Andrea’s 2014 Trip to Japan
A couple of months ago, I took a trip to Japan with my grandson, Elias Todd. From his base in NC, we traveled thirty hours to our first hotel in Kagoshima, Kyushu. It was his first venture into a country he’s only heard about, but with his intensive training in Pokemon and the ninja world, he had some preparation. And it was a first for me, too: a trip to Japan with no need to hunt for either textiles or textile knowledge.
Elias is an artist
Luckily, Elias is an artist. We did castle, volcano, ferry rides, contemporary art, history museum, robots , aquarium, gardens and lots of climbing.
Arrival
Textile waste company warehouse
While in Kyushu, we chanced on a textile waste company I had visited twenty years earlier- everyone very happy and surprised by the reunion. They introduced me to Takeo Yoshioka, a collector of indigo textiles and rice culture, who lives in the house of his great grandfather, deep in the countryside.
Gunma’s old farm, home of silk products
As the trip extended I realized that it’s hard not to see fiber and textiles in this country; they are still one of the most basic elements of daily life. A visit to an old farm in Gunma took us into a house where silk was the product.
Very sophisticated 21/21 Design Sight.
Even the very sophisticated 21/21 Design Sight showed us fiber in their ode to Rice Culture.♥