The Japan folk crafts museum, Osaka

Now The Japan folk crafts museum, Osaka (大阪日本民芸館) (Sorry, but only in Japanese) is now holding the special exhibition of Shoji Hamada (浜田庄司), a famous folk-art ceramist, in commemoration of the 30th year since his passing.




Shoji Hamada (1894 - 1978) was one of the main members of Mingei Movement started by Muneyoshi (or Soetsu) Yanagi. Mingei means 'folk crafts,' and this word was coined by Yanagi, too. .

"Yanagi Soetsu discovered beauty in everyday ordinary and utilitarian objects created by nameless and unknown craftsmen. According to Yanagi, utilitarian objects made by the common people are “beyond beauty and ugliness”." -From Wikipedia
More about Mingei movement, refer to HP of The Japan folk crafts museum (日本民芸館) in Tokyo.

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The Japan folk crafts museum, Osaka was established as one of the exhibitions of Japan World Exposition in 1970. And it stayed in the Expo park as a museum after the Expo.

The Expo park is between Kyoto and Osaka, on the way to Osaka International Airport (Itami Airport) marked with orange. The green cirle shows the place of Osaka city. To get to the museum, you can take Hanshin Line from the city center of both Osaka and Kyoto to Ibaraki Station, then take a bus to the Expo Land. From Itami Airport, you can directly get there by monorail.

I have been surprised that many foreign tourists to Japan showed their interests in Mingei Movement. (I'm afraid many Japanese kids don't know about this movement though..) Oh, another good place to meet Mingei is Kawai Kanjiro Museun in Kyoto.


If you have a chance & interst, please do visit them(*'-')b !!

Indigo dyeing （藍染体験） Part 2

So now, let's start indigo dyeing! The liquid in the barrels is colorant for dyeing. It has anmonical order...



First, we got to make a design on cloth. I chose a handkerchief, but you can choose it from a stole, a bag, a towel as well as a handkerchief('-'*)


They are the tools for making a design: clothespins, film canisters, small stones, rubber band, etc.


The places where the tools touch or nip wouldn't be dyed.

Are you ready? Then go for dyeing! The liquid with more bubbles is younger, meaning stronger. So if you prefer deep color, you'd better use younger one.



Souse the cloth in the colorant for about a minute, then rinse it with water. And repeat those works 3 or 4 times.



Do you think the color is deep enough? Then take the tools off.







And then,　dunk it in vinegar water.

Acid restores the color of indigo.




This one is my friend, Miya's work.

She's smart and always full of ideas.

Don't you feel it?




This one is Yuki's.

She's very organized,

and I can tell it from her design.





And this is mine!

(Sorry I'm not showing the whole design... I'm not artistic.)

They gave me a plastic bag & a seal to wrap.

It was fun, and I enjoyed it a lot(≧∇≦)b


By the way, Yamato-Koriyama is one of the best places for cherry-blossom viewing in Nara prefecture.

The ruin of Yamato-Koriyama castle is now a park with lots of cherry trees.

The season of cherry flower in Nara is in the beginning of April.


Why don't you come to Yamato-Koriyama to enjoy indigo dyeing, goldfish catching & cherry blossoms?
I may see you then(ﾟ∇^*)

Indigo dyeing （藍染体験） Part 1

It's been cold in Kyoto & Osaka these days, but we are expecting to have hot days from tomorrow. What a strange weather!

Today I introduce a craft center called 'Kon-ya（紺屋）'where we can experience 'indigo dyeing.' But I must explain where Kon-ya is. It's in Yamato-Koriyama city in Nara prefecture. It takes about 50 minutes from Kyoto and 20 minutes from Nara city by train.



In this map, red one in the north is Kyoto city, one in south is Yamato-Koriyama, and green on is Nara. (Blue one is Osaka city.)





Yamato-koriyama is a city famous for indigo dyeing & goldfish. You'd see goldfish everywhere. Why don't you try goldfish catching with the local kids ;)?


And here's Kon-ya.





Kon-ya(紺屋) used to be a tradesmen's house, and renovated by the city.

Now Kon-ya is managed by the tourist association of the city.


Once you enter, you'd see pieces of work of indio dyeing. You may feel you are in a different time... maybe in Edo period.


　

In the next article, I'm going to talk & show photos of indigo dyeing experience. See you soon♪(*￣ー￣)ｖ

Genko-an （源光庵）

Oh, my goodness!
I haven't posted a blog for more than a month<("0")>!!
What a terrible blogger I am!!

Anyway, hope everyone is all right☆*~ﾟ⌒('-'*)⌒ﾟ~*☆





I visited a temple called Genko-an (源光庵) a few days ago. Let me talk about it today.



This temple belongs to So-tou sect of the Zen Buddhism, and it's famous for two window called 'Mayoi no mado(迷いの窓)' and 'Satori no mado(悟りの窓)'.



Mado means 'window'. I would translate that 'Mayoi no mado(迷いの窓)' is 'the Window of Illusion or Anxiety' and 'Satori no mado(悟りの窓)' is 'the Window of Enlightenment or Nirvana'.


This square window is 'the Window of Illusion' and it expresses human being. We face with four sufferings, 生老病死(to be born, to get old, to be sick and to die) and cannot run away from them.

Also, I have another idea. A square has 4 corners, and they are sharpen. So they may symbolize bad points in people's minds. That's why we, human beings, have always had conflicts with the others in the history.


On the other hand, a circle has no corner. So no conflicts with the others. Once our mind becomes like a circle, we would be satisfied and serene. That's why, I think, this circle window may be called 'Satori no mado(悟りの窓)' meaning 'the Window of Enlightenment or Nirvana'.




In addition, the circle is emblematic of the space. So it's opposite of the human being. 'Circle' is an important factor in Zen Buddhism.

Sometimes I see a hanging scroll of '○' in a tea ceremony room where Zen Buddhism has given a strong influence.

Water festivel in Kifune （貴船の水まつり）

Water festival is held at Kufune shrine on July 7th every year.

The origin of this festival is rain-making rituals.
Now is more like for showing our gratitude to water.


The festival consists of offering tea ceremony, dancing and cooking ceremony in front of the Gods. Tea cremony, of course, cannot be done without water, so it's the symbolic ceremony of this festival. And the cooking ceremony is offered by the special cooking school called Ikuma school. (sorry, but only in Japanese.)


Ancestors of the Ikuma school used to be cookers for the Imperial family. It is said that the current master is 29th-generation of the family.


At the ceremony, he cooks a fish in front of the god without touching it by his hands at all. (The fish is altarage for Gods, so it shouldn't be touched by men.)

We know we cannot survive without water. However, we hardly thank it.Attending this festival was a good oppurnity to think about water.


Plus, kifune is a famous spot for Kawayuka (川床= on-river restaurant.) As it's in the middle of the mountain, the temprature in Kifune is about 3C (5F?) lower than that in the downtown Kyoto. Kyoto people know how to enjoy hot & humid summer!

Noh mask (能面)

Hello, I'm Mariko♡

Ha-ha! Am I scary?

I'm wearing a Noh mask.


Noh is Japan's oldest form theatrical art with performance, dance & music. It was listed for UNESCO world heritage with Kyogen in 2001. Most Noh repertoires have stories in them, but some only do abstract plots such as admiring beauty of iris flowers or thanking or praying for rich harvest.



It's formally played on the special Noh stage with a roof.

A main role or main roles of Noh wear special masks made of wood. Fortunately I had a chance to visit an atelier of Noh mask artist, Ms. Nakamura. (Sorry, but Japanese only.)





Wow∑o(*'o'*)o!!

Many masks welcomed me,

but some of them seemed

to have agony and

some to be sad.





Ms. Nakamura showed the process.

The Noh performers do not change their masks during the play. So a mask must not have only a kind of emotion with it.


It changes the expression when a performer moves, and it's possible because Noh masks are stereoscopic.




She looks

smiling to me.

What do you

think?

Obi Factory (帯工房)

Today I'm showing my most favarite photos!!
When I see them, I really feel I'm happy to be a Japanese♡



Those photos were taken at an Obi(帯) factory in Kyoto.
I attended a class of Japanese culture for mature people called
'School of Tradition & Future (伝統未来塾)'　
and it took us to this factory.

The factory is called Obi-ya Sutematsu (帯屋捨松) (Sorry, but it's only in Japanese.) meaning Obi shop owned by Sutematsu. Actually Sutematsu was a name of 3rd owner.

By the way, obi is the sach for kimonos.


It's as important as kimono itself when we get dressed.
In a way, the combination or contrass of kimono and obi tells
if you are a smart kimono dresser or not.

But....

　




Aren't they just beautiful???


　


Red color in an obi is not expressed by only 1 kind of red thread,
and it consists of 2 or 3 kinds of red. It reminded me of oil painting.




What do you think?



Still now there are people who spin cocoon into yarn,
and someone dye yarn and it is used to be woven.


Thinking of this quick & fast modern world,
it sounds like very serene & calm procesures.


This lovely tool was used to spin cocoon in old days. ('-'*)