Two crafts, kept in the same room.
Most shops choose one thing and lean into it. Nikaido does something quieter and rarer — it keeps two slow crafts side by side, and trusts that the people who love one will recognise the other. On one shelf, loose-leaf tea and Japanese teapots. On the next, fountain pens, bottled ink and fine paper.
It makes a kind of sense the moment you stand in it. A good cup of tea and a well-balanced pen ask for the same small ceremony: a pause, a little attention, the pleasure of doing something properly when you could have done it fast. The two belong together.
"A pot of tea and a fountain pen ask the same thing of you — a little patience, and your full attention."
The teas are blended in-house, named on the counter, and meant to be lived with rather than collected. The pens and stationery are chosen the same way — to be used. This is the Hepworth Block: heritage Steveston, where a shop is allowed to be specific.
Blended in-house, named on the counter.
Greens, blacks and seasonal house blends — measured and balanced in the shop, not bought in by the box. Some are everyday cups; some change with the season. The matcha is whisked the proper way, to a froth.
Pens, ink & paper for people who still write.
Fountain pens and bottled inks, notebooks and cards — a small, considered range with a Japanese-craft sensibility. The kind of stationery you keep, and the kind of pen you actually fill.
