Close your eyes and imagine yourself in a long dark wooden hall, standing in front of an army of more than 1000 many-armed kannon statues.
They are about the same height as you and are staring directly at you.
They stand proud, several rows deep.
How do you feel?
Tucked away down a side street near the Eastern Mountains of Kyoto is this lovely garden, in the grounds of Murin-an Villa. Simple, peaceful, and more than often yours all to yourself…
When I went to the kimono design studio to work on my noren curtain (more on that soon), I was not expecting to have a geisha come in for a spot of shopping…
Today is a special day in the design industry… it sees the launch of MOYO, the world’s first online magazine dedicated to surface pattern design! Packed with interviews, design briefs, colour challenges, art reviews, student showcases, design tips, inspiration, trends and more, this free resource will be published quarterly, and you can read and download the inaugural issue here!
Every August throughout the Japan people are on the move back to their hometowns for the annual custom of Obon, a Japanese Buddhist custom to honour one’s ancestors’ spirits.
Summer in Japan brings lively festivals, tempting street stalls, kimono-clad strollers and lights in the trees. It brings fireworks and sparklers, stripey tents and trickles of laughter. It keeps children out late, fishing for plastic toys in puffy round paddling pools, and proudly bouncing home with bags of goldfish in their pudgy little hands.
I took this picture on a UNICEF field visit to Trinidad & Tobago back in 2008, when we were in the early stages of planning the London 2012 legacy programme. Next to the court a young boy was knelt down sharpening a massive knife.
Today sees the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in London. This was an important date in my calendar for many years, so it is with mixed emotions that I find myself watching it from a distance on the other side of the world.
The Olympics have been a major feature in my life and a source of many adventures. It is an event like no other – there’s a reason they call it the Greatest Show on Earth.
If you like the sound of a city centre closed to traffic, ancient wooden festival floats lit up with hundreds of traditional lanterns, street stalls selling fried noodles and other delicious offerings, and tens of thousands of people strolling in beautiful summer kimonos, then you want to take yourself to Kyoto for the Gion Matsuri. Here are a few pictures from a hot hot night here!
My trusty bicycle, which comes everywhere with me these days
As you will know if you have been reading this blog lately, I recently spent a couple of weeks studying at Kawashima Textile School. This meant a daily routine of cycling to the station, taking a sweet little train north out of the city, then walking through the quiet streets of Ichihara to school. Despite the early hour, the journey itself was a lovely part of the day, and I thought I would share it with you…
Past lovely little coffee shop ‘Amuca’
Greeting other early birds
Through this lovely temple complex
Past sweet houses
Along the riverbank
Calling out ‘Ohio gozaimasu’ (‘good morning’) to joggers…
…and to musicians in training who prefer the riverside to their paper-thin walled apartments
To the ingenius bike park at Demachiyangi Station (I think they could do with one of these in cities like Oxford!)
Just in time for my train
This rural station at Ichihara is my stop
Past freshly-planted paddy fields
And to school, just before the bell rings (yes there is a school bell!)
I change into my slippers(!) and then head off to class…
More posts from school here: Preparing and dyeing the thread / Preparing giant bobbins / Preparing the warp
Kimono-clad ladies in the cafe of Doshisha University
One of the upsides of living in a shoebox is that you have to get out! If you want somewhere lovely to read, or write, or think, you have to metaphorically ‘get up off the sofa’ (although we don’t have a sofa!) and find somewhere. And Kyoto is the perfect place for this – I think it might just be a city of cafes to rival Paris. I am on a mission to discover all the hidden gems while I am here. I thought I would share a few pics of those I have discovered so far…
Coo Cafe (above and below)
Les Freres Moutaux boulangerie and cafe
Iyemon Salon (more on this later – I am in love!)
Meet me there?
Where is your favourite cafe?