Year in Photos + Winter Vacation

Kawashima Textile School will be closed for winter vacation from Dec. 22 to Jan. 14, 2013.

We would like to send a big thank you to all the people whom we have had the pleasure to meet this year, and to you for taking the time to visit our website! We hope to meet many of you in the future.

We wish you all a lovely holiday season and a Happy New Year!!

December

1. From our kimono photo shoot.

2. Zolie, an exchange student from HV Skola (Sweden) wove an obi! There is a little samurai under the cherry tree (left).

3. We had a one-day Japanese bookbinding workshop. Students used their own woven fabric. Japanese post with photos here!

4. Testing colors.

Studying in Sweden

We just got an e-mail from Mai Kumon, a 3rd year student who is now studying at HV Skola (Sweden).

Third year students at KTS have the opportunity to study abroad via exchange programs at HV Skola (Sweden) and Kuopio Academy of Design (Finland).

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"It is now -17 degrees celsius even in the daytime, and has been snowing heavily since yesterday. At school, we have started making our carpets and right now I am testing the weave density. I am sending a photo of my design and the loom."

November

1. The leaves are turning color so quickly.

2. Handwoven kimono and obi. You can see the same obi on another kimono here.

3. Emelie (Sweden) checking her weft kasuri thread in the Foundation Kasuri Course. Can you see the  white section on the weft?

4. Johanna (Estonia) using the Nassen technique in the Applied Kasuri Course. This turned into a lovely scarf.

Märta Måås-Fjetterström Blogg!

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KTS is featured on the Märta Måås-Fjetterström blog!

1 Rapport från vår medarbetare i Japan

2 Hälsning från Kawashima

*We will be adding links to new posts as they are published.

Märta Måås-Fjetterström AB is a carpet company founded in 1919 and their studio is located in Båstad, Sweden.

Linnea, who works as an artistic weaver there, has just finished studying kasuri in the Foundation Kasuri Course this Autumn. Her "rapporter" -or reports about her studies at KTS are now being published on their blog. *They are all in Swedish, but you can use a translator site like Google translate to get a rough idea of the text.

Please head over to their website, and don't forget to look at all the gorgeous carpets!

October

1. We are very happy to have five international students this autumn! Here is Jenny (Australia) chaining her warp for her structure sample in the Beginners Course.

2. Emelie and Linnea (Sweden) finishing their first kasuri pieces in the Foundation Kasuri Course.

3. 2nd year student Atsushi Sato's work has been selected to exhibit at Miniartextil Como (Italy).

4. Beautiful, beautiful Gabbeh carpets from Yukihiko Henmi's lecture. Mr. Henmi is the owner of the carpet store, Jahan.

September

1. Dyeing

2. 2nd year students' shifu class (Japanese blog post with photos here).

3. The cloth woven in the backstrap weaving class is now a book cover! -Rei Shibata (Japanese blog post here)

4. 1st year students warping to weave a cloth 7 meters long, which will become a furoshiki (wrapping cloth).

5. Natural dyeing workshop. Our indigo plants beside the dyeing room have been thriving, and we were able to pick over 1kg of fresh leaves. Our last batch this year!

Tapestry Weaving

From the 1st year students' Tapestry Weaving class
Frida Kahlo by Kanako Watanabe

August

1. 2. 2nd year students are studying the history and techniques of backstrap weaving from Makoto Kyota (Maya textile researcher).

3. 1st year students are learning how to spin yarn.

July

1. Fruit punch to celebrate Tanabata (July 7).

2. Leno weave class (2nd year).

3. Kanako Sakae's (1st year) Rabari embroidery replica from Needlework class by Yoko Ueba (Assistant Professor at the National Museum of Ethnology). You can see the original piece in the Japanese blog post here.

4. 5. Two 2nd year students are back from their internship at Kawashima Selkon Textiles. Japanese blog posts: 1 Rie Yamamoto  2 Namiko Kobayashi

International Students Course 2013

Kasuri Coasters by Patricia (Foundation Kasuri Course 2012)

We have updated our "Schedule and Fees" page with dates for the International Students Course for 2013. These courses are held twice a year, in spring and autumn (both lovely times to be in Kyoto), and are 10 days minimum. Both beginners and experienced weavers are welcome!

In these courses students focus on Kasuri (ikat), starting with the basics in the Foundation Kasuri Course (10 days). If you would like to study further, you can then experiment with 2 new kasuri techniques in Applied Kasuri Course I (10 days), and work on your own design in Applied Kasuri Course II and III (10 days minimum). There is also a Beginners Course (12 days) if you are new to weaving.

You can see previous blog posts by students by clicking on the "Student Voice" link on the right.

Please contact us if you would like to join (we will send you the application form), or have any questions. We look forward to meeting you next year!

trettiotvå i Kyoto

Patricia, who studied here this spring as an exchange student from HV Skola (Sweden), shares photos of her thirty-two days in Kyoto on her photo blog, trettiotvå i Kyoto. Please head over and take a look!


A morning walk near the school.


Applied Kasuri I: zurashi gasuri (shifting kasuri) hot bottle cover.

*all photos are from Patricia's blog.

June

1. Tapestry weaving class (1st year). They are working on their first piece and learning the basic techniques.

2. Critique for the 2nd year students' rugs using Shihoko Fukumoto's fabric remnants (you can read a little more about the project here). The chosen students will be creating a final piece for Ms. Fukumoto's villa.

3. Patricia from HV Skola has finished her Kasuri courses at KTS. Here is a photo of her with her Nassen Gasuri (stencil dyeing kasuri) scarf.

4. The indigo plants have grown (you can see photos from April here)!

Facebook

We now have an official facebook page! Please join us here.

Beth Nicholls

Beth, who has studied in the 12 day Beginners Course this May has been writing about her time at KTS on her blog:

Preparing and Dyeing the Thread
Preparing Giant Bobbins
Preparing the Warp
Preparing the Loom
Time for Weaving
Lessons in weaving, lessons in life
Colour Magic
Silkworm Encounter

Please check her website, Do What You Love, to find inspiring stories and beautiful photos of Japan and Kyoto!

photo: Beth and a 1st year student reeling silk from raw cocoons in a lecture by textile artist Mayumi Terakawa.

Kyoto Hotel Okura

We will be exhibiting students' work at Kyoto Hotel Okura this month. Works by Fumino Hirose, Naoko Hori, and Fumie Harigai will be shown in the gallery area (2nd floor) of the entrance hallway until June 30.

The hotel is located in the city center and is directly connected to exit B2 of subway station "Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae." Please stop by if you are in the area!

May

1. Plowing the garden for marigolds and chamomiles. We will be using them for natural dyeing!

2. 1st year students are studying weaving structures on the Finnish countermarch looms.

3. 2nd year students warping raw silk for shawls.

4. Mika Naruto (technical study course).

April

1. Our indigo seeds have sprouted! They will be used in July in the Shifu 2 workshop and Natural Dyeing workshop.

2. Backstrap weaving class (1st year)

3. Second year students are making sakiori (rag weaving) samples using fabric remnants from artist Shihoko Fukumoto's work. They were originally made for patch cloths.

4. Nassen Gasuri (stencil dyeing kasuri) class (2nd year)