Travels with Tricia in Japan
Brisbane based artist Tricia Smout wrote a delightful article for the Qld. Papermakers’ of her trip with us to Japan in April last year. It certainly was a busy program encompassing everything from cherry blossoms [...]
Washi making in the winter cold
For those who love their washi paper crafts you will know that the best time for making washi in Japan is right now, in the depths of winter, because that is when the best quality [...]
Hiking the beautiful Shio-no-michi and Shinetsu Trails in Autumn
Hiking along ancient trails has only become popular with foreign visitors to Japan in the last few years, with trails like the Kumano Kodo and Nakasendo, now seemingly on every foreign traveller’s must do list, [...]
Kengo Kuma – our favourite architect
Those of you who have travelled with us to make traditional washi at ‘Kamikoya’ deep in the mountains of Shikoku will have visited the quaint town of Yusuhara. Yusuhara is a major timber producing centre [...]
Our first “artist-in-residence” at our home in Nagano – “Mokurenso” (Magnolia House)
Last May we had the pleasure of hosting Jenny Jackett, a well-known weaver from Brisbane, for a textile and weaving shumi-stay at our home in rural Nagano. It was the first time for us to [...]
Kimono Olympics!
As you would know Tokyo is hosting the Olympic Games in 2020 and it is good to see that the Japanese are using the occasion to promote all kinds of national culture. One such cultural [...]
Nishijima washi: transforming old fibres into specialty art paper
We came across this fascinating article about a traditional way of making washi using recycled ingredients and using a machine which is easier to use than the big vats so that one person can do [...]
Our first Spring Cherry Blossom tour featuring “Nuno & Washi”
In April this year we took a group of 6 genki (energetic) ladies (Ann, Helen, Jen, Renate, Susan and Tricia) during the spring sakura (cherry) blossom season for a 14-day shumistay program focussed on nuno [...]