Tokuya Melbourne

Some very cute containers

Last Friday I was in Melbourne for work for the day, which was most excellent timing. I had recently read on Twitter (sorry - can't remember who tweeted, but thank you!) that a brand new Hyaku-en store had opened up in Melbourne. Many of the stores like this in Japan are from the brand Daiso, which is a high-quality, low-cost Japanese brand. Tokuya is (from what I could tell) made in China but Japanese design. And everything in the store is $3.50. Eeee!

Hula girls ribbon with hula skirts which come off the ribbon. Cuuute!

I only had about 15 minutes in the shop, which wasn't nearly enough. Although it's nothing on real Japanese Hyaku-en, it is a good, smaller sample size. There is lots of stationery, kitchen goods, hardware, cleaning products, beauty products and more. The kitchen section is very good, with lots of bento boxes, chopstick cases and little plastic animal-headed toothpicks. (Having bought about 40 plastic animal-headed toothpicks in Japan, I told myself no more. But really, can you ever have too many?)

Aroma pens, pencils and and cute little pens.

Hedgehog procession! "It walks side by side always together. It is a start of happy time"!
"Good sheep: it splashes in a lot of lovely child sheep. It follows one after another later"
"The Handmade Letter"
I can't go near hyaku-en without a Miffy purchase. This one is going to look especially grown-up in meetings...

Overall verdict? Most exciting and thrilling to have an Aussie hyaku-en. I didn't buy as much as I wanted, partly limited by time and by the fact that I only had a handbag with me. But it is a lot of fun, and if you love hyaku-en in Japan, you will adore this. Go, explore and love!


Tokuya: Basement, 236 Bourke St, Melbourne. (Near Target).
If you're heading to Melbourne, or if you live there, please tell me and I will ask for you to be a stationery mule! Seriously. I will pay cost + postage and maybe even treats to willing buyers!