5 Highlights from a Sewing and Quilting Tour of Japan!

I have just finished the most beautiful textile adventure of my life! Two weeks ago, I flew from my home in Florida, USA, to Tokyo, Japan on a quilting and textile tour with Okan Arts. I have so much to write about that I could never put it all in one post, but I wanted to hurry and share some highlights with you.

Okan Arts Tours are led by Patricia Belyea and her expert Japanese tour guide Yumi Sugai. Patricia and Yumi planned such a fantastic trip for us, including visits with quilt, fabric, and textile artists that we could not have had any other way. We even got to see the World Quilt Festival in Yokohama.

Bingoya Arts and Crafts Shop

One of the most exciting places we shopped at was Bingoya Arts and Crafts Shop on Wakamatsucho Street in Tokyo. These are my new friends Beverly, Lisa, Jane, and Dana. In case you didn’t recognize her, that’s Jane Sassaman traveling with us!

Bingoya held a vast collection of handmade items – probably the most I have ever seen. There were hand-dyed indigo fabrics, as well as bags, clothes, and home decor items already made.

You can find Japanese pottery in every style imaginable, from delicate blue and white to traditional Raku-style stoneware.

Bingoya also has stationary and paper goods, handmade toys, wallets, and purses, and beautiful items crafted from wood. If you go with a tour group like me, you won’t be the only one waiting in line to checkout!

You can believe I left with my own bag of treasures.

Kimonos!

While in Tokyo, we got to learn about the history, silk types, and styling of Kimonos from renowned Kimono expert Sheila Cliffe.

There were plenty of places to shop for vintage Kimonos in both Tokyo and Kyoto. After seeing Sheila’s collection of Kimonos, we were all ready to go find our own.

Patricia shared with us her experience picking apart vintage Kimonos to use the silk in quilts – for the front and the back. One Kimono yields quite a bit of gorgeous silk for a great price. I’m not sure if I should admit this, but I’m going home with 10 vintage Kimonos. Hopefully you’ll see some silk quilts on this blog in the coming months!

Fabric Dying

In Kyoto, we visited two textile artists that dye fabric using traditional Japanese techniques. Toru Shimomura is an indigo dying sensei (master) who carries on techniques developed over 400 years ago. These are his dying pots with fermenting indigo. This was a demonstration I will never forget.

Then we saw fabrics that were in different stages of Shibori dying. The white piece on the left has already been tied with tiny threads and is ready to be dyed. The bundle on the right has already been dyed and Toru is showing how it will be carefully untied to reveal the finished textile.

We saw the gorgeous Shibori-dyed cotton fabrics as we entered Toru’s studio.

Japanese Weaving Arts

On the outskirts of Kyoto, in the ancient farming village Ohara, we visited a family-run business that uses organic vegetable dyes to create beautiful silk yarns and Shibori-dyed fabric. They weave the silk yarn into fabulous scarves and home decor items.

Later, we visited the prestigious Koho Nishiki Textile Studio where the artists weave intricate silk designs. Their art has been on display around the world; it adorns palaces and has been gifted to the pope. Here, we could experience weaving first-hand by creating our own woven silk textile on a wooden loom that was similar to, but smaller than the one shown.

Japanese Quilts and Quilters

We were treated to two private quilt shows in Tokyo—one with quilting Sensei Yoko Saito in her famous Quilt Party quilt shop.

Yoko also showed us a collection of hand-quilted houses she designed for a Japanese periodical. The entire groop swooned!

Imagine our awe when we visited another quilting Sensei – Sachiko Yoshida in her home. She and her quilting pupils served us tea and Japanese sweets while we viewed a collection of handmade quilts made by Sachiko and the other women.

They were so kind.

World Quilt Festival 2024 in Yokohama

One of our biggest pieces of luck came because the World Quilt Festival in Yokohama Japan was underway during our trip!

We saw so many beautiful quilts – many of them were pieced and quilted entirely by hand.

It was also fun to see that Japanese quilters are just like quilters everywhere.

I couldn’t pick a favorite quilt, but this one stole my heart.

I hope you enjoyed these bits and pieces from my unforgettable trip to Japan. I still have more to share so stay tuned!