
POJ Studio

See you there from 11am-7pm for one day only!

1. Connection with your audience
When people get to know, like and trust you, they are more likely to buy from you. And buy from you again, and again, and again. 1000 true fans are all you need for a fabulously successful handmade business.

2. Building Personal Relationships
Getting an email straight into your inbox is a more intimate experience for your customers than scrolling through Instagram and maybe or maybe not seeing your posts. 

3. You Own Your Email List
What if Facebook and Instagram closed tomorrow? What if your account got deleted? You still have a way to get in front of the people on your list, and as they are your best customers....

4. Less Work
Mailing list subscribers are more invested in your products than social media followers so are more likely to buy. This means you have to create less content for your social channels overall.

5. Your Biggest Asset
Sales are down, in-person events are cancelled, you have a busy month with family situations...whatever spanner in the works that prevents you from making sales can be solved by emailing your list with an offer, launch or event.

6. Longevity
Social media platforms come and go but people hold on to their email addresses for years, even decades.

7. Website analytics
Subscribers are far more likely to click through to your website from your newsletter than they are to find your link in bio or Google you. This helps with your Google ranking too.

8. Repurposing Content
We create so much content in all areas of our business and our followers only see a small percentage of it. Isn't it exhausting? You can add  events, press, podcast appearances, testimonials, new products, blog posts, video links and so much more to your newsletter. I've even added my FAQ page and About Me page from my website to my newsletter.

9. Valuing your community
By adding bits and pieces of valuable content, your community will value you and feel like you value them. Just remember that the content needs to make sense for your brand.
How about adding tutorials, recipes, travel tips, how-to guides, quizzes, checklists, freebies, mini-courses, meet-ups to your newsletters?

10. Valuable feedback
If you want to test a new product or launch something, you'll get a more useful and engaged response from an audience that knows you well. 

BONUS

Accountability
When you write something down and send it out to several hundred people, it's amazing what that does for your motivation to get things done. The feeling of not letting people down can be a great driver for your business.

Hosting monthly trunk shows online was a necessary decision for the survival of my business during Covid-19 times. All in-person events have been cancelled for the foreseeable future, and shipping overseas has been patchy or still closed to some countries. Simply put, my  job is to buy materials, make all the things and then sell them to make a profit for my time, energy and experience. This is my full-time job, my income, not my hobby or charity work.

 Something has been bubbling under the surface for a long time. Something that I think I didn't really want to admit to myself if I'm totally honest.
I left teaching 10 years ago because I couldn't imagine life as a mum and as a full-time educator. This is the hand that many women are dealt after having children but I felt it was an easy choice that was best for the family at that point in time. I already secretly knew that I wanted to set up in business on a full-time basis, having previously had a side-business since being a teen.

It was a juggle with one little one in Nursery and another as a tiny baby. I learned a lot in those first years, more than my brain could take at times. I can't tell you how often I wanted to give it all up, how I had no idea what a brand actually was never mind owning the skills to build one. I was bootstrapping (self-funding) all the way and it was just me, a studio and an extremely supportive hubby. Being a solo business owner in the handmade field means that you have to learn how to become a photographer, graphic designer, writer, social media manager, marketer, accountant, website designer and salesperson. Oh, and design and make products at the same time.

It sounds as if I'm complaining. I'm not. I've never felt freer, more in control or self-motivated in my whole working life. And I should be happy with that right? Well, not exactly. You see the thing I talked about at the beginning, that niggly feeling, that secret fear is that I'm still a teacher after all, despite being out of the classroom for a decade.

I want a world where people can work flexibly, feel like they're making a contribution to their family's finances, take their business wherever they travel and have fun while they work. Most of all I want to share my tips and tricks with you, so you don't have to work as crazily as I did in the beginning!

It's been a long time coming, but my new FREE Facebook group OVERSEAS MAKERS GUILD to support you in building your handmade business overseas is now LIVE! (When I say 'group' there's actually only me in it so far, as you guys are the first to know.) If you are planning, in the process of setting up, or in the early stages of launching a handmade business overseas, we'd love to have you join us.

APERO
apéro. is a wine bar and restaurant located between Aoyama and Omotesando and run by French wine lovers Guillaume and Chloé Dupérier.
At apéro, our wines are directly sourced from France as we seek to provide you with a very personal, intimate wine selection that reflects both the passion and craftsmanship of the winemakers we love the most. Treat yourself with a unique and pleasurable experience by joining the apéro. community!

OFFERING
apéro is now delivering wine with a special discount of -30% on all items! Get your favorite bottles delivered directly to your home by our team, everyday from 11:00 to 21:30 for people in Shinjuku, Shibuya, Minato, Bunkyo, & Chiyoda. 
Check out the complete wine list here : https://apero.co.jp/en/wines
Order now and get a -30% discount on all price tags shown online !

ORDER
Delivered right to your home by the apéro team (limited to Shibuya, Shinjuku, Chiyoda, Bunkyo & Minato) or to be picked-up directly at apéro. wine bar aoyama.
Email : [email protected]
Phone : 03-6325-3893
Address : Japan, 〒107-0062 Tokyo, Minato-ku, Minami Aoyama 3−4−6, Aoyama346 Building, 3F

PAYMENT
Online
In cash or credit card upon delivery
Or "cash-on delivery" (Yamato, EMS...)

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