some lovely things from Japan

I imagine you expect that I will have come home with a lot of beautiful textiles and fabric and stitching type things. Alas, I think I didn’t. Going on holiday with 5 people is hard, going on holiday with 5 people with very different energy levels and interests is super hard.

I had one beautiful morning at the flea market looking through kimonos and fabric. Oh my, I could have spent days and days. There were so many rows and stalls of kimonos in all stages of age - some quite new, with bright prints and synthetic fibres. Some old, with subtle prints; silks and cottons.

In the end I brought home mostly some very very old indigo dyed linens, hemps and cottons. In truth I’m not entirely sure - they’re still in the post. I’m excited to open them and see what I bought. Of course, I know I’ll wish I had got 3 or 10 times that amount. But when one child is sitting on the steps sick, and one child has gone to look at cameras on his own (being 18 that’s ok), and one child (the smallest) wants only to look at toys and things. Well, looking through stacks of fabrics and negotiating prices isn’t quite what I was able to do.

Anywhere - I know really you want to see these photos and not hear my rambling moaning about trying to purchase textiles with a family of 5 around you.

While we only went to one of the Kyoto flea markets there are others you could look out for. From what I read, the one we attended is one of the biggest, but truly I think any would be wonderful. This one was on 21st of the month and held at Tō-ji temple. There’s a little information here, as well as another of the larger markets you can look out for.

Unfortunately we didn’t really get to see much of the temple (due to the same reasons we didn’t get to see much of the market), but the temple does have an entrance fee.

To get a better look at Kyoto from a local’s viewpoint I booked a walking tour with Kazue of Sashiko Lab. I highly recommend this if you want to explore and see some of the shops that you’d never find on your own. Many of them are in hidden streets, or are obscure little buildings you’d walk right past.