Tomato is pretty legendary amongst Japanese fabric fans, like myself, as THE place to go for fabric. It’s situated in Fabric Town, Nippori which is a whole area of sewing related shops full of fabric, trims, buttons and everything else you might need. It’s a sewist’s dream come true!
Tomato has six floors of mostly fabric of all styles and designs, so you’re sure to find something you love, whatever your tastes. My favourite was, of course, the kawaii floor, which is rammed full of bolts of cute character designs. It’s extremely hard to choose which designs to buy so make sure you check out the remnant bins as there are reasonably large pieces available.
There’s also a quilting floor with several million fat quarters – so many that I couldn’t focus on anything after the first 100. Luckily there are also readymade bundles available so you can get a pile of cute matching fabrics for cheap prices. Look out for the cute ribbon and trim too.
We saw four people with Tomato carrier bags in a couple of blocks so it really is the place to go for both locals and tourists. If you’re a fabric lover, this should definitely be at the top of your list, but don’t stop at Tomato – there are fabric stores all around, plus cute button and notions shops too.
[Photo by cyn]
Remember that at Tomato you’re buying by the metre, so you do need to make your choices carefully, unless you have money to burn. Also Fabric Town is closed on Sundays.
[Photo by sakuraboy]
How to get there
Fabric Town is a few minutes walk from the East exit of JR Nippori station – look for the big Fabric Town pennants.
Last updated: 25 August 2016
