Shifuku Finished

Last night I finally finished the little bag I started while I was in Japan.  It is a Shifuku (仕覆), a drawstring pouch

and something like this would be used for holding the utensils used for the Japanese tea ceremony.  I have ordered a Chasen (茶筅), a whisk, from the Japan Centre which I will keep in my shifuku, the dimensions of the bag suit it although strictly speaking the chasen is not Dōgu (道具, literally tools).  I shall have to make more bags!  This one is very special.  The fabric is katazome, dyed at Noguchi san's, the indigo master and the drawstring is my first kumihimo.

The shifuku is lined with vintage silk

that sensei Bryan gave us (and the offcuts of which I included in my bojagi).  It is a wonderful momento of my time in Japan earlier this year.  I know it is not perfect (not good enough for something Japanese for sure) but it is made to the very best of my ability, maybe I could dare to say it is Wabi sabi :-)

Edit:  my Indigo Sister, Nat, has written a great post on bojagi, full of inspiration, it's here .

Visiting the Indigo Master

This is almost the last post about my visit to Japan.  It's photo heavy, for which I make no apology.  In a final post I will share the things I made on the tour and in the future you will see my work incorporating what I learned in the way of skills and design.  I have already realised that I now consider a large percentage of my fabric stash "harsh", "garish" and lacking subtlety of any kind.
This post is about one of the most memorable and amazing days of the whole tour, almost a religious experience, the day we went to visit the Indigo Master.

My Indigo Sister, Blandina has written beautifully about our visit to Noguchi san on the Japanese Textile Study Tour here and our Sensei, Bryan has posted here.  Bryan is currently exploring the origins of katazome dyeing on his blog.  In those posts you will find a lot of detail, technique and explanation whereas I feel my post is about to become very emotional and subjective.
Our learning about katazome, about persimmon paper and stencil cutting began late one night after a visit to the onsen and then a great pizza meal cooked especially for us by Tohei.   It was probably the last thing I wanted to do (my bed was calling) but Bryan was determined that we should have some understanding of the process before our visit to Noguchi san's katazome studio the following day.  We also needed to prepare stencilled fabric to dye.

He was right of course, when Noguchi san and his son,

Kaz (the eight generation of stencil dyers there), welcomed us and started to describe and demonstrate their craft it was helpful to have had the introduction from Bryan, so many new terms, new processes and important stages.

I feel sure that the workshop had been especially tidied for our visit, it was wonderful and much appreciated.

So many delicious nooks and crannies, seasoned and loved tools, a feeling of being in a completely different time and place from the Tokyo we'd left at the door of the studio, as we stepped down onto the hard earth floor.

We were able to dye our prepared stencilled pieces in the fermented indigo vats and then Noguchi san washed them four times for us, removing all remnants of paste and sawdust.

 They then dried in the sunshine. 

Kaz demonstrated his skill under the watchful eye of his father, if he was nervous it didn't show.

We were all incredibly privileged to be allowed to use the wonderful stencil to print a whole kimono length as we'd seen Kaz do (well, in a similar but far less skilful and confident way) and it was shared out so that we could dye our own piece.

Whole kimono lengths are taken outside still on their boards and dried in the fresh air before dyeing.  (The photo above shows Kaz taking our length out to dry, with gaps between each section of stencilling so that there were no arguments).
A kimono would be placed on "tenterhooks" to hold each section separate from the next while it was in the indigo vat.  Noguchi san showed us some wonderful examples of his work.  He prints the kimono lengths on both sides, the pattern matched up perfectly.  The resulting yukata (summer kimono) sell in the best department stores for very high prices.

Noguchi san also modelled a stunning fireman's jacket for us

We looked at some used stencils (and Bryan valiantly tried to persuade Noguchi san to sell some to us), they are incredible works of art and skill in their own right.

No luck on the stencils but Bryan did negotiate the purchase of some of the kimono lengths.

Expensive still (but not considering the skill involved) but what an opportunity, what a souvenir, how impossible would it be to cut?  Nat and I agreed to share a length so we had to cut it before either of us could leave Japan but any further cuts will be very carefully considered.

Our pieces hung on tenterhooks, the indigo transforming magically in the sunshine to deep blue, the vats were in perfect condition.

We drank green tea and ate a 'picnic' lunch in the workshop, admiring the glorious simplicity in which the indigo master and his family lived, a timewarp, a hidden world, we were running out of suitable language to sum up our experiences and we were incredibly grateful to Bryan whose slowly burning seventeen year master/respectful student relationship with Noguchi san had allowed us to make this visit.

 

Want more?

From Bryan's blog:

So this picture just about sums up my feelings in launching this workshop and inviting you to look inside. It was taken during the spring workshop as I was explaining the complexities of Noguchi san's indigo unique  fermentation technique.

 

The lid is open. What is inside is very valuable and interesting and has great potential for all the indigo sisters. (No indigo brothers last time.) It was up to me to explain it as simply and clearly as I could.  With a deep breath, enthusiasm and hope, I ask you to take a look at the Autumn 2012 brochure. file:///Users/bryanwhitehead/Desktop/docs.google.com:.webloc

Fabric from Japan

As promised this post is full of all the yumminess I bought when I was in Japan in April.  I shopped in a variety of places, department store, antique market, vintage fabric store... and am pleased with my haul (although I don't have plans for much of it as yet).

I went to Yuzawaya fabric shop with Carin and bought several lengths of fabric 

plus some ready-quilted AnPan Man fabric to make something for Sam 

I just had to have something with dragons as it is the Year of the Dragon and this piece caught my eye

Considering the temptation presented by this wonderful craft shop - they really do have everything - I think I was remarkably controlled!
Near the Asakusa temple Carin and I visited a small kimono shop (new and used) and I bought this small piece of sakura decorated fabric:

I visited an antique market with Carin and bought this length of shibori fabric

I also went shopping with Julie.  We visited Chicago, an exciting treasure trove of secondhand clothing in one of the poshest streets in Tokyo, Omote-Sandō, with stock ranging from the standard battered jeans and T-shirts to the most exquisite obi.  Julie was looking for used obi for a workshop - hoping to see it soon Julie ;-) while I was looking for fabric and yukata.  Neither of us went away emptyhanded.

 

I bought this lovely, lightweight yukata to wear as a summer dressing gown, I also bought one for DH.

A couple of small textiles, cheap and cheerful tenugui

 and a blossom design Japanese handkerchief, a smart Japanese girl is never with one. 

While we were on the Japanese Textile Study Tour Bryan took us to Rogei
He said he'd allow us ten minutes in the shop full of vintage textiles and with a workshop running making gorgeous dolls.  Had he no idea how we women shop?  Needless to say the ten minutes was extended!!  This is the shop where we were described as the Western Ladies Bomb!  The trip also resulted in an example of a great service in Japan the takkyubin.  Our shopping was boxed up and sent to the Indigo Hotel by courier - no lugging big carrier bags around the city.

A delightful shibori koshi-himo which would have been worn beneath the obi but which I enjoy wearing as a scarf.

A selection of silk pieces that were not expensive because they were everyday.  They are going to become a boro cloth or bojagi, something like this maybe -

I couldn't resist these two pieces of vintage silk.  Just look at the exquisite designs and the stitches and patches that still remain in them, so gorgeous

I was very, very tempted by a boro furoshiki.  It was sashiko stitched, patched and had had a life and some I'd say.  It was so full of stories and character but it was expensive.  I hesitated.  I do regret not buying it.
But then I had sufficient yen remaining for the final shopping spree of the trip, Nat and I shared a kimono length of double-sided stencil printed fabric from the indigo master

Which is a good place to leave this post, with the promise that the next one will be about my visit to Noguchi san's katazome studio.