Kyoto Workshops

I was attracted to the Colouricious trip to Japan because it included a selection of workshops giving a taster of Japanese crafts. Our first workshop in Kyoto was a calligraphy class. The class was held at a women's organisation - I would like to think it is a Japanese version of the WI. During the class we concentrated on the kanji character for happiness. This was my first attempt at calligraphy and I must admit a found the technique of using the brush difficult.  I was given a lot of help by the teachers, which probably means my technique needed a bit of work. We had several practise runs and then we given a nice thick piece of paper for our final attempt. Similar to a Japanese embroidery class, the teacher asked us to meditate for a minute to slow our breath and calm our minds before applying the brush to the paper. I think it must helped because my last attempt was much better than my practise runs. That's not saying much though!

We visited the same women's organisation again the following day for an ikebana class. At the start of class we were given some guidelines on design and how to use the kenzan, a metal plate covered in spikes, used to hold the stems in place. 

My selection of flowers looked like they came from another planet, so they made for quite a quirky display by the time I was finished. I enjoyed the process of focusing on each stem as the arrangement came together and would like to have another try some time in the future.

Once all our arrangement we done we headed upstairs to try on kimonos. Looking back at the room, it was interesting to see the variation in the arrangements.

After an introduction talk, our hosts took us in small groups into a changing room to pick out the kimonos and obi we wanted to wear. We were dressed in under kimonos and wrapped tightly around the middle before putting on the kimono itself.

I picked out a teal kimono. The red obi must have been a suggestion from the Japanese ladies because it is unlikely I would have chosen such a contrast on my own.

It was fascinating to see the other ladies on the appear in their kimonos. It was such a change from everyone's normal casual appearance. You can see a video of the group here.

Our tour leader, Keiko, was dressed in a beautiful pink kimono with deep sleeves, which would traditionally be worn by a young girl. Once we were all dressed up, whe entertained us with a traditional song and dance.

While we were dressing up in our kimonos, our ikebana displays were arranged as a flower show in the classroom downstairs.

Personally I think our efforts were not bad for a first attempt but I wasn't brave enough to ask for constructive feedback!

I think the purple flowers in my arrangement were alliums. Serendipitously, I visited at the Chelsea Flower show this week and managed the see the amazing allium display in the show marquee.

That's given me an ideas of planting some alliums for myself but we need to get the garden a bit tidier first.

Tokyo Sightseeing

It has been almost a year since my last post about my trip to Japan in 2017. I will continue to work my way through the trip but I can't guarantee how long it will take as life does have a habit of taking over.  I hope to visit Japan again in the next couple of years and having a record or where I visited will help me plan the trip.

After the excitement of visiting Shizuka Kusano Studio, it was time for some sightseeing. Our energetic tour guide for the whole trip was Keiko and we soon got used to looking out for her multi-coloured flag. 

The first stop was Hamarikyu Gardens. A landscape garden right in the middle of Tokyo, surrounded by skyscrapers. Gardeners were busy pruning many of the trees. I don't know if trees this size can be classified as bonsais, but they get the same level of attention.

Then there was the opportunity to have matcha, the traditional tea. We didn't have a full tea ceremony, which was a shame, but the matcha did come with exquisite sweets. 

 The next stop was Sensoji temple, which is Tokyo's oldest temple. It is a very popular tourist spot.

I was drawn to paintings on the ceiling inside the main hall and particularly the dragon panel. I wish I had taken more photos now.

The main entrance to the temple is the Thunder gate which features a large paper lantern.

 The street beyond the Thunder Gate was lined with souvenir  shops as well as restaurants, with the ubiquitous realistic plastic food advertising the menu options.

I also found the first fabric shop of the trip displaying some lovely shibori kimono fabrics. After that it was back to the hotel and our first full day was complete.

 

The next morning the official itinerary was a visit to the National museum followed by a trip to Nippori fabric town. Some of the ladies in the group headed off to the Amuse Museum, which specialises in Japanese textile culture. I chose to stick with the official itinerary  but if I mange to get back to Japan, the Amuse Museum will definitely be on my todo list. Although just in the last few days I have heard the Amuse Museum will be closing soon and relocating to somewhere else in Japan.

The highlight of the National Museum had to be the kimono collection . I have to apologise for the quality of these photos. The kimonos were behind glass and it was difficult to take pictures. I am convinced the kimono in the photo above was not hung up at the ridiculous angle it seems to be in my photo.

The embroidery on the kimonos was gorgeous and there were nice examples of shibori as well.

On this this yellow and blue kimono I recognised the blister effect I learned in "Bouquet from the Heart of Japan".

Of course there was also the round and round couching which I did more a little of for "Butterfly Panel". I think this example must be outside in because the variance in shape.

The design subjects were familiar as well. This black kimono reminded me of the new JEC design Genjiko

Genjiko is described as a fragrance identification game based on the Tale of Genji, where each fragrance relates to a chapter in the book.

The collection also included colourful Noh theatre costumes.

Then it was off to Nippori Fabric town, the fabric shopping district in Tokyo. This is somewhere I definitely plan to visit again. We only had one and a half hours in Nippori before we needed to catch the train back to our hotel. I was prepared that this would not be a long trip, so I did not plan to buy much and treated the time as preparation for a future visit.

The main purchase of my trip was fabric for a JE friend's son who has a business called Creations of Curiosity, making accessories out of comic themed fabric. I decided my best approach for this was to head to one of Tomato's shop and show the staff pictures of the fabric I was looking for. It worked well and I found a couple of shelves of suitable fabric.

I wasn't a complete martyr. I did buy myself some bargains from the remnant basket. Two 1.7 m pieces of fabric for ~750 yen each. Both pieces were big enough to make into bags for Japanese Embroidery frames. I have to confess, I didn't make them myself but commissioned Creations of Curiosity to make them for me instead.

There was enough spare for a frame cover, which I did make myself.

Once our time in Nippori was over, we headed off to Tokyo train station to catch the bullet train to Kyoto.

On the platform the train departure sign alternated between Japanese and English.

I was fascinated by the pit crew of ladies in pink uniforms and men in blue uniforms, ready and waiting when the train arrived, so that each carriage could be serviced in a super speedy time.

I had the get the essential photo of Mount Fuji from the train. Maybe on a future visit I will get a chance to see it close up.

Shizuka Kusano Studio

Day 2 of the Colouricious itinerary for the Creative Japan tour was the clincher for me when I was deciding whether the book on the trip because it included a visit to Studio Shizuka Kusano. The visit included a workshop in a nearby community centre and a lecture/demonstration at the Kusano-san's studio. Because there was so many of us, we were split into 2 groups.  The group I was in, did the workshop first, which was taught by Kusano-san's assistants.

Kusano-san came into the classroom at the end of the workshop, in her beautiful kimono. Through an interpreter she explained it was her mother's kimono and that she had embroidered the goldfish on the back

There was a line of embroideries across the front of the classroom. I managed to take a couple of photos before we headed off to the studio.

When we arrived at the studio it was setup with tables, so that we could eat our lunch. We were surrounded by amazing embroideries and I was delighted to be sat next to the Poppy Panel.

The Poppy panel was a group project, stitched by Kusano-san's students. The top of the right most panel was stitched by UK embroiderers and I had the privilege to stitch 2 of the flowers. It was fantastic to see the completed panel. 

The panel is inspired by the poem "On Flanders' Field and a wide variety of techniques were used to stitch the poppies. 

While we were looking at the panel I was introduced to a stitcher, who had embroidered a poppy at the bottom of the panel that came to the UK. We both pointed at our poppies and there was lots of smiles. I wish I had thought to take a photo.

After lunch, Kusano-san gave us a demonstration, explaining the tools and materials used. The piece she was working on looks like it's going to be another stunning kimono. 

After the demonstration Kusano-san unrolled the fabric which had already been embroidered and allowed us to have a close look. I just love her birds.

Kusano-san then talked about the various embroideries displayed around the room, including the PoppyPanel.

One of the kimono's displayed was inspired by seeing William Morris designs during a visit to the UK a couple of years ago.

It's fascinating to see how the familiar Morris-esque design elements have been re-interpreted for Japanese Embroidery. This kimono, called "Queen Victoria" was on display in Tokyo in January as part of a collection of kimonos "Embodying the Soul of Historical Characters".

We also had a sneak preview of another kimono in the collection. This delicate pink and green kimono covered in beautiful butterflies, was inspired by Yang Guifei, a notorious Chinese beauty and concubine.

Kusano-san generously shared this work in progress and allowed us to take photos.

After the talk Kusano-san encouraged us to try on her beautiful kimonos and of course I jumped at the chance. I recognised the kimono I was wearing from a book on my shelf at home. I never dreamed I would end up wearing it one day.

I have to say I was more than a little bit star-struck meeting Kusano-san and felt very honoured to visit her studio. So I didn't really take a coherent set of photos. For a better set of photos, I recommend having a look at the Colouricious facebook page here and here . I'll finish off with 1 last photo of my poppies, which are  2nd and 3rd from the left.