Cities in a Bag

I've been a huge fan of MUJI since my wife and I stumbled upon one of their stores in Paris a number of years ago. MUJI is short for Mujirushi Ryohin, which is Japanese for "no label, quality goods," reflecting the company's simple and natural designs, along with a subtle jab at our brand-obsessed world. As you might expect, their stuff doesn't feature logos of any kind; my MUJI sweater has a tiny tag inside the collar that displays only the size. They sell a mind-bogglingly long list of products, ranging from stationery to furniture, all unified by a recognizable MUJI aesthetic, which is pretty interesting since their brand is to have no brand.

Unfortunately for me and probably most of you, there are no MUJI stores in the US, except for a teasingly small outpost in the MoMAstore, where at least you can get these awesome cardboard speakers (for your baby's video iPod). To get the full selection, you'll need to head over to Asia or Europe. As a consolation prize, US and Canadian customers can shop MUJI online, which ships from the UK to our side of the pond.

We wrote about Suburbia in a bag a while back, but the reason I'm writing is to turn you on to their "cities in a bag," which include New York, Paris, Tokyo. You get a bag full of artfully carved and illustrated blocks resembling the major landmarks, including the Empire State Building and the Guggenheim for NYC, l'Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower for Paris, the Imperial Palace and lots of squarish office buildings for Tokyo.

£4.95 from MUJI online.