another year bites the dust

i love birthdays; especially when it's my own. i think the major allure of celebrating birthdays is the dessert, and presents. mmm, cake. i'm good with cupcakes as well, or ice cream cake, or many other desserts for that matter.

last year i was in kyoto, japan, for my birthday. i miss japan. so, for my birthday this year i received various green teas (ocha) from ippodo. i actually ordered a tea from each category, rather without realizing it. from gyokuro, the karigane (stems) ocha, from sencha, hosen ocha (a very good one i've had before), from matcha, an autumnal tsukikage ocha, and in the bancha, wakayanagi ocha (typically, i drink genmaicha, but i decided to try this instead). i've tried other companies ocha, but i've found ippodo to be the highest quality, reasonably priced, and as i've visited uji (where much of the matcha is grown), i enjoy drinking tea from that region.

ooh, shopping!

i've compiled a list of some really neat shopping and eating places while in kyoto. it's the non-touristy, things kyoto really does well type of shopping.

shijo-dori area:

mina perhonen; beautiful! check out the 4th floor for remnants

basement level of takashimaya; pan

6th floor of takashimiya; wooden bento

basement level of daimaru; tea sweets, honey

basement level of fujii-daimaru; organic produce

nomura-tailor; floors 1-3; fabric, pinbacks, sewing notions

lisn; really modern and incredible natural japanese incense

teramachi-dori:

itoh kumihimoten; just gorgeous silk kumihimo

sou-sou; really awesome tabi shoes

gallery kei; amazing unique textiles from japan's past, ramie, banana fiber, shifu

ippodo; matcha tea, ocha tea, tea tasting and brewing demonstration

kamiji kakimoto; washi store

kyoto station:

malebranche; delicious matcha and white chocolate cookies, matcha icecream

kitayama station:

la droguerie; buttons, ribbon, liberty tana lawn, sequins

kamigamo handmade market; 4th sunday of the month

shijo-dori to oike-dori, btwn karasuma-dori and kawaramachi-dori:

lin-net; linen fabric, linen clothes, linen bias tape, linen thread

avril; love habu textiles? you'll like avril.

kyoto design house; fabulous locally made things

ippudo; yummy fresh ramen, i ate here four times

konnamonjya; tofu doughnuts

cats and ravens, but no fox

as this was my last day in kyoto, i did some new things and revisited some old favorites. needless to say, enjoying matcha soft serve at malebranche in kyoto station, slurping my favorite bowl of ramen at ippudo, and listening to the lovely incense at lisn were the old favorites.

as for the new; i walked amongst the torii gates at fushimi inari-taisha, found where all the cats of kyoto hang out, and browsed a used book store i pass whenever i ride the bus to kokusaikaikan station.

inari was incredible; amongst the forest and hills were paths of torii gates, lined up like dominoes, their orange red hue a striking contrast to the cool greens and mellow browns of the landscape. every now and then a stone shrine dotted the path, some in groups and some solitary, most accompanied by fox guardians and miniature torii gates.

while following the path, i came across a single meowing cat, gave it a pet and continued on amongst the raven cries. then several minutes later another tabby cat walked solitarily by, not really craving attention (perhaps it was on a mission?). as i continued onwards i came to a fork in the path and turned right, happening upon several more kitties basking in the dappled sun coming through the trees. i make note of this, as one of the things i noticed in kyoto is a particular scarcity of cats. this can mean one of two things; cats are well taken care of and are not abandoned to roam feral in the streets, or they are, but not anywhere i've gone. i can't imagine that they aren't popular pets here in japan.

today was a particularly blustery day, and though it did not rain, and the sun was out, i stayed cold for the better part of it. i admired many coats and cloaks in fuji-daimeru, and wished that i might acquire one; but that would be foolish, as it isn't really needed in mood swing savannah.

interestingness

did you know that a single stick of incense could smell so delightfully heady, sweet, fruity, musky, intense, light, and dark all at once? if that one stick was of the finest kyara agarwood, then yes. while at lisn today, i just wanted to keep smelling it, in its unburnt form. if they bottled up that smell and sold it as perfume i would definitely be in the queue to buy it. or if i had to choose one scent to smell in the moment before i passed on, that would be it (well, maybe; now that i'm thinking such macabre thoughts the smell of rich, dark, hot chocolate would be nice too).

well, i thought i would post photos of interesting things i saw today.

this building reminded me of a ship, or some massive gate from a sci-fi movie. it's kind of ominous, as if that stone is waiting to drop at the merest signal.

things in miniature; miniature pond, miniature torii gate.

and, of course, my personal favorite and mecca to the japanese textile craft, gallery kei. bashou fiber, ramie, shifu, linden, kuzu, banana tree, pineapple fiber, all the lovely fibers japanese people have spun and woven for centuries. kawasaki kei has created such an amazing space filled with precious cloths from times past; each an artform in and of itself, each an incredible undertaking by unknown hands, all lovingly displayed and collected by her. one day i wish to create with such skill these things that women have always done.

time and place

so, a very strange occurrence today: i was heading towards the elevators on the 1st floor of takashimaya, when i happened to glance to the right of me and what should be there but a mini laduree store! weird, and totally unexpected. i am in kyoto, right? it definitely wasn't there on saturday.

i have been seeing macarons in some of the bakeries, even kaitei charms, but laduree itself? i didn't even think twice, and stepped in line to get some of these pretty confections. okay, so it was more that i wanted one of the laduree boxes, but you can't get the one without getting the other. so pretty!

i guess i can put that trip to paris a little further back on the to do list!

kokedera

so, today was an amazing day! it took three hours to get there, but visiting kokedera was definitely worth the trip. the peace, serenity, closeness to nature, and so much unique greenstuff of this place is surreal.

moss was growing everywhere; on both living and dead trees, on rocks, on cement, on the walkways, it was incredible. i took so many photos, it was hard to narrow it down to the few i'm posting.

the temple complex itself was really nice, and in lovely condition. the way they limit the amount of people who can come at once, preserves the tranquility and makes taking photos a breeze; i had so few photos that had people in them.

there were two trees growing together, which i think they marry, and tie a cord around to show this. it was kawaii.

i love this place, i hope to come back to it one day. if you're in kyoto, this haven of peace is absolute bliss.

kasuri

i have tried my hand at kasuri weaving, and i love it! take some little learning mishaps (but they're good, because you learn more that way), and slow dawning of understanding, add a little time, voila! a kasuri sampler. i want to do more.

the tying of the kasuri areas, to protect them from the dye, was a tiny bit painful; but with practice, those muscles and digits will be in tip top shape! i'm still not sure if it was easier tying bigger sections, or little sections. hmm.

the warping of the kasuri was not as traumatizing as i suspected. plus, i learned of an amazing doodad to help with tensioning. it's called a kasuri zurashiki. i want. will post photos when object of desire is acquired.

sensei had some amazing samples of past student work. for future reference, i drew pictures and took photos. i've posted two of my favorite pieces, detail shots. well, more kasuri creating tomorrow, and this time on silk!

tactile color

today was a colorful day! it started with the dyeing of my kasuri skeins, which went well; that is, after i corrected the first batch of dye which i had made a mathematical error in, by having to discard it down the drain. eh, check math twice, measure dyestuff once.

after lunch we took a visit to the kawashima selkon factory and museum. very neat! they have a ginormous 24 meters wide hand loom which they create large tapestries on, such as special stage curtains, and large scale wall tapestries. there are smaller hand looms which are used for weaving obi, both ooak commissions and regular orders on the second floor. most of the obi can take anywhere from one to six months to complete. i love the little shuttles they use, i would think they would definitely be useful for inlay weaving.

i actually had an opportunity to try my hand at weaving an obi earlier last week (see hand in upper right corner of below photo? mine). so hard! you work from the backside of the piece, so you don't see it until you take it off the loom, as well as the loom takes a lot of muscle to operate. i was so nervous!

after dinner, one of my classmates had a box of natural dye samples she completed at a retreat last weekend. they were so lovely, both silk kinu and wool uuru.

tomorrow is the start of my warping the kasuri. i'm scared, but excited, i don't want to mess up the placement of the warp kasuri areas.

most awesomest ever

i read about the handmade market at kamigamo shrine, on the fourth sunday of the month, and knew i would have to attend. i've seen photos of the amazing hand crafts of japan, and most definitely wanted to see them in person. i was not let down, in any way. point of fact, i was really blown away by all the very creative and beautiful pieces people are doing!

there was plenty of delicate jewellery, an amazing selection of pan, cookies, and cakes, really pretty accessories made from old kimono, and adorableness with hints of kookiness everywhere. i wish i had brought more money with me, but regardless, i did manage to decimate my o-miyage list down to three items remaining. when i return home and gift the prettiness out, i will post photos. something i've noticed, and not only here today, is the attention paid to packaging in kyoto is really amazing; it makes me want to set a higher standard for myself when it comes to my work.

i did not think that the artists would want you taking photos, or i would have taken more, but when i noticed my friend kyo-san taking photos and the artists happily allowing it, i started photographing some of the things that caught my eye.

well, a return to class tomorrow; dyeing of the kasuri yarn.

inspire

while browsing the web last night i came across such lovely photos of the work of mina perhonen. the textiles are so rich with details, intricate workmanship, dripping with creativity, everything so tactile, colors pairing in unusual and visceral ways; just pure eye candy to this textile loving soul.

i can thank selvedge issue 16 for tipping me off to this designer; another reason why i love this magazine. and luckily for me, there is a store in kyoto. only six more weeks. i keep having to tamp down my excitement, or my brain may very well reboot.

i just want to visit all the prettiness, perhaps buy a pair of socks, or a scarf, or an itty bit of fabric. maybe they have a sale rack?