Buying Fabric in Japan

I like to come back from trips with fabric mementos, I like to look for fabric stores that aren’t your generic stores that sell the usual fabric which can be sourced at home from Spotlight.

This trip was a little bit tricky as we had family in tow for most of our trip and I was trying to hide my very early first trimester pregnancy. I was so nauseous and absolutely exhausted all the time so I didn’t have my usual drive to explore.

I decided I wanted to find some nice woollen fabrics, these are often hard to come by so I started by googling wool wholesalers open to the public. I emailed a few, rather than called, as this would ensure they would be able to translate my email if they weren’t able to read English. I found one Osaka willing to entertain us. We visited the office and were ushered to a room to await an English speaking staff member to take our order. They brought out their fabric books and I made selections as they noted down our order. We paid for the order by card and arranged for the fabrics to be sent to our hotel in a couple of days as they were coming from the warehouse. Like most things in Japan, it was perfectly seamless!