There is a kind of Japan that does not export.

It lives in the side aisles of regional supermarkets, in the credits of weekly anime, in the laminated menus of family restaurants, in the bumper stickers of small construction companies, in the demo tapes of indie bands in Kyoto. None of it is precious. All of it is particular.

For years, friends visiting from abroad would ask if they could take some of it home — a pack of stickers from a supermarket chain, a cassette tape from a Kyoto bedroom-pop artist, a flyer from a late-night drama screening. We started making lists.

Niche Department Store is what came of those lists. It is a small online shop, operated by Nitche Media, that gathers Japanese goods you would otherwise have to come here to find. Some are licensed homages, some are originals designed in our studio, and some are the personal merchandise of independent Japanese artists we love.

We curate slowly. We work with small printers. We update the catalog when we have something to say.

If it ends up in a corner of your home, that is enough.