Natsukashii

A year has passed since me and Natalie visited Japan. Beth told me this lovely word above meaning wistful and reflective. That beautifully sums up how I'm feeling. The inspiration that I brought back with me has been long lasting and I think about it often. As I enjoyed blogging about it as much as I enjoyed being there I thought I'd re-visit my posts and have a little reminisce.

We visited  Tokyo first and stayed high up in a tower block hotel.

there were so many people.

 We saw the The Bright Lights of Shinjuko on a Saturday night

and had a lazy Sunday morning exploring The shop fronts of Nekameguru.

We visited  Hajime Studio, two creative guys that I discovered whilst writing Illuminate.

 Then we travelled on the Shinkasen to Kyoto and saw Mount Fuji on the way.

We loved  Kyoto and felt very at home helped by hanging out with Beth who was living there for a while and speaks fluent Japanese.

 We took the steep walk up Mount Daimonji and felt on top of the world.

I loved our rainy visit to the Bamboo Forests of Arishiyama where we had the pleasure of meeting Ai Kawauchi who I also wrote about in my book.

I was very inspired by the bamboo forests.

We visited many amazing Temples and Gardens with Beth.

 and she took us to a brilliant Sunday Morning Craft Fair 

 and introduced us to many a Washi Paper Shop!

 We had a big cycle ride out to the countryside to try our hand at Stencil Dying.

It's how they paint Kimono. It was fascinating.

We we had lots of chatting in cosy tea houses sheltering from thunderous rain.

I long to return and hire a basket bike and continue the adventure.

Maybe next time I'll go to the countryside and visit Ai in the South...and see the sea.....or maybe set foot on Mount Fuji. I'd like to visit lighting designer Sachie Muramatsu in Tokyo because I  only discovered her AFTER I got home....I'm dreaming....

Thank you Japan

Our Japan trip is beginning to feel like a distant memory.

So I thought I'd find some pictures that didn't make it into my previous posts and reminisce.

I still miss my bike. It's funny the 'Pink Wobbler' features very often in my dreams at night. Maybe three nights out of four I'm exploring many places and visiting far away friends on my bike.

What is he saying? Beth?

I did hire a rain poncho but didn't fancy mastering the art of cycling in a tent. The Japanese are so cool on their bikes. They ride with one hand and hold their umbrella in the other! I was far from cool! 

One lovely memory of a thunderous day was parking our bikes outside a beautiful kimono shop in the textile district.  The kimonos here were very very expensive and we obviously weren't buying but we were made to feel so welcome. When we left the shop we found owner outside putting plastic bags on our bike seats for us so they didn't get wet. So much kindness.

I miss cycling behind Natalie in her stripy top down beautiful lamp lit Kyoto streets.

Shinbashi Dori in Gion was outstandingly beautiful.

Gion is the Geisha district and it is full of beautiful machiya, the traditional old old houses. Very intriguing.

Everywhere we went in Japan there was something sweet...

or elegant,

or cute,

or a little weird....

and sometimes extreme. Natalie made me go in this slot machine arcade and it was SO unbelievably noisy that it propelled me back out of the door as quickly as I came in. 

We were 'interviewed' a few times by kids on school trips practicing their English. What is your favourite food? What is your favourite colour? 

One of our favourite restaurants was Gonpacci in Roppongi, Tokyo. This place apparently inspired one of Quentin Tarantino's fight scenes in Kill Bill. We had a very happy evening here. 

There food was great and there was loads of atmosphere. Every time a new customer walked in the door the man at front of house would signal and the entire kitchen staff would shout hello. A surprising welcome!

I think I have run out of blog posts now :(

I wish I had had my camera the day we visited the man in the handmade lamp shop. He sold lamps by all sorts of makers in the front of the shop and he had a workshop at the back of the shop where he made things and wired them up. Just like me. The Kyoto me. We had a nice chat with him thanks to Beth's interpreting.

I remember the blog post I wrote the week before our trip when I was really scared. Rossichka commented saying how she remembered being scared of leaving her comfort zone before a trip to Kenya but when she came back it was all she could talk about. That's me all over. I LOVED Japan and my brave girl boots were well and truly worn in when I got home.

I want to thank Beth in a big way for the invitation and the push. Her sense of adventure rubbed off. Be sure to read her Japan posts. She's still there for another six weeks the lucky lady! And thanks to Natalie to who was the best travel companion ever (and she took loads of these pictures).

And if you missed all my previous Japan posts here's a link to all all of them. 

I wonder how soon I will go again....

I hope it's not too long. x

Washi paper a plenty!

Something the Japanese do extremely well is paper! Beth took us to a beautiful  paper shop on Teramachi Street in Kyoto. A family run business established in 1845.

I wanted to find a Kyoto made washi paper that I could make some Japanese inspired lamps with. Something plain, slightly textured, thick enough to laser engrave and that most importantly gave a beautiful glow.

After lots of rummaging through racks of paper and some assistance from the very helpful and friendly staff I think I found just the the thing. I bought 5 huge sheets to experiment with. Since coming back from Japan and being so busy with Tatton Park preparation it has remained in it's cardboard tube patiently waiting for me to get it out and play....soon pretty paper soon!

We bought lots of beautiful papers and kept the staff busy wrapping it all up.

How could you not be tempted by racks of colour and pattern like these?

Spending a week in Kyoto we discovered paper shops a plenty but could not walk past a single one without going in for a look. It was a sensory treat each and every time.

Perhaps I'll make some colourful lamps too out of this lot. 

I'm looking forward to having a play.

My Japanese Inspiration

In my last post I was talking about what inspiration I was bringing back from Japan and I found a few words to sum up what I loved about it.  As well as feelings and words I have bought a few physical things back which act as a visual reminder, transporting me back to those feelings of inspiration with every glance. Let me introduce you to a couple of them...

One evening in Tokyo we visited the Aoyama Book Store in Roppongi. They had so many beautiful books and even though we couldn't read a word their strong aesthetics kept us perusing the shelves for a couple of hours. 

I couldn't put this book down. Flower Book by Rari Yoshio. The mixture of beautiful line drawings and flower photography all laid out so simply made it a must have. You see I also had 'homework' from my web design team (Ffion and Robert) to gather visual inspiration for the new website that they are building me over the summer.

This book sums up the simplicity that I would love to create with my website.

I want it to be a mixture of my drawings and photographs of my lamps.

Perhaps not the Japanese text...but you never know, if I do get my lamps into Japan I might just have to do some translation!

Back home in Hebden Bridge I meet up with Sarah to discuss a studio/shop photo-shoot that we have been planning for a while. I showed her the book and she totally got what I wanted. We're very excited (as we often are...it doesn't take much).

(photo by Sarah Mason Photography)

We did our big photo-shoot. I can't share all the photos yet, they are for another day, but here is one that Sarah took of the grasses that I was drawing. She so got it. 

And here is the drawing. 

( photo by Sarah Mason Photography)

And this photo shows the beautiful mug that I bought from the craft fair in Kyoto. I love it so much and feel the inspiration with every cup of tea....in fact I've been drinking a little too much tea because it's so nice to hold and drink from.

Now I'm not really bothered about having things for the sake of things. If it's not special to me I'd rather not have it at all but I love it when objects can transport you back to a happy memory, or spark an idea, or a whole host of ideas, or inspire other people too. They are the best things. Those ones can stay. x