Tortoise General Store

Tortoise General Store is a housewares store on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice, CA, that has a nicely edited selection of Japanese objects, many hand-crafted or of particular high quality design.

Giant black and red goldfish "Welcome" soap--perfect for a housewarming gift--in beautiful packaging.


A gorgeous array of Japanese tenugui towels--I especially liked the navy blue one with the egg pattern, and the taupe one with the white bowls and spoons. Sadly, not available online. Supposedly tenugui towels are used for everything from headbands to dish cloths to gift wrap.


Keisuke Serizawa Calender for 2010--Serizawa was a master of the katazome stencil technique. These calendars are reissues of his classic designs.


A lineup of classic Noguchi lamps