Day 21. Our last day. The town of Miyazu is known for this natural sight.

We took a cable car up a mountain to get the famous view of the spit of land. Besides that view the town of Miyazu is known for its winner of the Ig Nobel Prize where it was studied to see if things looked different if you bend over and look between your legs. There were several locations provided for viewing and it was a hoot to see people bent over like this. When our Japanese friends tried to tell me about it ahead of time I couldn’t figure out what they were talking about! But this was the thing to do in Miyazu for sure.

This person had to hang on!

Lots of people took this in whether or not they did the bending thing.

We didn’t bend over but we were very amused…and it was cold up on the mountain.

Day 20 a visit to the village Kami-Seya outside of the town of Miyazu outside of Kyoto. Kami mean upper and we were at the top of these steps at a former school where people came for a workshop to learn to weave with wisteria.

This is what the wild wisteria vines look like. I had no idea they are so thick. Of course certain vines are better suited for the fibers and a certain part of the vine is used. The preparation is hugely time consuming.

The first step in preparation for the thin threads used for weaving. Each step results in finer and softer threads.

One of the steps is to smooth and separate the fibers in running water. A lot of time was taken for this step I thought.

Here the students were learning how to knot the fibers to make a continuous thread.

Here is a spool of thread. I’m not sure if it is for the warp or weft. From the look of the woven cloth both warp and weft threads may be prepared in the same way. These students have been coming to learn once a month to learn all the stages. The first one was In the spring to cut the vines when they are soft. It was a wonderful experience for our next to the last day in Japan.

Day 19. I found the little bags for the tea in the tea ceremony at a very special beta shop with tea bowls and other supplies. I am thrilled to have 3. It is interesting to me how they are made. I also learned how to tie the cord.

The tea shop. It is well known and does web orders. The name is Sazen.

We went to the Dazaifu temple where the children of certain ages were honored or prayed for. Lots of kids getting there outfits put together by parents.

A glimpse of the crowds at the temple.

A huge chrysanthemum exhibit at the shrine. Types I’ve never seen. A good day.

Day 18 Part Two. Here is weft ikat being woven on a power loom. I was intrigued with the stick shuttles used in the fly shuttles See more photos of the shuttles that follow.

The stick shuttles wound with the tie dyed threads waiting to be put into a fly shuttle on a power loom. We saw them being wound –many at once maybe 10 at a time and all alike.

The stick shuttle with the weft thread in the fly shuttle being woven on the loom. I couldn’t imagine how the thread came off the shuttle so fast. When the looms were turned on the shuttles zoomed across the warp threads as they were being woven. Maybe this photo is a repeat but you can tell I was intrigued .

Here are 20 stick shuttles on the machine that wound them. A woman set up the shuttles and turned the crank.

Here is a hand tied and hand woven kasuri or ikat fabric by Mr Shoji Yamamura the distinguished kasuri master near Karume. See the next photos to see the dyed threads. In this cloth both the warp threads and the weft threads are tie dyed then matched perfectly when woven. This takes a lot of planning and skill. The light patterns are where only the weft threads were tie dyed.

Threads that were tied dyed. That means where the threads were tied together they resisted the indigo dye and remained white. That is what we call ikat. The Japanese indigo and white fabrics we call kasuri.

The threads for a warp dyed by the master, Shoji Yamamura.

Day 18. A day around Karume a town famous for blue and white kasuri dyeing. We were greeted by Shoji Yamamura the distinguished master craftsman. He showed us his beautiful kimonos and workshop.

He showed us how the pattern is made for tie dyeing the weft on this special board.

This is a pattern he would use to mark the design on one long weft thread. Then that pattern thread would be used to tie all the wefts.

This is another pattern and the woven cloth on the loom.

Here we are very happy after a wonderful morning.

We visited a factory using old looms to weave weft ikat or kasuri. Mr. Shigehori Maruyama showed us around. The name of the company is Marugame. Seeing kasuri machine woven and machine tied—and machine untied was interesting.

The tie dyed weft threads are wound on special stick shuttles that can be woven by a fly shuttle. This was amazing to see. I’m not sure just how the stick shuttles unwound so fast with the fly shuttle.

This is a close look at part of the machine that does the tying for the tie dyed weft threads. 12 bundles of weft threads are being tied at once. The spools spin around the threads. Then stop and the machine advances the threads then the next sections are tied. It is very fast.

Day 17. We visited a factory where they weave a special type of obi outside of Fukuoka. We were served tea first and saw lovely pieces. They are known as Hakata obis. Hakata is a part of the city of Fukuoka.

Here the president of the Hakata Ori factory, Mr Kazuyuki Kuroki was showing his special obi with areas you could see through. I have a macro lense I can attach to my iPhone so we all could see that those areas were a gauze weave we call Leno.

This is a traditional obi. The designs in the stripes have significant meanings. This pattern is about a child being loved by parents. This is a typical Hakata obi.

Making a warp. The fabric is all warp face. That means only the warp shows.

A cloth bring woven on one of the many old power looms. The sound of all the looms weaving was wonderful.

This loom was special for weaving the wavy lines. It has a special fan reed that is moved up and down. These have interested me for a long time so it was fantastic to see one in use.

Day 16. A Day in Okawachiyama. Another town known for porcelain. Long ago the feudal lord Nabeshima took the best potters from Arita village to the valley where he lived to make porcelain for him and to send to the Shogun as his tax payment rather than sending rice. Now we know it as Nabeshima ware. Notable is the painting done on the ceramics and also for celadon porcelain. From my vantage point I could see 4 chimneys for kilns. If you zoom in you can see two. The valley with its surrounding mountains was picture-perfect.

Walking in Okawachiyama. This narrow street was lined with pottery shops. This is a taste of the mountain scenery from the valley with the town.

A studio where they were painting on the pottery.

A display of the hairs used in the brushes for painting the pottery. Some of the examples here were eye brows from horses, goats, pigs, and raccoons. An especially spikey one is from the belly of a deer. One of the bushy ones is from the tail of a chipmunk. Our guide told us that somewhere in Japan there is a shrine or monument honoring all the animals sacrificed for all the artists’ brushes.

At a modern pottery the manager opened the door of the huge kiln.

The inside of the kiln. Note the tracks in the floor.

This would be loaded with pottery to be fired then rolled into the big kiln. A very modern operation we thought.

Types of celadon glaze. The special blue color was prized and a specialty here. The different colors seemed to be due to different firing techniques. A piece of the rock for this glaze is shown here.

Day 15 Part Two. A few examples of Amari ware. I was too occupied to remember to show what Amari ware looks like so this is a tiny example I found in a photograph.

An old climbing or step kiln. The segments go up a hill. The fires are stoked at the bottom and through the holes on the side. A more modern one is in the next photo.

A climbing or step kiln. It was interesting to learn some of the techniques involved. For example the different temperatures as you go higher in the kiln and where they would put pieces in to be fired again.

We had a good dinner of Ramon at the train station. The cooks were happy and the food was good.

These kids were out celebrating Halloween at the Ramon shop.

Day 15. A Day in Arita to see Imari porcelains. This museum has a lot of the history of making Imari ware and very old pieces.

The white area is the clay for porcelain.

Another photo inside the mine.

A shrine to honor the Korean potters who started making porcelain in the town of Arita.

At the shrine commemorating the Korean potters who founded Imari ware as in every shrine there is a cord attached to a bell above. People come and make a wish and shake the cord to wake up the gods to grant their wishes.

I’m making my wish at the shrine for the Korean founding potters.

Day 14. Pottery in Karatsu. We saw contemporary and traditional pottery by some well known masters. The artist is 14th generation master: Tarouemon Nakazato.

This tiny pot is a container for special tea for the tea ceremony. Its little bag is made of antique fabric. Each bag is made to order to go with the pot it will hold. I hope to go to a tea ceremony supplies shop and find out more about the little bags and maybe learn how to tie the cord. The artist is the one who made the big black pot: 14th generation Tarouemon Nakazato.

Aya Nakazato is a well known master potter we met at her gallery. She is a wife in the family of famous potters.

This is Takashi Nakazato. We took a taxi to his lovely compound in the country. He showed us the kiln he built and explained a lot about how a step kiln functions. He goes to Aspen twice a year to teach.

Here the master potter is looking to the kiln to show us if there are any pots loaded inside. There weren’t any in this section.

Looking inside the kiln to see the pots loaded inside. Traditionally the kiln was fired for 8 days. This newer kiln only takes 5 days of firing.

Day 13. Visiting Karatsu, a town known for making pottery. My hotel room. Everyone had individual rooms. I’m glad I didn’t have my big suitcase with me. We will see pottery tomorrow.

The tiny bathroom in our hotel. Japanese toilets are really complicated and accommodating. The lid flips up automatically when you approach and we are surprised when the seat isn’t heated. Sound effects come on sometimes when you sit down. I haven’t tried any of the other treatments available. But it is awfully nice to be able to sit down and always find toilet paper when traveling in Japan.

After a soba dinner we came across a group playing flute and drum music. They were practicing for a festival parade coming up in a few days.

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.

Day 11. Morning walk in lovely Kurashiki.

So many lovely doorways. Hard to choose which photos to send. It was Wednesday and a few tourists but mainly just Cathy and I and the locals were out.

This shop/gallery owner wrapped our purchases in the old traditional way. The Japanese are known for using the smallest possible piece of paper to wrap things. These days they mostly put our purchases in nice bags that one is loathe to throw away.

Here is the supply of papers of different sizes for wrapping purchases. I always wondered how they always had the right size sheet of paper at their fingertips. I used to be impatient waiting for things to be wrapped. By now I understand that’s a part of the shopping process– even at a flea market.

We took a bullet train to Hakata Station in the city of Fukuoka which is on the island of Kyushu south of the main island.

We have two nights in a small Japanese inn. Our room is measured by the number of tatami mats. We have 4. The toilet is down the hall and the Japanese bath is down a flight. The dinners are delicious and the location is good. No complaints.

Day 10. Another flea market before leaving Kyoto.

A visit to Kurashiki. We took trains to this lovely historic town near Okayama. I had fond memories of it from a visit 50 years ago. We took a stroll at twilight that was magical.

These girls’ obi interested us.

Strolling along the canal at twilight in Kurashiki.

Day 9. Another walk in the Gion District. I love walking around this area because there is so much beauty. This was our last day in Kyoto and so nice to go to places we liked a second time.

A lovely place in the Gion District.

Walking along Teramachi Street again.

We visited Aoni Textiles shop this morning. They specialize in bast fibers: linen, hemp, and ramie but here are examples of wild silk from India. Look for the stem in the photo where the silk worm attaches the cocoon to a branch. Those stems are what the skein of yarn is made of. The loose fibers come from the outside of the cocoon–not the good silk from unwinding the cocoon. We were told nothing is wasted: neither the stems or rough stuff on the outside of the cocoon; it all goes into making carpets. The cocoons were bigger than I’ve ever seen, maybe 1 1/2 inches long ( and beautiful).

Day 8. Walking in the Teramachi District. We walked in a large arcade area with a fish market, places to eat and many shops. This shop really made me know we were in Japan.

I thought these were soft ice cream cones until I noticed the flavors! We passed them by.

There are several quite inventive designer shops named Sou Sou– pronounced so-so. All with nice textile things. Things to wear and for the home. The separate shops are all very close to each other. You don’t want to miss any of them. I got a nice jacket.

We went walking in the Gion district. The old buildings are beautiful and it was nice to see women strolling wearing kimonos.

Lots of strollers were out.

We saw an exhibition of red kimonos that are worn under kimonos. They were collected by Glen Kaufman at flea markets. Here he is at the show. Gallery Gallery is the name of the gallery. It’s in an old building with many artists. It’s always stimulating to visit here but it always seems to be the end of the afternoon when I’m nearly worn out. Then it gives me a second wind because of all the art textiles to be seen.

Day 7 A Glorious Park in Nara: Isuien Garden.
We took a train to Nara to see an exit of old hemp and ramie textiles in the Neireku Museum which is in a most beautiful park composed of Japanese gardens. It is more beautiful than the famous gardens in Kyoto and there weren’t the crowds. It was a real contemplative place. The textiles were so fine they spoke to my heart but the gardens spoke to my heart and soul.

A tea house in Isuien Garden in Nara.

More of the garden.

We practically had the whole place to ourselves. Just like it was meant to be.

Back in Kyoto we went to a shop that sold all kinds of dye supplies: Tanakanao Senryoten. There were hundreds of brushes, chemicals, and textiles for dyeing.

There were hundreds of rolls of fabrics to dye. I bought some silks, linens, ramie and cottons. It was great to be able to buy just a tenth of a meter: 10″ of a lot of different fabrics. It was almost overwhelming.

Day 6. To-ji Shrine Flea Market. Here is my loot after 5 hours of serious shopping. We arrived at 7:30 and left at 12:30.

There were lots and lots of textile vendors. By noon this one was a mob scene. We were glad we went early.

This couple sold things dyed with green persimmons. I wore a scarf I dyed with green persimmon dye from Japan so we had a little conversation.

Another couple with green persimmon dyed things. I bought a hat that will keep off sun and rain.

Yet another persimmon dyer. It was really fun to find these dyers. Some also sold the dye. I liked seeing the variety of colors you can get. Kakishibu is the word for persimmon and I pronounced it so I was understood so we could connect right away.