Day 12. A Day in the City of Hakata/Fukuoka. It was nice to see a craftsman’s shop: a lantern painter. It was in an arcade with lots of small shops.
I liked this building because of the simple front and the extremely tall doorway with its noran (curtain for doorway).
A huge float carried in festival parades. It was in shadow but if you zoom in maybe you can see all the wild components. We may go to the Float Museum in the next town we visit (Karatsu).
Finally. A Loom! And what a wonderful one. If you zoom in on the blue spot you can see the weaver. This is a jacquard loom– the jacquard mechanism is up above. There is a ladder going up to it. That is the part that makes the intricate patterns for the well known Hakata obi. In a few days we’ll go back to this town and visit a factory weaving Hakata obi.
A traditional Hakata obi design. We have seen many innovative designs being made for today’s fashions. There is a school where the students are encouraged to be creative. This is keeping this old tradition alive. We’ve seen many of the traditional obi worn on this trip however.
The “brake” that keeps the warp tension tight is this box of heavy stuff. Pretty primitive considering the complicated jacquard mechanism.
The pictures are wonderful. What an adventure you’re having.
Beautiful! And how impressive is the jacquard loom’s chain of cards! I’ve never seen one like this in use. Thanks so much for sharing these.
Oh, great place for wonderful scissors and knives, as I recall. Loving your blog Peggy.