Kapital - hippies, Japanese farmers and post-apocalypse survivors

[brandon_strandy]

Most of the novelty products like t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc I feel have dropped in quality, material wise. Thinner, more over processed cotton almost feels like recycled yarn. However, they have never really been a brand revolving around making high quality product builds. But, they used to use a cover stitch on their tees and now they just use ribbing most of the time. Less interesting stitching and build methods, plus patterning and cutting has gotten boring for most new items when they have them. Not necessarily a drop in quality...The last interesting item that had insane build quality was the Kamakura parka.

The quality of the brands creativity has suffered most.

Century denim is still the same as is the boro.

I would add the weaving Keel vest is pretty damn cool, but yes agreed with your overall view. Even their new ring coat variations have been pretty meh.
My level of excitement visiting the stores last year vs a few years back definitely saw a big drop - was pretty much surrounded by smileys / bones / bandanas. Oh well, it is what it is in the instagram era.

 

[hoodog]

Dat feather denim jacket

 

[peachfuzzmcgee]

I kinda wanna get the new century asagi denim jacket to match my pants but honestly I've been more into cooking and planting then buying clothes haha.

I literally went to the Kyoto store to check if they had it in stock, and they didn't yet, so I went to check out a knife shop and spent my money on a piece I was looking for a while. There goes the clothes budget haha

 

[Markfisher702]

This is great. Life goes on. Our interests slide and shift. Spent what used to be denim or boots money on a great chef’s knife. I love it. Rock on ??

 

[d4nimal]

I kinda wanna get the new century asagi denim jacket to match my pants but honestly I've been more into cooking and planting then buying clothes haha.

I literally went to the Kyoto store to check if they had it in stock, and they didn't yet, so I went to check out a knife shop and spent my money on a piece I was looking for a while. There goes the clothes budget haha

When I went to Japan years ago there were two well-known knife shops I read about, the one in the central market where my wife and I bought a chef's knife, and another smaller one about a 20 min walk north that was closed while we were in Kyoto. Where did you get yours from?

 

[peachfuzzmcgee]

When I went to Japan years ago there were two well-known knife shops I read about, the one in the central market where my wife and I bought a chef's knife, and another smaller one about a 20 min walk north that was closed while we were in Kyoto. Where did you get yours from?

I got mine from Aritsugu which is probably the one most people know. I know there are a bunch, but I figured I would go there before trying out the other local places. Some places just have rebranded OEM knives or misono knives I hear. You probably went to Aritsugu since it's right there in the heart of the central markets. It's a small joint with a good selection.

My next goal is to save up for a nice Chinese cleaver. I make mostly Mexican food which a cleaver is suprisingly useful especially the smaller Chinese styles. Japan has a dearth of Mexican cuisine/ingredients so I'm always forced to grow everything from tomatillos to peppers. Heck I've even grown corn when I was living in the boonies of Hiroshima (it was only a couple stalks as a test).

How this relates back to Kapital? Well I wear some goofy Kapital western crap while I do vaguely Ranchero stuff in Japan. Life is full of contradictions.

 

[d4nimal]

I got mine from Aritsugu which is probably the one most people know. I know there are a bunch, but I figured I would go there before trying out the other local places. Some places just have rebranded OEM knives or misono knives I hear. You probably went to Aritsugu since it's right there in the heart of the central markets. It's a small joint with a good selection.

My next goal is to save up for a nice Chinese cleaver. I make mostly Mexican food which a cleaver is suprisingly useful especially the smaller Chinese styles. Japan has a dearth of Mexican cuisine/ingredients so I'm always forced to grow everything from tomatillos to peppers. Heck I've even grown corn when I was living in the boonies of Hiroshima (it was only a couple stalks as a test).

How this relates back to Kapital? Well I wear some goofy Kapital western crap while I do vaguely Ranchero stuff in Japan. Life is full of contradictions.

Yep, you're absolutely right, it was Aritsugu we got our knife from. The one we tried to go to but was closed was Shigeharu - super small shop, but seems very well-regarded.

 

[Timbaland]

How this relates back to Kapital?

You were wearing this

Or this

But seriously, who would wear a white boa fleece apron?

I'm in the same boat as you, spending a whole lot less on clothing and more on knives/household items. We're cooking a lot more often and buying a couple of $50 German knives has made a huge difference. Sadly the store we bought it from went under.

 

[BandannAlmanac]

I literally went to the Kyoto store to check if they had it in stock, and they didn't yet, so I went to check out a knife shop and spent my money on a piece I was looking for a while. There goes the clothes budget haha

I am pretty sure only Osaka, Ginza, and Legs Tokyo will carry century denim...

 

[BandannAlmanac]

I got mine from Aritsugu which is probably the one most people know. I know there are a bunch, but I figured I would go there before trying out the other local places. Some places just have rebranded OEM knives or misono knives I hear. You probably went to Aritsugu since it's right there in the heart of the central markets. It's a small joint with a good selection.

My next goal is to save up for a nice Chinese cleaver. I make mostly Mexican food which a cleaver is suprisingly useful especially the smaller Chinese styles. Japan has a dearth of Mexican cuisine/ingredients so I'm always forced to grow everything from tomatillos to peppers. Heck I've even grown corn when I was living in the boonies of Hiroshima (it was only a couple stalks as a test).

How this relates back to Kapital? Well I wear some goofy Kapital western crap while I do vaguely Ranchero stuff in Japan. Life is full of contradictions.

When I worked at the Kyoto Kapital store I always passed by there on the way to work and always made note of the crowds on that shopping street. I was in Kyoto a week or so ago for the first time in a year or so for a meeting and the city was so dead. I was surprised at all the shuttered shops. Having no tourism has taken its toll on that city. It is nice though I could finally get a seat and peace and quiet at Inoda Coffee. I wonder how that Ace Hotel is surviving or not...

 

[peachfuzzmcgee]

When I worked at the Kyoto Kapital store I always passed by there on the way to work and always made note of the crowds on that shopping street. I was in Kyoto a week or so ago for the first time in a year or so for a meeting and the city was so dead. I was surprised at all the shuttered shops. Having no tourism has taken its toll on that city. It is nice though I could finally get a seat and peace and quiet at Inoda Coffee. I wonder how that Ace Hotel is surviving or not...

Didn't know about the Century is only at certain stores since I didn't visit them much at all back when I was in Hiroshima, but good to know. I didn't ask, just kinda walked in and out.

Actually not to dox myself or anything but I actually work as a manager at the Ace Hotel. Its surviving because of a couple factors mostly of some government help, the ownership, and the fact that hotels generally project a loss on the first year of opening. Obviously not this hard but it's mostly fine believe it or not. If this extends to the second year though, that's usually when the firings etc start happening.

In Chicago, it was somehow way worse. They are on the brink of closing down. London and Pittsburgh closed for good now.

On one hand it's nice to explore Kyoto as though tourism doesn't exist, on the other hand I see the hurt. A lot of shuttered shops, people who shifted their shops toward tourists suddenly have to shift back to local tastes while losing in the process. It's damn quiet, that's for sure.

 

[BandannAlmanac]

Didn't know about the Century is only at certain stores since I didn't visit them much at all back when I was in Hiroshima, but good to know. I didn't ask, just kinda walked in and out.

Actually not to dox myself or anything but I actually work as a manager at the Ace Hotel. Its surviving because of a couple factors mostly of some government help, the ownership, and the fact that hotels generally project a loss on the first year of opening. Obviously not this hard but it's mostly fine believe it or not. If this extends to the second year though, that's usually when the firings etc start happening.

In Chicago, it was somehow way worse. They are on the brink of closing down. London and Pittsburgh closed for good now.

On one hand it's nice to explore Kyoto as though tourism doesn't exist, on the other hand I see the hurt. A lot of shuttered shops, people who shifted their shops toward tourists suddenly have to shift back to local tastes while losing in the process. It's damn quiet, that's for sure.

Pretty nice gig. I have never been there, I just remember all the talk when it opened. Worst timing thats for sure. Porter Classic just opened a store in Kyoto about a year ago. I took a peek, I think its pretty close to Ace. A nice store worth checking out. There are so many good stores in Kyoto I hope they can weather this crisis.

Kyoto is such a great city, too bad I can't risk taking too many day trips. I really want to check out the folk crafts museum there again, and many other spots without the floods of tourists.

 

[peachfuzzmcgee]

Actually I've been meaning to go to the porter store and the folk art museum but it's been a whirlwind of moving half of my **** from Hiroshima and the other half from Chicago plus quarantine and all the other work related stuff. I really do hope that this place can weather it because although a lot of locals absolutely hate everything about tourism here, there are some absolutely awesome things here that survive on it.

The hotel is interesting, I've worked for the brand before, but due to the pandemic, we only have japanese guests which kinda expect a 5 star hotel type service when it comes to our price bracket. The problem is that is also not very ace so it's right now stuck doing half measures to appease this crowd until foreigners come back in. It's a bit tough.

 

[badeggcat]

As a tourist, even I think that the tourism boom in the last few years was too much. I cannot imagine the stress that it has placed on the locals.

@BandannAlmanac Got your help with purchases while you were still at the Kyoto store. Didn’t realise that was you until much later when I had already left the Japan. Love that store cause it did tax free unlike the Tokyo stores! Lol

 

[peachfuzzmcgee]

As a tourist, even I think that the tourism boom in the last few years was too much. I cannot imagine the stress that it has placed on the locals.

@BandannAlmanac Got your help with purchases while you were still at the Kyoto store. Didn’t realise that was you until much later when I had already left the Japan. Love that store cause it did tax free unlike the Tokyo stores! Lol

Honestly I blame the tourist portion mostly on the government. They promote travel heavy yet don't create infrastructure to keep those things working while keeping the locals sane. There are too many tiny cheap guests houses in the middle of quiet neighborhoods that are allowed to exist. I believe some sort of zoning laws for that sort of stuff only make sense. Creating tourist buses or giving permits to tourist bus companies that have discounts for foreigners to alleviate some of the congestion on the local buses. I'm spit balling but the city is doing very little for the people to better manage the tourists. I get the want to not break the old world vibe of Kyoto and all that, but some things got to give. Also not to mention that Kyoto is well known for it's insular/conservative community so they are definitely hard to please either way.

I haven't been to Tokyo in like 5 years but I always wondered about the Kapital stores there since they seem to stock the most of the higher end stuff. Im just too lazy to go all the way out there.