The Japan Hobby Show: More Stuff I'll Never Use in a Million Years

Fearless and Ouiser returned to Japan in time to accompany the Radiation Rebels to the 35th Annual Japan Hobby Show at Tokyo Big Sight in Odaiba. "What a relief," Weather whispered to Sunshine. "I don't know about you, but I sure could use a break from Peevish."

The Japan Hobby Show is sponsored by the Hobby Association of Japan. It's usually held at the end of April or beginning of May.  This year there were 782 booths displaying the tools and accoutrements for every hobby you have ever imagined plus a few that never crossed your mind.  There was also a food section where we sampled rice-fed chicken (yum) and Japanese wine (hic).

We were not allowed to take photographs inside the exhibit hall but I managed to sneak a few for you by acting like a bewildered old foreign lady.  You are very welcome, as always. 

Scrapbooking is very popular in Japan



Knitting is also popular



Many vendors offered training sessions to interest people in their wares. Big Bird, the tall American lady in the top photograph, whipped up a pencil case and Tomoko made a fancy book cover while the rest of us stocked up on supplies and splurged a bit on finished products. After watching one man bend metal beverage cans into crane shapes, Weather bought two made out of Japanese beer cans.

Fearless bought a present for Artistic. We are starting to worry that Artistic is so happy to be back in Norfolk that she'll decide not to return to Japan when the school year ends.

On Why I Deserved to Attend the 34th Tokyo Hobby Show

Do you have lots of interests but few hobbies?

Interest: a state of curiosity about something; something that evokes this mental state
Hobby: an activity or interest pursued at one's leisure for enjoyment

The operative word here is pursuit. Devoting time and energy to an interest transforms that interest into a hobby.

Last Thursday I decided I could legitimately move knitting from the interest to the hobby column in my life ledger since I've spent a heck of a lot of time learning the basics over the past few months. This was excellent timing on my part. The Tokyo Hobby Show at Big Sight, a cavernous convention center in Odaiba, opened Friday. Having a pertinent hobby lent a patina of credibility to my attendance. Or at least I like to pretend so.

Scarf #2, that white ribbed number pictured above, is a done deal (or will be once I weave in those dangles where two skeins of yarn connect). Now I'm working on a blue scarf in a checkerboard pattern for my sister Suzi. I've reverted to calling her Susan for the duration of this project because the pattern changes every five stitches and I've discovered it's easy to keep track of those changes by chanting "S-U-S-A-N" when knitting and "S-Y-K-E-S" when purling. The end stitches merit a perky "Marion," her middle name and our grandmother's first name. Knitting this scarf has a slightly holy aura, like saying a rosary.

Yesterday I finished knitting my first pair of socks. My teachers decided I would knit the second sock on a circular needle, two needles attached to each other by a plastic cord. Hmpf. Teacher Tara then decided to go into labor. This is her in the hospital elevator, cheerfully answering my pesky questions until the midwife arrived.

Then Teacher Megan and Teacher Cari took off for China with The Other Kathy. They are pictured here knitting on The Great Wall. That left Teacher Betty, the only one of the bunch who can be talked into fixing my mistakes for me rather than showing me how to fix the mistakes myself. So "I" made fairly rapid progress on that sock until Betty and Lulu grabbed their backpacks and hopped a plane to Singapore just when the harsh taskmistresses climbed down off The Great Wall and picked up their whips.

Tara, meanwhile, returned to the knitting circle with darling Logan and a dozen skeins of yarn she dyed herself - between contractions no doubt - using natural materials like onions and other vegetables. They just keep raising that bar higher and higher.

In any event, I spent Friday wandering around the Tokyo Hobby Show with that second sock stuffed in my bag in case I was asked to prove I have a hobby. I spent 480 yen (about $5) on a pair of metal needles since I'm still in the experimental phase of knitting, testing the various tools to see which work best for me. The cashier tucked a set of complimentary circular needles in my bag to thank me for my purchase and that tickled me immensely since I'm pretty sure the circular needles cost more than the metal ones I bought.

Here's the thing: I enjoy knitting socks. If you send me a tracing of one of your feet, I will try to whip* up a pair for you.

*whip = 2-3 months