This Year’s Best Buys
Japanese Handcrafted Items I Truly Want to Treasure
As the end of the year approaches, I find myself looking back on the time that has passed.
Where I went, what I did, and which things ultimately remained part of my daily life.
Living as a Japanese person, truly understanding the appeal of Japan is not something that comes easily.
Because it is the place where we are born and raised, it feels too familiar, and it often takes time to recognize its value.
As I grew older, encountered the wider world, began working, and came to understand both the importance of money and the harshness of reality, I gradually started to reflect on what makes Japan distinctive.
Among those qualities, the one that has become especially meaningful to me is craftsmanship.
Looking back on this year, there are several items in my home that I have grown particularly fond of.
They are things I encountered during my travels or in the course of everyday life, picked up almost casually, and that slowly settled into my routine.
In this article, at the close of the year, I would like to introduce Japanese handmade items that I personally bought and felt glad to have chosen this year.
Rather than offering simple recommendations, I will reflect on the criteria behind my choices and why I continue to use them.
From the perspective of one person living an ordinary life, I will try to organize and share those reasons.
Incense
The first item I would like to introduce is incense.
The one I chose comes from Hayashi Ryūshōdō（香老舗 林龍昇堂）, a long-established incense shop based in Kyoto.
When I visited the shop in Kyoto, I clearly remember being captivated by the building itself.
It was old and striking, with a quiet strength to its presence. Inside, many varieties of incense were displayed, and the space carried the atmosphere of a shop that has spent a long time engaging seriously with fragrance.
Rather than something made for tourists, it felt like incense that has been used continuously in everyday life.
The price of incense varies greatly depending on the materials used, especially the quality of sandalwood.
What I chose was relatively affordable, but I am genuinely happy to be able to enjoy incense made by a first-class, long-established shop as part of my daily life at home.
