December 2011
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Happy Holidays, Everyone!
Many thanks to all of you throughout this year and wishing you and your family the wonderful holiday season.
今年も沢山の方々にお会いし、ぞうり作りを共に楽しむ事が出来ました。こうして振り返ると、本当に沢山の方の顔が思い出されます。皆さんが素敵なホリデーシーズンと明るい新年の幕開けを迎えられますように。
weave the hearts
August 2011
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July 2011
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山形まなび館 MONO SCHOOL
久しぶりに日本での布ぞうりワークショップが下記の日程で開かれます。場所は山形まなび館。山形市の皆さんには、旧山形第一小学校とお伝えした方がわかりやすいかもしれませんね。ここは山形の伝統工芸を始めとする産業の紹介や、市民の文化交流場となるよう元の小学校をリノベーションし、2010年に再オープンしました。東京都世田谷区にあるものづくり学校や、千代田区の3331 Arts...
June 2011
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Yamagata Shimbun, the newspaper
Sharing a fresh article from Yamagata Shinbun Newspaper, dated on June 16th, 2011. The last month’s workshop which I’ve performed in Swanhill in Australia, where is also a sister city of Yamagata has been featured as well as the story of my activity for the last couple of years.
Please come back to check out the recent news and the workshop information, here at weave the hearts.
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Press information
Noticing that I haven’t been able to show you the article I was featured in from the monthly published newspaper for Japanese community living in Melbourne, Australia.
Dengon Net February issue, 2011.
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メルボルンに住む日本人コミュニティ向けの月刊新聞、Dengon Net 2月号に掲載して頂きました。編集部の皆様、ありがとうございました。お知らせまでに随分と時間が掛かってしまいましたが、どうぞご覧下さい。
Contact: weavethehearts@gmail.com
お問い合わせありましたら上のアドレスまで
May 2011
3 posts
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Gambare, Tohoku!
Another photo set from a charity workshop I have done while I was in Melbourne is here to show you today. Since the tragic earthquake and the tsunami struck the northern east of Japan, there was one thing in my mind kept me thinking, ‘Is there anything that I can do?’
Being apart from the country made me feel more devastated and helpless since there seemed to be nothing I could...
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Visiting the sister city, Swan Hill in Victoria
Swan Hill locates on the northern edge of Victoria and New South Wales along the Murray river in Australia and has been the sister city of my hometown Yamagata, Japan. The youth exchange between these two cities originally began in 1980 and since then, they have been building a strong relationship over the last 30 years. Although I didn’t have a chance to visit Swan Hill when I was in the...
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-Workshop in Melbourne- vol.7
On the 30th of April, I finished my last workshop here at Kimono House. For this season, I conducted 3 times and over the course, I feel very lucky to be able to meet all the students who had participated and enjoyed making these Japanese sandals together. This skill sharing and sharing cultural experiences has been becoming such a important part of my life. I believe that no matter where I locate...
April 2011
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-Workshop in Melbourne- vol.6
This picture is from my last workshop recently held at Okeiko in April. A big thank you to all the participants and staff from Okeiko and some of them even repeatedly joined the workshop. In this workshop, we particularly focused on a half-sized zori which is called Ashinaka in Japanese. It is as equally beneficial as a full-sized zori, perhaps more that our weight will be leaning forward onto all...
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-Workshop in Melbourne- Vol.5
Despite the fact that I’ve done my workshop many times in the past, I find myself being nervous every single time when I’m setting up the tables, but this is how I end up when we all finish and ready to take some photos with our zori.
The last workshop at Kimono House is scheduled April 30. Don’t forget to sign up to save your seat! Click here for more details and contact Kimono...
March 2011
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What can we do?
After the catastrophic earthquake hit the northern east regions in Japan, it took me 2 days to reach my family in Yamagata and my sister’s family lives in Sendai. They are all safe and now staying together. However, there are thousands of people still missing and people living where they have evacuated. Being far away from my family and my friends isn’t easy for the time like this,...
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-Workshop in Melbourne- Vol.4
It’s been my great pleasure meeting you at these workshops and here is the photo set from the latest at Okeiko in South Yarra.
Quite often I say that there is a tricky part in process while making the sandals and I suppose it applies to all of the creations, but after you’re done with that part, you will be surprised how deeply and calmly you’ll get into weaving the fabric,...
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February 2011
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-Workshop in Melbourne- Vol.3
Okeiko locates in the tall building sitting right next to South Yarra station in Melbourne. There is also a great cafe on the ground floor for your coffee and lunch if you’ve got your time to wander around before the class. Okeiko was founded by just a couple of members last year and since then, they have been offering various cultural classes, including English classes mainly for Japanese...
January 2011
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-Workshop in Melbourne- Vol.1
My first workshop here in Melbourne officially kicked off at Okeiko in South Yarra last week and everyone enjoyed making their own zori (thongs, sandals, flip-flops) with their own recyclable fabric. I know there’s a tricky part when making, but everything will get easier and fun after all! I’ll be coming back at Okeiko on the 2nd next month for the workshop, and inviting you to come...
December 2010
2 posts
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The 2nd Summer
On this side of the globe, it’s getting warmer day by day and the summer is almost there, or here yet? Anyway, I’m happy to experience my 2nd summer in Australia this year, which also brings up a funny feeling at the same time.
The schedule for the upcoming workshop has been updated and hope you can join in one of these dates, or maybe more than once!
==Okeiko==
Dates; 14...
November 2010
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October 2010
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Japan Culture Festival
Japan Culture Festival is scheduled on 7th of November, organized by one of the major and beloved Japanese language schools here in Melbourne, Japaneasy. I’m very happy to be a part of this event and celebrate our culture to share with other guests.
This time, the workshop will be focusing on making a half sized zori which is particularly called...
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Good bye Kyoto, Hello Melbourne!
I thank from the bottom of my heart to all of the people I’ve met while I was in Kyoto for 9 months in this year. Having lived in such a beautiful and historical city among all in Japan has been unforgettable experience for me.
And now, a big change and move is about to come right up soon and I’m getting ready for it.
I will be moving in Melbourne, Australia from the 25th of October....
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FEED IT
POPET, the bear-shaped plastic garbage bag.
It’s a garbage bag to make our mind turning to a better, more fun way of thinking what to put inside and how you feed this little bear. Here are 2 popets from my recent workshops, filled with lots of scrapped fabric.
The website explains; If you replace the action ‘dispose’ to ‘feed’, a rubbish bag will turn into a cute...
September 2010
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August 2010
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Kairashi
「かいらし」
京都ではかわいいと言う意味で使われますが、その名前を取ったCOHAKU/KAIRASHIというギャラリー、小間問屋（この呼び名、なんて小粋なのでしょうか！）が8月6日、高台寺に続く道沿いにオープン致します。京都や東京、またニューヨークでもそのセンスを光らせている、アトリエカオルさんがプロデュースをされています。ニューヨークの友人からご紹介を受け、その後カオルさんと仲良くさせて頂いているのですが、新しいお店でコラボレーションぞうりを是非、という大変嬉しいお声を掛けて頂きました。先週、2つのぞうりを完成させました。今までとはまた違った風合いやカラーリングになっていますので、どうぞお近くにお立ち寄りの際にはチェックしてみて下さいね。
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July 2010
4 posts
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Coming back to SONGBIRD!
7月の京都は祇園祭で盛り上がりましたね。日本の三大祭りにも数えられるこの祭り、素晴らしいタイミングでこの街に居れる事、とても幸せに思います。
5月に行ったSONGBIRD DESIGN STORE.さんでのワークショップは沢山の方々にお越し頂き、改めてお礼申し上げます。前回は人数の関係上、残念ながらお断りせざるを得ないという事もありましたが、今日は嬉しいお知らせがあります。来月19日（木）に第二回目のワークショップを行います。今年は特に猛暑と伝えられていますので、この機会をお見逃しなく、そして足元軽やかに行きましょう！
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Flashback!
It is my pleasure to announce that my next workshop in Tokyo will be taken place at TOKYO AMERICAN CLUB. This club means so much to me because I used to work there for several months when I lived in Tokyo in my 20’s. Despite the fact that it was such a short period of time, I found it very precious being able to work with many great staff in a totally new working environment. It all brought...
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日本は梅雨真っ只中。皆様お元気ですか？
夏のご予定もお決まりですか？ご家族やお友達とご旅行したり、楽しい計画が盛りだくさんなのでしょうね。またはずっと働いている、という方もいらっしゃるのかな？どうぞ休み休み、くれぐれも働きすぎないようにして下さいね。
去年の夏にスタートさせたこのブログ。今まではワークショップの情報やその様子を中心にお届けして来ました。そして来月にはパワーアップしたウェブサイトとして皆様にお届けしたく、現在準備進行中です。
オープンの際にはまたお知らせしますので、是非チェックしてみて下さいね。
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It’s been almost a year since I started blogging about zori, focusing on the workshop and showing the pictures taken at the...
June 2010
6 posts
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'cao3ji1' in Chinese?
6月に2回行った京都市国際交流会館での写真を一挙にアップ。今月も様々な国籍の方がいらっしゃって下さいました。アメリカ、スペイン、トルコ、中国と日本。地球を一周しそうですね！ちょっとした会話で盛り上がったり、旅行の話をしたり、作るという事だけに限らずコミュニケーションを楽しめる事も、このワークショップの素敵な所だと改めて感じました。
お孫さんへの誕生日プレゼントとして、と作って行って下さった方々もいらっしゃいました。その気持ちがとっても温かいですね。7月は3,17日の第一・第三土曜日、同時間スタートです。お待ちしています！
I’d like to thank all of you who have come to the workshop at Kyoto International Foundation. The participants are from...
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Artists on the Brink launches in NY
As much as I enjoy myself being at the workshop with other participants and designing a new pair of zori, there has been another thing going on in my thoughts lately.
One day, I’ve come to notice that I should do something with those pairs that I ‘over-made’. You know they can’t be in my closet sitting there forever just like the other clothes (which I don’t keep...
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Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.
時が経つのは早いもので、もう6月です。これから雨が多くなる時期になりますね。今年前半は楽しい事ばかり、そして後半もパワーアップ目指して張り切って行きたいものです！
さて、今月は26日にワークショップが予定されています。京都市内のど真ん中に新しくオープンしたばかりのart-bookshopさんで開催する運びになりました。東京に本店を置くこのお店、クラフト好きにはたまらない本やアメリカから買い付けされたアイテムなどを多数取り揃えています。気持ちの良い日差しが入るこのお店、週末の時間を利用して、是非一緒にぞうりを作ってみませんか？
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May 2010
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April 2010
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SONGBIRD WORKSHOP VOL.2
I have a very exciting announcement today that on May 13, the zori workshop will be taken place at SONGBIRD DESIGN STORE, closely located to the Nijo-catsle in Kyoto.
The flyers came done and printed last week, designed by Mr. Tokuda who runs this store and are now available at downtown’s several cafes so far. Do you see the colors match to the little bird standing right next to zori?
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March 2010
4 posts
'BIRD' also weaves...
The another workshop plan has been set for May. Special thanks to Mr. Tokuda and Miss Kurata from SONGBIRD DESIGN STORE. locating right next to the Nijo-castle in Kyoto. Mr. Tokuda talked to me last time that he hopes that this place keeps functioning interactively for all of us to get together to share the creative moments, and I’m very happy to be a part of it this time.
We are working...
Kyoto-city International Foundation, COSMOS every...
One more great news to share with all of you today and I’m extremely excited that I will be hosting the workshop consecutively at Kyoto-city International Foundation in Kyoto Japan. The 1st and 3rd Saturdays every month, starting Apr. 3rd. The time flame will be 12:30 to 2:30 in the afternoon.
This is the collaborative project organized by Kyoto-city International Foundation, with its...
March, here we go!
I’m happy to announce that 2 workshops are coming up in this month! In Kyoto and Tokyo. The former and the current capital city of Japan. If you live in or close to these cities, please feel free to join in!
Send me email or leave a comment below for more details & maps, etc.