One of the highlights of my trip to Japan in October was having the chance to visit the Volks Tenshi-no-Sato showroom in Kyoto. It is their gorgeous flagship location and an absolute must for any Volks doll collector. Admission is free, however reservations must be made in advance by simply emailing Volks. The staff at the store had no record of our reservation, but luckily AlphaZ had a copy of the confirmation email saved on his phone! (For future visitors, I recommend printing out a copy of your reservation just in case!) It was actually quite easy to get to Tenshi-no-Sato from the train station, however I found this guide on Angelden.net to be very helpful.

Unlike other Volks showrooms that also carry their hobby kits (model airplanes), Tenshi-no-Sato is dedicated only to dolls and the special relationship that owners have with them.

After unpacking, we left our bags with the staff and borrowed a lovely basket to carry our dolls in during our visit.

There are indoor photo areas, but the true gem is the Japanese garden outside. Since the weather was beautiful and sunny we went outside to take advantages of the beautiful garden.

Rin changed into a lovely kimono to compliment the beautiful surroundings.

The koi were as big as Rin! ^__^”

After walking around and taking lots of photos, we did some shopping in the store in the basement level. There were a few ‘Sato-only’ items, and I noticed that some popular outfits that were sold out in Tokyo were still available. After shopping we stopped into the café to have a snack. We had a sweet potato pastry and a slice of apple pie. I like the white chocolate garnish with the Tenshi-no-Sato logo on it, and the café had floor to ceiling windows overlooking the garden.

After our afternoon tea and desserts, we set about taking photos in the many photo areas set up on the main floor of the showroom.

Everything was set up for Halloween and autumn –

This is one of my favourite photos of Serena. ♥

I was finally able to see this gorgeous throne in person. It is so beautiful!

I loved this setup with the antique looking frames.

On the second floor of were two exhibit rooms. One showcased all of the Volks standard Super Dollfie models, and the other had all of the limited edition Super Dollfies. It was amazing to see some of the very limited and rare collaboration dolls that I had only ever seen photos of. Photos aren’t permitted in the exhibit rooms but I took this one near the elevators. ^_~”

The top floor had a big empty room which I assume is for special events, and had a nice panorama of the area.

AlphaZ and I had a lovely day at Tenshi-no-Sato and it really is a serene and special place for any Volks doll collector. If you ever have a day to spare in Kyoto, I highly suggest visiting!

– ♥ Archangeli