Japan Tour 2025

Treasures I Took Home

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Introduction:

 The last day of the World Shibori Network Foundation tour had me packing to fly  home to San Francisco with just a few treasures. I had promised myself that I wasn’t going to buy things this trip. I am proud of myself!

The first thing I couldn’t resist was this jar of liquid graphite—who could resist such a  tiny, interesting thing as that? I’m sure I’ll use it someday when I paint again.

The engineer’s plan for the museum with the drips. It is in the Day 9 post HERE   
I’m really enjoying it now and remembering the museum that I loved. I won’t keep  this very long.

A close up of the engineer’s plan for the drops in the Teshima Art Museum.

This calendar will remind me of the lovely gardens all year. I’ll put it outside my front door.

This is a real treasure. I went back to an antique shop looking for a collection of these tiny tea bags used in the Tea Ceremony. Alas, he only had this one left. These little bags were made of antique textiles to hold the small pot of green tea. I have been fascinated by them and made a few myself.

These are some of the tea bags I made out of cloth I dyed with natural dyes. The cords are traditionally tied in complicated ways so that if anyone stole the tea inside, they would never be able to retie the knot! I learned enough kumihimo to make the cords.

Another treasure from the antique store: this bag. I like the corners of the basket as much as the antique textile. It’s 9 inches tall.

My final purchase: a shirt from the Sou Sou shop in Kyoto. (pronounced so so). I knew I would want one and waited until almost the end of the trip until we got to the shop. I’ve gotten one every visit to Japan. When I got home, I counted and I have 7 shirts—all different!

The Sou Sou label I treasure. There is a shop in San Francisco and a global online shop that ships.

Japan Trip 2025 – Day 12 – Saving the Best for the End?? A Very Busy Day in Kyoto, Watch for Day 13

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We stayed one night in the oldest Japanese Inn (ryokan) in the country, the Hiiragiya. Here, our futons were made up for the night for a wonderful night’s sleep.

As is traditionally done whenever people are leaving, everyone outside and inside the bus waves and waves until out of sight.

The beautiful Silver Pavillion called Ginkakuji. However the name, it was never covered with silver leaf.

The 2-meter-high cone is called the “moon viewing” platform. It’s a symbol of Mt. Fuji and is meant to reflect moonlight. It and its garden are beside the Silver Pavilion.

The raked area beside the moon viewing cone represents the “Sea of Silver Sand.” Notice the mob of tourists on the right in the photo. They are going to go on a path up the hill supposedly to view beautiful gardens of moss and trees. However, when I went on that path on another trip it was solid with people and you could be run over if you stopped to take a look.

Lunch at a very special small restaurant with a “contemporary” chef included this dish with a delicious garnish of fried carrot tops!

We got up early the next day to beat the crowds, but we might have been the 4th tour bus to arrive! This is at the Ryoanji Temple, and people are contemplating this famous garden. I’d hoped to stay there a while but the crowds sort of spoiled the effect.

Notice the gorgeous mud wall. It’s as famous as the rock garden.

Japan Trip 2025 – Day 11 – Coming to Kyoto: From Very Modern to  Very Traditional

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We visited the Miho Museum, I.M.Pei‘s masterpiece outside of Kyoto. The trees were beautiful with the green umbrellas we were given. We were near Kyoto on this fabulous World Shibori Network Foundation tour with Yoshiko Wada.

Here is the dining room, an indication of the building’s architecture.

There was beauty everywhere and I couldn’t resist taking this photograph. So Japanese.

The museum is built on the side of a mountain. I understand they dug out the side of the mountain to build it then filled the earth back in. This was a view on this rainy day.

On the property I.M. Pei designed the building for a special school. Here is the entrance with the top of the building behind.

This is what the inside looks like. It’s the chapel for the school.

Another inside photo. This is the back door.

We stayed in an old, traditional ryokan (a traditional Japanese Inn). Here I am after a lovely soak in the wooden tub waiting for dinner. I’m wearing a yukata and jacket which is what you do after a bath before dinner.

Two not-geisha women entertained and visited with us. So nice to see them up close. This one is not a geisha yet , but on the way with her years of training.

This women was in training I think only 3 years. She will have to quit when she gets married. She is “looking for a boyfriend”!

Their hairdos were interesting to see up close. This one is a wig.

The backs were as interesting as the fronts—especially how the obi is tied. It was a marvel to see them walk and turn around so easily with the amount of fabric at the hem.

Chichu Museum: Another Architectural Wonder

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This museum absolutely thrilled me for its creativity. This is a picture of the Chichu Museum—chichu means “in the ground” and this unique museum is just that. The only things that show on top of the ground are the skylights. The architect is Tadao Ando. The museum is on one of the Art Islands in the Inland sea. It is on Naoshima Island.

The whole museum has only 3 artists: Claude Monet, James Turrell, and Walter De Maria. Each of the 3 galleries has its own skylight shape. Monet’s is square with a narrow border. Turrell’s is a “square U” shape. DeMaria’s galley has 2 skylights:  one large  and one small. I figured out from the photo what all the skylights were for. Besides the artists’ galleries there is one for a triangular courtyard, a square courtyard, a narrow, 26-foot-long bench in a sitting area, and one for just a wall.

Monet’s paintings were large in a huge room. One painting measured 6 ½ feet x 19 ½ feet. They were all waterlilies done at the end of his career. To me they were too fuzzy, not what I expected. One painting per wall.

The Turrell exhibit had a line waiting so we missed that, but the Walter DeMaria room was a marvel—and extremely interesting to me. The room was large—79 feet x 33 feet. One could climb up the steps, but we didn’t. The point was that the light from the skylights changed with the time of day as well as the time of the year and that reflected on the sphere as well. The small skylight was at the top of the steps, out of sight. As we walked from one side to the other, what we saw in the sphere changed with the change of perspective. When we were walking back and forth, so many other things in the room changed, too.

The gold posts were interesting too as the light changed. Sometimes they seemed like lamps, sometimes like gilded posts. The 3 posts in the groups were triangular, square and pentagonal (5-sided). However, of the 27 sculptures,  no 2 were in the same order. The light shone brighter on the surfaces catching the light making the “space imbued with an air of tranquility”.

A note about the photo on the cover: the dark area is the narrow entrance to one of the three big galleries!

Japan Trip 2025 Day 9 – Lot of Art on the Art Islands

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Lots of art installations are scattered around on the Art Islands. We spent two days exploring ART on three of the islands in the Inland Sea before going to Kyoto. The islands we visited were Inujima, Teshima, and Naoshima. Setouchi Triennale Art Festival was going on so even more than the permanent installations were to be seen. Some in our group rode electric bikes around. The non-bikers saw a lot too. This was my favorite: Teshima Art Museum as we were walking to approach the museum.

Inside the low white building on the floor we silently watched the paths tiny drops of water took as they dribbled erratically.

Some trickles ran into puddles which may or  may not join other puddles or paths.

I can’t tell from this photo whether this drip was coming out of the hole or disappearing into it.

Japan 2025 Day 8 – Two Completely Different Gardens

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We began the day at the gorgeous Ritsurin Koen garden. The pine trees have spectacular shapes.

Another beautifully trimmed tree. The mountain behind are also part of the gardens.

That tree on the mountain is part of the scene. The man with the chain saw on the mountain was talking with the man on the ground so he would cut the trees just right.

More pruned pine trees. They were a huge part of the gardens.

Notice this tree has been trained to cross the water.

Feeding the fish is popular. At another spot a few toddlers were doing it and were so cute.

We were lucky to see gardeners pruning the pine trees. Can you see the ladder the man is standing on?  And see that the ladder is attached to the little bridge over the creek?

The pruning is serious business.

I loved watching the pruners as you can see.

Two more specialists. They made little dams in the water so the pine needles wouldn’t get into the lake.

Japan 2025 Day 7 – Two Greats in One Place

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This is the Simone Art Museum in Hiroshima. The outside is completely mirrors and much inside too.

A shot of this incredible building from the roof. The round area is covered by mirrors.

A view of the galleries buildings from the roof. These buildings were connected to the round building and were the art galleries.

Then there were the gardens outside the building by this Frenchman.

Colors were important.

Another view of the garden.

A restaurant for lunch. A huge grill. Oysters cooking and the flat bottom of the meal

The final result minus my first bite. Delicious!

Japan 2025 Day 5/6 – We Visited A World Heritage Site: the town of Iwami-ginzan near Omoricho on the Japan Sea Coast

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Yesterday we flew from Tokyo to the Japan Sea cost.
Today we strolled along this tiny village’s Main Street to admire the old houses that have been restored/rebuilt. We learned how this abandoned village was restored and became the World Heritage Site.

The tall thatched roof house is really old. You can see the rice paddy with new rice and old rice drying. We had a fantastic lunch in the house.

This tray with my lunch. When the fish dish was ready it would fit in the empty corner

The chopsticks were held in a leaf.

A stool with legs can sit on a tatami mat with this design.

This low table was set with our tea cups. Note the blue “rug” underneath. It was heated!!

This is the control for the heated rug. It kept my stocking feet from getting cold.

From a distance I thought I saw a sculpture in the rice paddy.

The “sculpture “.

An interesting noran: door curtain. Gives me an idea for an art sampler.

Front of a house with the shoji screen patched with fabrics.

Another front door with a patched shoji.

Many of the tiny house fronts had small “gardens “. I loved the vase of marigolds.

If not a garden, often art works were displayed.

The owner of this house was a big gardener.

A little creek long side of  the street with a little falls.

A temple entrance (shrine?) along the street.

Even a vending machine was interesting.

The flower in a bamboo vase was actually a cover for a drain pipe.

Persimmons drying. A special autumn thing to do.

Even a doggie had an old textile patch. This is the woman who began restoring the abandoned village with her husband 14 years ago. And now it’s a World Heritage Site!!

Japan 2025 Day 4 – Last Day in Tokyo

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We visited this unique building. The National Art Center. I think it is full of galleries but we just enjoyed the building.

The inside. We went to the fourth floor for this view.

We had a fabulous lunch. Here in the Aoyama District. That’s where all the top designers have shops. Issey Mayke being the most important

Inside the flower shop part of the restaurant was this Christmas decoration made with a real  cotton plant!

This is the table where we sat. A lovely, lovely place. There is most always a line to get in.

Another interesting building. All the floors are underground.

The show at this museum was hugely interesting.

After a disaster one might have been prepared by having clothes with newspaper in pockets for warmth.

Cardboard beds for after a disaster.

Cubicles in a sports center after a disaster. All very interesting. 21–21 title of exhibition

Japan 2025 Day 3 – A Day for Inspiration

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Went to subway And we all tried to keep from getting lost. Then took a train for over an hour. Luckily white haired people were given a seat for the long ride.

We got off the train and a short drive to The Enoura Observatory—not an observatory but huge area of spectacular nature sites and art. All by Hiroshi Sugimoto. He is a collector of stones by the way.

Here is one of the many installations. You can see Mr Sugimoto’s fascination with stones. He gets them from all over. Stone dealers come to him!!

More beauty.

I loved the care taken with the paths.

Another beautiful path. Even though we stayed on top we could look down and enjoy the beauty.

Three of us ate dinner at This is the Farm. Here is the salad for the 3of us. A treat to go there again and get to know people better and quietly.

Before the big salad we had these beans and tofu. Why can’t I remember the national the beans?? We all thought they were the best we’ve ever eaten.

Japan 2025 Day 2- A Very Busy Day in Tokyo

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We spent time in the Sumida Hokusai Museum Building. It is as special inside as out.

We know the famous Hokusai wood block print “The Wave”. This exhibition covered a whole floor of these ladies. There were lots of explanations for each one. As his work progressed various changes occurred which seemed minuscule. The eyes were more or less round etc.  Most were high class women however one was of a woman filing her nails. Another floor showed the progress of his work and his influence. Very pleasing the exhibition was.

An interesting house with a tiny shrine next door tucked in.

Here’s the tiny shrine preserved among many buildings.

A scene along a sidewalk we  encountered . Looked like a nursery school out for a walk.

Had a fantastic dinner at a tiny restaurant called Kabi. Several cooks/waiters prepared a meal with maybe 18 courses with paired wines of course.

The first course. The dishes were as interesting as the food was delicious.

Dessert. Creamy inside the ball. A piece with nuts on top. The “pasta” wasn’t pasta!! A fantastic meal all round.

Lunch at the Farm

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I took myself to this restaurant called The Farm. Here is the menu. Note it says please eat all the vegetables. I selected the 1 hour lunch. I think that’s what I did!

I picked up a big wooden tray and went to this table to select my salad ingredients. A variety of dressings and about another half table of salad ingredients. I made a really big salad.

My drink was a large delicious kale smoothie.

Dessert was kale cheese cake!!!  I ate both big pieces.

First Day in Tokyo Japan

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I met two old friends who took me to the Nippori Textile Town district. There were several blocks with shops. Each one sold just one thing. For example buttons, upholstery fabrics, braids, just leather to make any amount of crafts—the tool, notions, and patterns, etc. Just like in New York Times 5!

There were a few fabric stores but this was the biggest and most crowded. It was Wednesday afternoon and a shock to see so many people shopping.  I think the name of this shop is Tomato !! So overwhelming that I wasn’t interested in shopping. I saw tote bags for the Tomato shop and resisted buying one. But I still think about it.

While waiting for my friends I watched the making of a huge flower arrangement. I thought this was the first time I’ve done nothing maybe in years! This cart held the flowers that were to be used. I saw a sign in the hotel that they were part of a project to use “non-standard flowers.

This gives an indication of how big this arrangement was. It was at the entrance of our hotel.

Here’s the final result. It’s a fantastic display with falling water over the dark background.