On July 24th, 2022, RESOBOX East Village hosted “Japanese Pop-Up Shop 9,” featuring handmade Japan-inspired goods from artists working in a wide variety of mediums.
The event is a collaboration between RESOBOX and event planning company NYK Marketing, a partnership which began in 2018. In this ninth offering, the event broke all past attendance records, with over 400 people coming to browse and buy throughout the day.
Popular Tokyo Muffin Shop Takes NYC By Storm
This year’s fifteen exhibitors included ten based in New York and five in Japan who sent their products to us for display during the event. Among them, “A.R.I. Muffin” was especially popular due to their wide variety of tasty baked goods using natural ingredients like bananas, basil, and tomatoes. The owner, Ari Morioka, is a professional baker who operated in Minami Aoyama, Tokyo, and wrote a year-long series on baked sweets for “Lettuce Club” magazine before moving her operations to New York City. This was her first appearance at the Japanese Pop-Up Shop, though we hope it won’t be her last!
Other vendors who were particularly popular with attendees include “Zen Art Calligraphy,” offering a fusion of calligraphy and art to create message cards using brush and ink; “MEINFINITY,” whose bags made from vintage kimono and obi were considered “kawaii” or “cute” by visitors; and “Kare Girls,” who served curry and rice full of potatoes, carrots, and Japanese flavor.
A Forum For Artists to Collaborate and Create
NYK Marketing provides space for independent artists to take strides forward with their creative endeavors. When we spoke with their representative about this event, she smiled and said “I was very happy to see that “Twilight,” who has joined the Pop-Up Shop in the past, was able to adapt their work for the New York audience, and their popularity is taking off!”
We will continue to hold Japanese Pop-Up Shops and similar events in and around New York City, and the next one is scheduled for November. If you’re interested in taking part, please contact japanese.artist.popupshop@gmail.com or check NYK Marketing’s website for more details.