Japan has a rich history of creating high-quality textiles and its fabric is coveted amongst sewists. I only made it to one fabric shop while visiting Japan and wasn’t disappointed with the selection at Nomura Tailor in Kyoto.
Nomura Tailor’s three-story Shijo location is packed with Japanese-made fabrics and tools. It’s conveniently located off two train stations (Kawaramachi and Karasuma) and near Nishiki Market in downtown Kyoto. It can’t be missed if you’re in the area. Also nearby is their smaller store, Nomura Tailor House, which focuses on printed USA cotton and Marimekko fabrics.
The first two floors of the Shijo store are filled with fabric with cutting tables at the back while the top floor contains notions. The upper levels are accessible by stairs at either end of the store and an elevator in the middle. While some aisles can be narrow to pass through if someone is browsing, most people are good about letting you through.
I visited on a Saturday afternoon in the summer when it was fairly busy on the sidewalk and somewhat busy in the store. Thankfully, most of the busy spots in the store came and went so it never felt too crowded.
Like fabric shops I’m familiar with, Nomura Tailor organizes their fabric by substrates marked by English and Japanese signs hanging from the ceiling. Samples hang vertically on the wall or along the dividers and are tagged with their price and I’m assuming fabric details. (That part is only in Japanese.) Fabric bolts and rolls are stacked horizontally below the samples.
When you’ve picked your fabrics, flag down an employee to show them what you want. They’ll pull the bolts and take them to the cutting table at the back of the store where you’ll wait. When it’s your turn, tell them how many meters you want. Pay once they’re finished cutting. They also offer tax-free shopping for over 5,500 yen for foreign shoppers with their passports.
While overwhelming at first, I quickly figured it out and learned that fabric shops aren’t all that different even though there’s a language barrier. There were little to no English speakers as far as we could tell among the employees we interacted with, but our interactions were simple enough that it didn’t matter. This would actually be a great place to practice your sumimasen (excuse me) and arrigato (thank you) when you need to get help from an employee or when you are moving around someone in an aisle.
I didn’t do a lot of research before visiting, but I knew what kinds of fabric I wanted which helped guide me throughout the store. The store has everything you could imagine: denim, florals, novelty prints, Liberty of London fabrics, gauze, gingham, canvas, lace, etc… Honestly, the most difficult part was narrowing down my choices from the many options.
In the end, I spent roughly an hour here and would definitely go back. I’m already wishing I’d gotten more after looking at all these photos. If you’re ever in Japan, I highly recommend visiting a fabric shop!
If you want to read more about my trip to Japan, find all my Japan posts here and all my travel posts here. Thanks for reading!
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