Category: Japan Textile Tour

  • Japan Stories

    Japan Stories

    First stop Osaka I think that overall Osaka might be one of my favourite places. It’s taken a little time to get to know but with the help of guides we were able to explore more there. First was an adventure to a yarn shop – Teyoria. We walked several kms to get there which…

  • Saori in Japan

    Saori in Japan

    My trips to Japan always include time at Saori no Mori in Osaka. It’s a time to catch up with what is going on in the Saori world, learn more ways of working on the threads and just delve into my own weaving time. I always meet new people and learn my way around the…

  • Naturally Coloured Temari

    Naturally Coloured Temari

    This Japan trip I had a little time in Tokyo and had the opportunity to visit some wonderful people and do a Temari ball making workshop at Temaricious. A major thank you to Nomo-san who helped make this happen. I learnt about the little shop from String Harvest as she stocks the Temaricious threads. One…

  • Japan Textiles 2019

    Japan Textiles 2019

    Our textile tour with Intentionally Different Travel is running again in November this year.  After a successful 2018 tour with Valerie Kirk, I’d like to invite interested textile, arts and cultural travellers to join us in November.  The itinerary includes several hands on workshops including to Saori no Mori where we’ll meet the extraordinary Kenzo…

  • Getting your feet on the ground

    Getting your feet on the ground

    Japan has the most majestic scenery.  Up to about 70% of its land is mountainous and natural. So even though there are large populations in the flatter areas where the cities are…the rest is breathtaking.  Seeing the natural scenery in Japan adds to our adventure because the Japanese, even citified people, have a constant reference…

  • Japan – and desperately seeking textiles

    Japan – and desperately seeking textiles

    The Japan Textile Tour 2017 with Intentionally Different was another amazing adventure in Japan. Once again we travelled city and countryside, through very long mountain tunnels, alongside tremendous rivers and the mountains of changing autumn leaves. The itinerary and organisation of the tour allowed us to see many textile places in more remote areas and…

  • Japan and Saori no Mori

    Japan and Saori no Mori

    Japan. Although I’ve been there many times it just reveals more of its many layers in small increments, bit by bit. It is so different and yet so familiar too.  I spent a week at the Saori head office at Saori no Mori and still learnt more about their approach to weaving cloth. It is…

  • The cloth of light

    The cloth of light

    On the Japan textile tour we met many weavers of different cloth. This particular business in Kyoto was well established and were famed for their ‘cloth of light’.  This cloth was filled with light which could be clearly seen when a flash light was directed at the cloth. Very beautiful indeed and the photos I…

  • Thirsty for cloth, and what you find along the way

    Thirsty for cloth, and what you find along the way

    Seems silly but this is what yarn people do. We travel around to see this! Yarn in all its forms, even just lying around huddled in a simple basket (yet another form of enticing interlacing in itself). This was part of the magic at one of our workshops. Looks rather like my bunch of left over…