Tansu

This is a great gift shop. As others have mentioned, Tansu is a Japanese store. Beautiful jewelry made by artists, paper goods (cards and gorgeous, yet expensive origami paper), coffee table books, beautiful ceramic bowl gift sets (I almost bought a pair for myself), hand-​blown glass hanging lamps.
The things that really intrigue me, and keep me visiting, are the beautiful origami displays. The far back wall has a beautiful cherry blossom tree. The tree itself is painted on the wall, with hundreds and hundreds of origami cherry blossoms affixed. About a year ago, there were goodness knows how many cranes flying near the entrance. Upstairs there is a wisteria in one corner. Its chain-​like blossoms hanging down four to five feet. In the upstairs window, a gigantic 15+ foot long dragon dances near the ceiling. It is purported to be the largest origami dragon.

I really like a lot of things about Tansu, but I am deducting stars because I always get the feeling that I’m inconveniencing the staff just by walking in.
Their stuff is top-​notch, though, especially their greeting cards. And this is a girl who l-​o-​v-​e-​s her stationery. Let’s see… what else do they have? Lots of cute little gifts, beautiful earrings, and at this time of year (December) very elegant ornaments. This is a nice place to stop in when you’re walking 19^th Street (which you should absolutely do if you love to shop!)

I tend to stay away from overly Asian themed places. Mostly because people stare at me and try to figure out what ethnicity I am. And partly because I had an overload of Sanrio growing up (not by choice). That being said, I’m so glad I went into Tansu. It is a distinctly Japanese store with plenty to look at from furniture to jewelery to books to lamps to paintings. I’m sure I could’ve spent a few hours looking at the stuff on both floors and I plan to head back soon.
My favorite things were the interesting art pieces. Since my husband’s family is a Navy family and we saw that they did a bunch of origami planes based on the Air Force main four, we’re thinking about commissioning them to do the same thing for the Navy planes. Their furniture is very modern with nice, sleek lines and beautiful wood. They had plenty of lamps and they were all reasonably priced. I was incredibly proud of myself – I walked out with just a pair of earrings.
The owner is very nice and they have gorgeous wrapping paper if you add just a few more dollars to your order. Though the store isn’t large and it is incredibly popular, you don’t feel too stifled by the space which I find important when shopping. This is definitely worth driving over to the Heights for a fun shopping experience.

One cool store! Clean, Japanese-​inspired style permeates the offerings, from stationery to furniture. I fell in love with so many notecards and gifty things during my visit this morning, including some handmade cuff links and a silk robe.
The selection sounds overwhelming, but somehow Tansu is restrained and simple. It’s a welcome respite from the Heights antique shops and a great place to find a special gift. They also offer origami workshops. How cool is that?