Japanese Craft Books: repost

For those of you coming over from Crafting Japanese, I'm reposting my info about Japanese craft books from my old blog here, with a few edits.

edited June 06 to add:
**additional post: More Japanese Craft Book Fun

edited Feb/July 06 to add:
**Check out Crafting Japanese for more on Japanese craft books, including bookstores, language tools, and loads of photos and links. Crafting Japanese's Help Page includes links to Japanese knitting chart symbols translated into English, a link to a crochet symbols chart (European, in my experience this has been accurate), and a Japanese-English knitting dictionary. My Little Mochi has made a list of commonly found words on pattern pieces (stuffies) available as a free download. Make Write has a list of craft terms and a fun blog post about Googling them. For additional translation help, I recommend finding someone literate in Japanese through a nearby university or a forum like Craftster or Craigslist. If you are one of the hundreds who have come through here via a search for "free amigurumi patterns", I have a short list of patterns, most of which are free.**

Amigurumi means "knit and wrap" in Japanese. Nuigurumi means "stuffed animal" but the more literal translation is "sew and wrap" (but it would not be used for, say, making a pillow - it's assumed that you are talking about a toy). "Ami" = knit, "Nui" = sew, "gurumi" = to wrap. "Kagi" is crochet. "Bari" is added on to mean "needle" as in "ami-bari" = knitting needles and "kagi-bari" = crochet hook.

bendi de kyuuto na komonotachi (many useful and cute things)
Ondori
ISBN 4-277-17164-8
Barcode 4943309171643
www.diakeito.co.jp

I don't know how useful many of the projects in this book are, besides being cute. As usual, though, the projects are so clearly diagrammed that being completely illiterate in Japanese isn't a problem.

cheesai nuigurumi (small stuffies)
“Petit boutique series”
ISBN 4-8347-6348-X
Two barcodes given:
9784834763485
1929476004000

scottie dog

lion and hippo

elephant and giraffe

babies!

My Lovable Dogs (The Dogs Which I Love)
ISBN: 4-89396-792-4
barcode: 9784893967923
barcode: 1929476009333

This is intended for those with experience making stuffies. The patterns are for realistic dog stuffies, so there are more pattern pieces, more sewing, and some internal structure features that allow the head to turn. Patterns are also included for a t-shirt and raincoat to fit the stuffies. The instructions are step-by-step photographs, and diagrams for how to lay the pattern pieces out on the fabric are included. The patterns are printed at actual size in a pullout.

First-Time Stuffed Animals (rabbit, cat, dog, and bear)
ISBN 529-03901-3
barcode:9784529039017
barcode:1929477006904

This is a beginners book for stuffies, with a minimum of pattern pieces and instructions that are written (in Japanese), illustrated, and photographed every step of the way. Even if you can’t read Japanese, that’s fine – I can't, and these patterns are easy to follow. The materials needed are photographed too, so you can just take the book to the store with you when you purchase your supplies. All patterns are included at actual size in the book; you can either trace or photocopy them to transfer them to fabric.

Felt Mascots by Keiko Matsuda
ISBN: 4-8347-5476-6
barcode: 9784834754766
barcode: 1929476008008

All the projects are made of felt, and are a great introduction to handsewing. The patterns are easy to follow, and ideas for how to use them (decorations for handbags, mobile phones, etc.) are included in the photos. All patterns are included at actual size; you can either trace or photocopy them.

Babies Soft Cloth Toys and Cloth Books, 0-3 years old
ISBN: 4-8347-2097-7
barcode: 9784834720976
barcode: 1929476009005

This book makes my ovaries and back teeth ache. Just adorable. Most of the projects are for portable items, great for travel or going to the park. The patterns are printed at actual size in a pullout. Too sweet.

Stuffed Amigurumi Animals
ISBN 4-529-03140-3
barcode: 9784529031400
barcode: 1925077007907
barcode: 4955275157781
Takamori Tomoko 1998
66 pages
printed in Japan

A rough translation of the title is "Stuffed Amigurumi Animal: from mini mascot to huggable unique bear, true size big picture presentation." All the patterns in this book are crochet. "True size big picture presentation" = the photos in the book show the finished stuffies at actual size, ranging from weeny palm of the hand to about 2 apples high.

I bought all of these at Hakubundo by Ala Moana. The webpage has a typo in the address; it is the Pan Am building, as in the defunct airline.
Hakubundo
Pan Am Building
1600 Kapiolani Blvd. Suite 121
Honolulu, Hawaii 96814
Phone: (808) 947-5503 / Fax: (808) 947-5602

The staff is Japanese/English bilingual, and most of the staff I've dealt with speak English as a first language. I usually walk over, so I don't know how parking is - there's a paid parking lot in the building and some metered street parking in the area. It's on some of the bus lines that go to/from Waikiki and Ala Moana Center. The stock changes frequently, which is great if you are always on the lookout for something new, not so great if you saw something there a month ago and want to buy it now.

Comments

[joy]

whenever i come to your blog you always have so much great info up! these books are SO inspirational... especially for a magnet lover with pompom makers!!! ^_^ i will definitely head out to Hakubundo when i get out there in feb, and i can't wait to meet all of the SnB'ers.

[JENN]

HI,
I JUST PURCHASED A AMIGURUMI TEDDY BEAR AND ANIMAL CROCHET PATTERN BOOK.i DONT KNOW HOW TO READ JAPANESE I NEED IT TO BE TRANSLATE IN ENGLISH IS THERE ANY WEB SITES THAT DOES TRANSLATION AND DO U KNOW THE BASIC CROCHET CHART FROM JAPANESE TO ENGLISH?
THANK'S

[Megumi]

Try these pages, although they only cover knitting, not crocheting. Unfortunately, I haven't found an equivalent online dictionary for crochet.

http://www.tata-tatao.to/knit/e-index.html
Click on one of the links on the bottom to get to:
http://www.tata-tatao.to/knit/e-index.html

For Japanese knitting charts
http://www.tata-tatao.to/knit/e-index.html

Knitting and crocheting terms are kind of specialized, so they don't translate very well by online translation tools, but you can try babel fish and such...

[Betty]

Anna Try This I'm trying to figure it out myself The x with line under it has me stumped.
http://www.hassdesign.com/StitchLegend/

[Sara Musicò Cortés]

I am a Spanish 22 year old girl, and I have seen some of these
magazines through internet, and I am really interested in obtaining
some of them, not about this item, but "Handmade dog goods", to make clothes for my dog. The problem I have is that I can´t speak neither read
Japanese, so I have not been able to understand that web page and I have no idea how I can get those magazines or if it could be possible to be sent here to Spain.

I have a little dog and that´s why I would like to learn how to make
her some clothes thanks to those dog clothes Pattern Books.

This is very important for me, so I would be pleased if you could
answer this e-mail, explaining me if this could be possible and the
procedure/steps to be followed to obtain them.

I will be looking forward to hearing from you.

Your´s sincerely

[Annabelle]

This post is for Sara Musico Cortes (above). eBay.co.uk and eBay.com have several sellers of Japanese craft books at the moment (I'm looking for Nuigurumi books myself), here are 4 eBay sellers who amongst them I'm sure will have what you require: pomadour24, charmingbabe, mimmo5656 and sewcrafty32. You'll need to use the Advanced Search facility on eBay to find their items. Please note I am not promoting these sellers, but I remember one or two of them have dog clothes pattern books.

Or, you could try www.yesasia.com which is laid out like Amazon but specialises in Oriental things and books.

Hope this helps!

[natascha]

Thank you for all these wonderful information!

[digibudi]

very nice website! I will check this often.

[kristine]

how do you buy the books that you have above.
i am new to this , please let me know
kristine

[mk]

Kristine, please refer back to the beginning of this post and click on the link to Crafting Japanese, a site which has list of bookstores (including online shops). The post above also has a link to Hakubundo, the shop where I purchased these books. You may also want to check Etsy.com and Ebay.com.

Good luck!

[Teri]

this is a fabulous site, with great products, so creative and colorful.

[Janine]

Everything is so inspiring!!
You mentioned that there are some bookstores in LA selling Japanese craft books, would you mind sharing a few names. I will be out there from NM this weekend and would love to let time fly by while looking through the shelves! Thanks

[Janine]

oops! I didn't see the previous post. Thanks

[DogsClothes]

My yorkshire terrier "buttons" is a real fan of doggie fashion items. He struts like a little prince and is so proud of all the tiny fashion wardrobe items I buy for him. Some people say it's cruel to dress dogs as humans but when you see the sparkle in my little angels eyes when we go shopping then you would quickly change your mind.

[Joey Dog Man]

This is a lot of very cool stuff.