CONTRIBUTED BY KARA LESPERANCE

After seeing the posts on Rainbow House and the Hand Craft Shop that reference the House of 66 Cents, I wanted to write up a post on them.  I could spend hours wandering fabric stores and picking out fabrics and the House of 66 Cents has pretty much any fabric you could want.  The biggest problem I have when visiting is restraining myself from spending too much!

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They have two buildings, one two-story right on the road and the other one-story sits back so that you have to pull into the parking lot to see it.

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The front building has a lot of home decorating fabrics on the bottom floor, with quilting fabrics and supplies, buttons, zippers, thread, and quite a bit of hand crafting items on the second floor.

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They do not have items to do floral works, or as many beads as Rainbow House has, so if that is your crafter’s poison I would make the trip south.  But if you like to sew, you can pretty much find whatever fabric you need at the House of 66 Cents.  You will want to look around the whole store before making a purchase, as their selection is vast and you may find more than one fabric to your liking at greatly varied prices.  I find the prices comparable to stateside fabric stores, but without the benefit of sales and coupons.

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House of 66 Cents

Hours: open 10am to 7pm everyday

Payment: dollars and yen, no checks or credit cards

Address: Japan, Okinawa Prefecture Ginowan Aragusuku ２丁目４５−６

GPS Coordinates: 26.2878119798, 127.76589643

Directions:  They are located on 81.  Coming from Kadena Gate 2 you will take a right on 330 and continue down past the intersection where you turn left to stay on 330.  When you go straight you will be on 81, it is just a few minutes down 81 on the left.  (View coming down 81.)

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The large House of 66 Cents sign on the left is black with white letters and hard to miss.

Coming from Foster turn right outside of the Legion Gate onto 330 and continue down past the intersection where you turn left to stay on 330.  When you go straight you will be on 81, it is just a few minutes down 81 on the left.

46 COMMENTS

  2. Do they sell handmade Japanese fabrics such as: bashofu, kasuri, syuri-ori, etc.? I really want to add a lining to a denim jacket that I have, but I want something original and handmade. If there is anywhere to obtain vintage fabric, that would be even better. Please let me know. Thanks!

    • They have plenty of traditional Okinawans print fabrics. Be careful with some of the fabrics- for example I bought “silk” there only to find out it is a polyester blend “artificial silk”. I usually burn a small piece of fabric- silk turn completely to ash and smells like burnt hair. This fabric shriviled to a small glob of melted plastic. If u r looking for super affordable authentic silk- buy vintage kimonos. Places like Sachi’s antiques or kimonobana have discount kimonos- some as cheap as 500yen if there r stains.

    • Great idea on used kimonos! One other place that has TONS of them (used) is Off House/ Hard Off. There are two- one is near Nitori on 85 (you need to google the directions, it’s not in view from the 85) and the new one that is near the 100 Yen/ Uniquo/ Melaleuca plaza that is near Mega Don Quiotx store near to Foster.

  7. Karen: Totally safe. And your hotel will be able to help with the bus schedule. http://www.nahabus.jp/pc/ and maybe you’ll take a cab up the hill to the store, or walk if it’s nice.

    I would say to plan a day of scooting around in the Chatan area (roughly this area) if you’ve not been to Okinawa, because it’s pretty interesting.

    There is an Okinawa Hai FB Q&A Page where you can get some pretty quick replies about various places to go and things to do.

    • Thank you again Leah! I’ll have plenty of time to look around solo since my husband will be at a conference. I appreciate the info! I just looked up where we will be on a map. I’m starting to get excited for this trip (rather than nervous!) Thank you again for all of the wonderful info!!! 🙂

  8. Karen H: The resort you will visit is about an hour north of this store. If you are renting a car and have an international license, driving is fairly easy. It’s slow but backwards.
    If no car, you can easily take a bus (taxi from the resort will run you about $100 each way).

    • Thank you Leah!!! I won’t have a car, so I’ll take a bus. (I won’t take a cab, I’d rather save that money to put towards fabric!!!) I’m guessing it’s pretty safe to get around?

      Thank you, thank you, thank you again for the info!!! 🙂

  9. Hi There!
    This thread is GREAT and very helpful! I’m an avid quilter from NYC and I’ll be traveling to Okinawa & Kyoto at the end of October/early November. From what I’ve read, it sounds easy to get around Kyoto, but I’m not sure how to get around Okinawa. My husband will be in a conference most days while we are in Okinawa and I’d love to visit these fabric stores in Okinawa. We are staying at the Resort MICE Island. I have no idea how far this place is from these wonderful fabric shops! Here’s the link to our resort:
    http://www.shinryokan.com/menuIndex.jsp?id=21545&menuid=6407&funcid=28
    I figure if I can get around NYC, I can get around (almost) anywhere!
    Thanks in advance for any info!
    Best,
    Karen

  10. Editor’s Note: Due to technical difficulties this comment was not saved on our server. We are re-publishing it now to continue the conversation on this post.

    From Jessica on 9/22/13:
    “Do they sell cross stitch fabric?”

  13. Sarah, I’ve seen white faux fur at House of 66 cents in the past. Lisa, they do have the grosgrain ribbon, in several different widths, as well as a huge selection of other kinds of trim. Sarah they do have buckle clips for book bags. All the buckles, buttons, trim, stabilizer, etc is in the front building. It’s been reduced to 1 story (the second story is now an olive oil shop), so they’ve reduced some of their inventory. Expect most of the fabrics to be at least 500 or 600 yen, with some of it even higher. They typically have a better exchange rate than the bank. When I was in there a few days ago, they were accepting dollars at 100 yen to the dollar (when the rate was actually about 92 on base). This was true even when it was in the 70s–they were giving about 85 yen at that time, so shop with yen if you want, but you’ll usually get more bang for your buck with the dollar anyway.
    If you’re looking for cheaper deals, ebay can be a great resource (make sure you verify with the seller that they ship FPO/APO FIRST! I’ve had orders get cancelled on me even when their shipping policy said worldwide), as well as fabric.com, joanne fabric’s website, onlinefabricstore.com, and I’m sure more. Many of these websites have fun fabrics for a bit less than you’d pay at the house of 66 cents, even taking shipping costs into account. If you’re just doing a single project and it needs to be done now, or want to look at the fabric in person or feel the texture, it’s great for that, but the care instructions are not in English, and finding specific fabrics when your pattern calls for something you may not be familiar with can be a challenge, because the labels are all in Japanese. For basic cottons for quilting or satins, etc, though, it can be a really fun experience. I could bankrupt us poking around in there. They do have some character fabrics (Hello Kitty, Mickey Mouse, Thomas, etc) but it’s a limited selection, so do your homework first if you have the time and make sure you’re getting what you want for the price you want.

  17. I cannot tell you how happy this post makes me. We just got orders to Okinawa and unlike most military spouses, my first thoughts weren’t about housing or what to bring. I wanted to know where I was going to get my fabric! Packing, schools and flyings to Japan with 2 children came next. lol.

  19. On Saturday’s the main store opens up at 1000. I think the front store opens at noon. This is the second Saturday I’ve been there where the front building opened at noon. Not sure if this is a set thing, just wanted people to know.

  21. Hi Kyla,
    I did not see any kinds of prints like that when I went there. You might have to try getting something specific like that from Fabric.com (they ship relatively quickly)! 🙂 Good luck on your search! 🙂

  23. Can you put a marker for this on the map? I am a very visual person and being able to see it on the map will help me figure out how to get there. Since I have never been down those roads, I want to see what roads I will be passing and what roads will indicate I have gone too far.

  24. For sewing machine repair/servicing:

    Turn right onto 330 coming out of Kadena gate 2. Keep going – I’m not sure how far so just keep watching your left side – and you’ll see a little red “Brother” sign on one of those little shops. There are trees lining the road, so look carefully. When I brought mine, they had all models there, so they should be able to help you. The man speaks pretty good English. They advertise credit cards on the window, but they use some old paper system, so bring yen when you pick up your machine.

    ALSO, practically across the street in a corner shop is a Janome place – if you’re driving, it is on the right side and barely past Brother. I don’t know that “Janome” is in English anywhere, but you’ll see the sewing machines and pattern display through the window. I usually park in the dirt parking lot right after that shop on the right and walk down to whatever shop I need. The lady that took me there is Japanese, so the parking lot is okay to park in. If I didn’t have her, I never would have found anything! Calling the fabric stores got me nowhere.

  28. Kelly – they sell japanese style fabrics at pandora house on the second floor of jusco in american village on 58 across from Lester. your brother in law should know where the Jusco is. the Pandoras is right next to the food court on the 2nd floor. They have great fabrics too, plus notions, and patterns, etc.

  29. this is such great info! my brother-in-law is stationed at kadena, and we’re looking at visiting this summer. i’m a quilter, and so, of course, one of my priorities is finding fabric stores while i’m there! 🙂 do they actually sell japanese produced fabrics (kokka, lecien, etc.)?

  32. Janis,

    House of 66 will cut fabric by the yard for Americans. The bolts and rolls of fabric there are typically longer than the standard bolt found in the US, so she’ll have a little more fabric. But YES they do cut by the yard.

    House of 66 also sells batting by the bag, precut (about a yard), or you can have them cut it for you. When you go upstairs walk straight back to the wall opposite the stairs and you’re at the batting.

    Downstairs they have an amazing selection of muslin and cotton if she needed backing for appliques.

    They speak decent English there. The front store is better for quilting and home furnishing fabrics; whereas, the rear store is more for dress/clothes making and just about everything else.

  33. Janis, I’ve never had a problem finding fabric by the yard at House of 66 cents. They do it by the yard there, happily. You just need to state it as such.

    I believe they have batting on the second floor, yes. If you go up and ask for quilt supply they should be able to help. Just go on a weekend. There’s more of a chance of an English speaker being there.

  34. janis

    There is a quilting store down the street from a restaurant called Jakkepoes (you can see both on this map http://jakkepoes.com/eng/access/index.html)

    While I do not know if the clerks there speak english, I know the woman is the best quilter in Japan; she won some contest, and the women who run the pancake house are fluent in English and Japanese. You could have your granddaughter ask there, or go visit Rainbow House (search on OkinawaHai for that) fabric store.

  35. I am teaching my Grand daughter to do traditional quilting using Skype and need help finding material, batting and fiberfil in Okinawa. She has been to the 66 cent store and gotten the fat quarters, but can’t find fabric by the yard. Is it on the second floor? And are there any English speaking clerks to help her?

  37. Okay, for those of you who are not familiar with all the names on the Foster gates, let me save you from getting lost! LOL

    Coming from the Foster PX gate or the Foster Shoppette gate, you would go right (away from Kadena)! From the gate next to Macaroni Grill, you would go left.

    Once you are headed south on 330, you’ll come to a very confusing overhead sign where it looks like you need to go left. Ignore it & stay going straight. Just a few blocks later, there’s another overhead sign that says 81 is straight & 330 turns off to the left. Keep going straight. It’s just a few more blocks down on the left. The parking lot is before the building. The one past the building is for another business complex.

    Happy shopping! 😀