Bagslide

When we go shopping in Tokyo, we always come home with a fine paper bag. A cute, colorful bag that we shove into a small, dark cabinet as soon as we get it home and start putting its contents to good use. The bags are usually so attractive and neatly constructed that I can't bear to shred them down to a size that actually fits into our little trash can.

I was pretty happy with this buy-and-shove arrangement until yesterday, when I tried cramming the bag that broke the camel's back into the cabinet. The whole pile flooded out in a crazy, colorful paper-bag-slide.

The first thing I noticed: Boy, I must really love Starbucks. There were no fewer than 23 Starbucks bags in there, representing the full spectrum of seasonal Starbucks advertising campaigns here in Tokyo. The second: Those bags are so darn cute.

Here are some pictures of my favorite ones. Their companions have been collected and stowed into a new, more secure holding pen - a really big paper bag.

This one is uniqe. The Spring Starbucks bag features Azuki Frappuccino (Some people really like it, some people really don't). It seems to be exclusive to East Asia. Count: 1

This is the most common - standard Starbucks bag. Count: 14

The Fall Starbucks bag. Count: 4

Christmas Starbucks, Count: 4

Following the seasonal theme, here is a cute Christmas bag from Sony Plaza.

This one is for Valentine's Day. Level 4 Hot Pink!

This is my favorite. It's chock-full of Halloween details: a pumpkin on one side, a ghost on the other, and bats printed on the interior. Boo!