Indigo Dyeing in Tokushima

Wow, I'm so behind on my blogging that this entry is about something I did in June. terrible... So I've been interested in indigo dyeing since I first was an exchange student in Japan more than 4 years ago. At that time when I studied kasuri I used a product called "Indigo Pure" which apparently is easier to work with than natural indigo dye. Junko found and opportunity for us to try aizome (indigo dyeing) in Tokushima so I was very excited to learn about this process!

Unfortunately I don't have the name of the place on hand now but large quantities of the plant that indigo is derived from was grown near here and then harvested and fermented to get the dye. The sculpture above is to commemorate this in the yard between the old house and the studio. I guess this place is famous since the current emperor went there with his family to try out indigo dyeing.

Junko and I went with another classmate and friend, Mayumi.

These are samples of dyeing that were in the studio. The first of a rabbit print. This is done by screening a dye-resist paste on the fabric in the areas you wish to remain white, before dyeing. Next is resist dye shodo (Japanese calligraphy) that are used as sort of mini curtains that are in many doorways in Japan. Third is a sample of the gradient you can get by exposing the fabric to the ink at 2-minute intervals.

This is the dye bath! It was really beautiful! You know the indigo is ready when the bath create the bubble mass shown above, called the indigo "flower".

This is our lovely work! We all did shibori (best described as "tie-dyeing) since we weren't allowed to do the paste resist that day. I haven't really used mine for anything but Junko dyed a lot of yardage so she had it made into a dress.

Me (sweltering in the horrible Shikoku summer heat) and Mayumi looking quite comfortable. Really cute couple of families doing indigo together. If I had kids I'd want to do this with them...

There was a really old home next to the studio. I don't really understand who used to live there but I'll check on it later... I loved the combination of wallpapers and the beautiful lighting through the paper screens

More from the home...

The End...

花火!!! (hanabi)

The word for fireworks in Japanese is hanabi. "Hana" meaning flower and "bi" meaning fire, so flower fire! I love that! In August there is a fireworks show somewhere in Kochi prefecture like twice a week and they are awesome! This was the show in Kochi City over the Kagami River on Aug. 13 to celebrate the Yosakoi dance festival. The photos from my new camera turned out well i think :)

Summer is ending... sort of

I'm on my break now and I went to the shrine near my house to collect some plants. I'm collecting all kinds of plants to press and bring to my washi (japanese paper) making workshop at the end of this month. Hopefully I can make some interesting patterns with the plants to embed in the paper! I love going to temples and shrines. I don't even believe in God but I feel at peace there and like something is protecting me. There was a little homeless cat there, he was laying down behind the wooden entryway, it was almost like he was supposed to be there. He had a lot of scabs and patchy fur. I sat with him for a minute and he really wanted to cuddle but I was afraid to get fleas from him or something so I moved on. The shinto priest was sweaping the leaves off of all the pebbles on the ground with a very traditional handmade broom. The preists wear light turqoise pants and a white top (which looks the same as a karate top) and tabe shoes. I wish I was a better writer so I could really describe what everything looks like and how it felt to be there but I can't...

When I was leaving I saw two kittens!! I played with them and scratched their bellies, then a really old woman with dimentia came over with her walker to watch me. She was giggling as I played with them and I asked her questions but she couldn't talk so she just responded with gestures. She watched and giggled for a while then she noticed the tattoo on my forearm. She began gesturing at her arm and came over to look at my tattoo. Her face became really serious and I was worried she was afraid or would get angry at me. Elderly people here don't like tattoos because until recently they've always been associated with the Japanese mafia. She came and touched one of the Japanese maple leaves tattooed on my arm and began pointing down the street. I thought maybe she was afraid and telling me to leave but I think maybe she was telling me there's a Japanese maple tree down the street. So, I got up and left because I didn't want to upset her, but she continued to look at the kittens and giggle and look at me. It was kind of nice:)

Yasu Bike Trail

During Song gi's last visit we rented bicycles from one of my students and rode on the Yasu bike trail. Yasu is about 20 minutes from downtown Kochi. The trail is along the ocean and we rode to Aki town (about a 30 min. ride). There's an awesome cafe on a cliff in Aki called Rock Green Cafe. It has a beautiful view overlooking the ocean, they play great music and the owner is this super chill hippy guy.

I just had to go swimming on the way back. You're not supposed to swim in this area this time of year but I couldn't resist. It turns out there's a reason why you shouldn't swim, the waves are way too strong, so swimming was impossible. Japanese people almost never swim in the ocean.


There's a lot of shacks and all kinds of abandoned piles of old applicances, cars, mattresses etc. along the trail. It looks tropical, I felt like I was in Vietnam or something, not Japan.
I found this rock.

Here's a really old abandoned boat, I thought it looked really romantic. A lot of old men sit right on the shore and fish.
It was a beautiful day...

Hokkaido, April 30-May 5

So we went to Kushiro, Hokkaido during Golden Week but I'm just now posting photos. There was no one there, the landscape reminded me of northern Michigan. It was relaxing and great just to spend some time away with SG. The winter in Hokkaido is really long so when we went all the snow had just melted and most plants were still dead and brown. We stayed in the huge marshland in Kushiro.
Great fresh fish in Hokkaido. We stayed in a little cabin on a lake and cooked on the grill at night and ate pasta or whatever we had for breakfast.
the marsh...
We saw one wild Japanese crane while there. Song gi spotted it when we were driving back from a day trip to Lake Akan. We pulled over and were lucky to be able to take some photos. It's rare to see cranes this time of year because they are deep in the marshlands nesting. This one was eating in a field in Tsurui (meaning crane) Village. In the winter time the cranes depend on the people of Tsurui for food. The villagers throw corn into the fields and large groups of cranes come feed. The cranes are really important to the people of this village. Even after WWII when everyone was poor and hungry they still gave their food to the cranes.

The tsuru (Japanese cranes) are huge with a wing span of about 6 feet. They were heavily hunted during the Edo period and almost became extinct but now they are a protected species and are coming back. They are to Japan what the bald eagle is to us.

Lots of cows in Hokkaido. There's a real Western influence in Hokkaido, a lot of missionaries came there after the Edo period. Dairy and beef were not a traditional part of the Japanese diet. The climate is similar to the midwest and central Europe so it's condisive to dairy farming.
These scenes really reminded me of Michigan. The sign in front of the house above reads something like "Christ will return and you will be judged" so Judgment Day is coming... I have never seen anything like this in Japan.
We drove up to Akan, famous for "marimo" these green, perfectly round balls of algae pictured in the tank above. They naturally occur in Akan Lake and I guess this is the only place in the world you can find them.

The Ainu are the native people of Hokkaido. The Japanese made efforts to strip them of their culture and took their land the same way the American settlers did to the Native Americans. In Akan there is a touristy little "Ainu Village" where you can see shops with their original embroidery and woodworking. I really wanted to go there but when arriving it was clearly a tourist attraction like Mackinac Island. But I got to see some embroidery so I was happy...
the village entrance
It was a great trip and I saw a whole different area and culture of Japan. The best part was just being away from people and being with Song gi :)

Sakura!! (cherry blossoms)

I took these photos about a month ago outside Kochi Castle when the sakura were in full bloom. It's a really important time of year here and people have "hanami", which are like picnics under the sakura and another excuse to get drunk.

Now all the petals have fallen but there is always a new fruit or flower to look forward to every month of the year. I love that seasonal plants are celebrated here and integrated into the holidays and traditions.

Everyday these old men sit outside the castle and play a Japanese version of chess, I love to watch them.

Lucky Day

This was written 3-2-09 when I didn't have my computer.


Some days make me believe in God or some higher power that sends us signs and happy things when things are going badly.

These past couple days I've been mad at the universe for messing up my hard drive. I've had my mac for about a year and a half and all of a sudden I can't even log in.

My friend Matt who works at the American Museum of Natural History asked me if i wanted to submit a proposal for a textile to be included in the exhibition on the Silk Road. This is an awesome opportunity for me so I'd been researching heavily on the internet and making drafts on Illustrator. I saved one of the designs and then mac's rainbow "wheel of doom" (as my friend Joe calls it) appeared. The computer stopped responding. I restarted several times and logging in took like 10 minutes and the wheel of doom kept spinning. I've been quite depressed ever since, it's how I access the world outside Kochi using Skype, iTunes, English news, tv...

So, I was riding my bike, taking the computer to be reapired and wondering if I'll have to buy a whole new computer when something amazing happened! I found my favorite hat that I'd lost over a month ago just lying under a flowering magnolia tree! It wasn't wet or really dirty at all which is strange since it's been raining a lot lately. Then at the repair shop the guy said it would just cost around $200 which is better than I expected. He has to look at it and will let me know in a week.

While riding back home I ran into a small parade of Geisha, Maiko and little girls in yukata dancing and playing tambourine-like instruments. Leading the procession was a large Geisha wig (kotatsu) on a rolling pedastil being pushed by two men. I have no idea what this means but it was exciting! I caught up to them just as they were getting on a huge bus to go somewhere else.

Things equaled out a bit when I pulled up to the bank and was approached by an unmedicated psychotic who started blabbering something in Japanese. I don't know what he was talking about but he said "Michael Jackson" a few times. He started screaming "HELLO!" at me when I walked away from him.

The Couch is finished!!

See 2008 > October > Kyoto/Osaka The Couch for photos of us starting this project and making the textile.

I'm really glad this is finally finished!! It's our first collaborative project and my first upholstery project after working with Sarah Hanneman. It was very difficult for Song gi and I to collaborate or I guess I should say- it was difficult for me to collaborate with anyone because I always want to do things my way even if I'm totally wrong. I learned this about myself from this process. I didn't listen to his opinion a couple times and did it my way and messed it up, then he came in and did it his way and fixed it. So from now on I will listen and trust his judgment.

The couch plus the small canvas is on display now with the rest of the Kyoto Seika seniors. In March we will be exhibiting in a smaller group show in Kyoto at a shopping mall!haha I'm curious to see what that will look like...

The textile illustrates many constellations and the couch encapsilates your whole body like you're a child sitting in a big armchair. From the chair, you can view a small canvas representing the same pattern but printed digitally. That's all I'm gonna say about it, I hate explaining my concepts and this one was pretty experimental.

Urado Beach, Kochi, 2-9-09