Several months ago, friends of ours returned from a trip to Japan and, because they are very generous, and, because we had been cat-sitting for them, they very kindly brought us a whole bag of gifts! It's no secret that in this household, we're a bit obsessed with Japan and so it was wonderful to receive presents from a place we've been dreaming about and planning to visit. However, what struck me most was the variety and beauty of the patterns decorating many of the items:

These delicate little flowers were scattered across the outside of a box of biscuits:

The arrangement of biscuits inside the box was equally lovely (and they were delicious too!).

A pretty leaf pattern and some Totoros on a cotton fan, and more Totoros and flowers on the wooden base.

Not a pattern, but how sweet is the tiny jingly bauble attached to the end of the fan?!

Admiring these designs reminded me that we have some beautiful Japanese patterns in our house already:

Plum blossom print teapot (from the Japan Centre, Soho, London).

Stripy pattern on a ceramic teacup (from Japan Books, Soho, London) and again with its speckled counterpart.

Bowl with printed wave design (again, from the Japan Centre).

Being surrounded by such lovely things is making us even more keen to visit Japan as soon as possible!