Made in Japan
Boku Undo's Suminagashi Marbling Kit, Oak Village's Xylophone, and more
Four things made in Japan this week, from a 200-year-old ink maker in Nara to a puzzle box workshop in Hakone.
Boku Undo's Suminagashi Marbling Kit floats ink on plain water so a kid can print the rings onto paper and see surface tension at work. Oak Village's Wooden 8 Key Xylophone makes every note from a different wood, so a kid learns a scale and hears how the density of a wood changes its pitch. The Japanese Puzzle Box from Hakone only opens after 10 sliding moves in the right order, which takes patience and step-by-step logic to work out. And the Ozora Kendama is the real competition kendama, made in Japan, and it builds hand-eye coordination and focus one catch at a time.
Boku Undo
Suminagashi Marbling Kit
Six bottles of Japanese marbling ink that float on plain water and print onto paper in rings.
Get it here →
Oak Village
Wooden 8 Key Xylophone
Eight-key xylophone with every bar cut from a different wood, so each note sounds like its tree.
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Izumiya
Japanese Puzzle Box
Hakone wood-mosaic puzzle box that opens only after 10 sliding moves in the right order.
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Yamagata Koubou
Ozora Kendama
Competition-grade wooden kendama for practicing catches, one cup at a time.
Get it here →
This week's picks
One product and one brand from the collection
Palm Broom with Handle. A palm-fibre broom from a Tokyo shop of handmade household tools, small enough for a kid to sweep the table after dinner. Get it here
Kakimori. Tokyo stationery shop in Kuramae, opened in 2010, known for build-your-own notebooks and its own fountain pen inks. Find it here
Last week's drop
In case you missed it
Four Good Things. Tiptoe's Blackboard Desk, Konges Sløjd's Alphabet Abacus, and more View the drop
Little Forest Animals
House of Paris Dollhouse
Four-storey Parisian townhouse in wood, furnished across seven rooms for stories that move floor to floor.
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Tiptoe
Vice Versa Blackboard Desk
Reversible kids' desk with a chalkboard on one side and white laminate on the other for drawing.
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HatiHati Studios
Tavi Trapeze
Ash wood trapeze on sailing ropes for swinging and hanging indoors. Wall bars not included.
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Konges Sløjd
Wooden Alphabet Abacus
Pine alphabet abacus with 30 spinning blocks that turn from a letter to a little picture and back.
Get it here →