Tokyo Local Goods Guide

What Tokyo is known for

The 8 products below are what Tokyo is known for, ordered by how strongly each is rooted in the prefecture — what it is, and why it comes from here.

1. 01Edo kiriko cut glassTableware

   Across eastern Tokyo, Edo Kiriko turns clear and colored overlay glass into tableware through hand marking, rotating cutting tools, stone smoothing, polishing, and patterns such as yarai, nanako, asa-no-ha, and shippo.

2. 02Tokyo umbrellasHome & living

   In Taito City’s Asakusabashi, 23 cooperative members gather around umbrella making. An industry that begins in the early Meiji period, and the ordinary habits of opening, rinsing, shade-drying, and dark storage, bring Tokyo umbrellas into view.

3. 03Edo woodblock printsCraft objects

   A printer starts with a key-block outline on washi, then returns with separate color blocks. That late-Edo ukiyo-e method has continued around Tokyo for about two centuries, through the divided work of artist, carver, printer, and publisher.

4. 04Tokyo honzome chusenTextiles

   Late-Edo tenugui, late-Meiji yukata cloth, stencil paper, resist paste, and a long-spouted kettle meet in a dyeing method that colors both faces of the fabric.

5. 05Edo sekku dollsCraft objects

   Hina dolls, May dolls, armor ornaments, and Ichimatsu dolls take shape through paulownia paste, gofun, washi, cloth, metal, and leather.

6. 06Edo tsumami kanzashiTextiles

   In Tokyo wards such as Taito, Arakawa and Sumida, small squares of habutae silk are pinched with tweezers, placed on a backing and shaped into flowers, birds, butterflies and phoenixes for kimono occasions.

7. 07Edo oshieCraft objects

   Paper patterns, cotton wadding, silk or cotton cloth, washi, paste, and brush pigments give Edo Oshie its raised surfaces, from kabuki figures and portraits to hagoita linked with Sensoji’s December 17-19 market.

8. 08Tokyo hand-carved sealsHome & living

   In Tokyo seal workshops, character layout, surface preparation, rough carving, and finishing remain handwork, turning a small seal face into balanced letters, strong lines, and a clear impression.

Tokyo's specialties by category

How the same thing is made elsewhere, and what differs: the category overviews start here.

• Japanese miso and soy sauce by region: white, red and bean miso, and where each is made

  Start with type, not region: white miso is sweet and short-aged, red miso is salty and long-aged, bean miso is soybeans and salt only.

• Japanese wagyu by region: Japanese Black, akaushi, branded beef and where each comes from

  Breed first, brand second: Japanese Black is marbled, akaushi is lean, a brand name is a set of conditions, not a breed.

• Household Tools by Japanese Craft Region: Desk, Kitchen, and Home Objects Still Made for Daily Use

  Everyday Japanese tools, each tied to a named craft region and still made for use.

• Japanese Textiles: Tsumugi, Kasuri, Yuzen, Komon, Indigo and Where Each Comes From

  Woven or dyed first: tsumugi, kasuri and chijimi weave dyed yarn; yuzen, komon and bingata dye white cloth.

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