We met in Kuroha sensei’s shop, Nuno Space, hidden away in the Tokyo suburb of Chiba. The shop is tiny and we sat at a table in the middle of it, sipping green tea for an hour or two before she was scheduled to teach a class. Kuroha san (as she is fondly known throughout…
Author: The Ardent Thread
This is the blog for KimonoMomo, an online business selling new and vintage textiles, thread, and notions from Japan.
Shinjuku 新宿
I did not intend to end up here. Shinjuku is like Times Square and the Las Vegas Strip rolled into one, but crammed into one of the world’s largest cities and built without realistic building codes or much space. It is a little crazy. More than a little. It feels like craziness compressed. The decision to…
Hiroshima 広島 – Home of Tulip Needles
Riding the Shinkansen from Kyoto to Hiroshima I had plenty of time to relax notice the smaller details which usually go by the wayside. For example, the formality with which every member of the train crew interacts with passengers. As a crew member exits a car, he or she will pause and bow to the…
Sashi.co – Interview with Keiko Futatsuya
I first stumbled onto Keiko Futatsuya’s work two years ago while searching for botanically-dyed sashiko thread. She was working with Hida Sashiko at the time, but has since moved on to produce her own work as an independent artist and designer. The quality of her work is amazing, and has developed over time to reflect…
Quick updates for July 2016
I’ll be back to travel posting very soon, just wanted to catch up with the latest news here at Kimonomomo: Kimonomomo Open House Come see our newest treasures from Japan! When: July 9th 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM Where: 1515 Everett St., Alameda, CA. AQS iQuilt Class Sale Come try my Sashiko Basics class! Download…
Indigo Unraveling – Kyoto Blue 京都の藍
What is it about indigo textiles that bring up so many sensations? The depth of blue, new or faded; the stiffness of the fibers from repeated dips in the dye vat; the fuzzy nap of fabric from years of use; all of these add to indigo’s allure. It’s alchemical, magical, practical, and deeply, vividly, a part of…
Flower of the Forest – Takayama 高山市
Taking the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagoya is a thoroughly modern ride. The high-speed train glides along while the view of lush farmland interspersed with citiscapes rush past. And of course, there’s Mt. Fuji. Transferring at Nagoya to the Hida Express, the journey is somewhat different. The train chugs along, ever upward into the mountains,…
A break in the weather – Kyoto 京都市
Leaving Nagoya and hauling 80 lbs of luggage onto the train, I worried about the rain that had been forecast for Kyoto, but I got lucky. The weather stayed dry. Sort of. Kyoto is hot. And humid. Steamy, muggy, drippy, swelteringly, oppressively hot and humid. My first day here I wandered around the historic Higashiyama district,…
Have another cup of tea – Nagoya 名古屋市
At home I drink gallons of tea, or coffee if it’s a particularly rough day. In Japan it’s been no different. Hotel rooms and friends’ homes are stocked with green tea, consumed at any and all hours of the day. Comfort in a cup. This morning I’m looking out over Nagoya’s industrial skyline at the…
Getting Ready to Fly
So many things are going on at once it’s hard to keep up. My daughter is pregnant, which is exciting. She and her fiance are moving in with us because we happen to live in the part of the US with the highest cost of living, and they don’t have a lot of other options. It’s…
Travel Bug
It’s a weird thing, this constant push-pull in my heart to fly away and stay settled. Part of me longs for the road, but another part wants to sit with the dog (Daisy) and the cat (Lily) in my garden. So here I am, preparing for my trip to Japan, emailing with contacts in various…
What would you like to know about Sashiko in Japan?
In preparation for my trip, I’m writing a list of questions to ask various sashiko artists and designers. What would you like to know? Two stops along my journey will be to interview Keiko Futatsuya of Sashi.Co and the Sashiko Design Team at Olympus. https://www.instagram.com/sashi.co/ http://www.olympus-thread.com/ If you have specific questions you’d like to ask…
A love for both the common fiber and the extraordinary textile @KimonoMomo 