Explore the cultural richness of Japan through a tour of its fibers with textile scholar Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada.
Traveling through Japan’s countryside, coastal regions, and metropolitan areas, we’ll visit historically significant production centers and traditional mills.
The Tour, beginning in Tokyo, ending in Kyoto, will focus on:
•Synthetics, wool and other fibers popular in fashion and interior textiles in the bustling and stylish urban landscape of Tokyo and nearby active mill town of Kiryu.
•Cotton for kimono and indigo traditions in a rural village near Kyoto, and in the shibori production center of Arimatsu situated along the old Tokaido highway that dates back to the Edo Period (17-19th centuries).
•Bast fibers, such as wisteria, common in folk traditions along the coastal regions of the Japan Sea where the climate did not support cotton cultivation.
•Silk kimono and fiber art in the former Imperial Capital of Kyoto which has maintained its cultural and artistic traditions for more than 1,200 years.
Highlights:
•Enjoy intimate/personal visits with designers, artists, and artisans at their studios and mills in Tokyo, Kiryu, Nagoya, and Kyoto
•Experience firsthand the natural indigo dyeing process, papermaking, and shibori dyeing
•View treasures of Emperor Shomu from the 7th-9th centuries at the 57th Shosoin Treasures Exhibition in the Nara National Museum
•Appreciate Japan’s noted sensibilities towards nature with visits to the Miho Museum designed by I. M. Pei, and pottery studios in Shigaraki and Kyoto.
Traveling through Japan’s countryside, coastal regions, and metropolitan areas, we’ll visit historically significant production centers and traditional mills.
The Tour, beginning in Tokyo, ending in Kyoto, will focus on:
•Synthetics, wool and other fibers popular in fashion and interior textiles in the bustling and stylish urban landscape of Tokyo and nearby active mill town of Kiryu.
•Cotton for kimono and indigo traditions in a rural village near Kyoto, and in the shibori production center of Arimatsu situated along the old Tokaido highway that dates back to the Edo Period (17-19th centuries).
•Bast fibers, such as wisteria, common in folk traditions along the coastal regions of the Japan Sea where the climate did not support cotton cultivation.
•Silk kimono and fiber art in the former Imperial Capital of Kyoto which has maintained its cultural and artistic traditions for more than 1,200 years.
Highlights:
•Enjoy intimate/personal visits with designers, artists, and artisans at their studios and mills in Tokyo, Kiryu, Nagoya, and Kyoto
•Experience firsthand the natural indigo dyeing process, papermaking, and shibori dyeing
•View treasures of Emperor Shomu from the 7th-9th centuries at the 57th Shosoin Treasures Exhibition in the Nara National Museum
•Appreciate Japan’s noted sensibilities towards nature with visits to the Miho Museum designed by I. M. Pei, and pottery studios in Shigaraki and Kyoto.
