A Weekend Getaway Part 2: A Visit to Izumo Taisha

So sorry for having taken a looooong time to write the second part of my last month's weekend getaway.

Where was I? Oh I was visiting Izumo shrine with hubby and some friends.

Not far from Izumo shrine, about 10 - 15 minute walk, there's a museum called Shimane Museum of Ancient Izumo which displaysa great number of ancient artefacts such as the remains of the early Izumo Taisha's giant stairway pillars including the largest collection of excavated bronze swords and bells in Japan. The museum also houses Japan's only complete version of the Izumo no Kuni Fudoki (Ancient Chronicles of Izumo).

What is interesting about the museum is that - as far as I know you're not allowed to take pictures of the display - you are allowed to take a picture of some of the displays. So here there are some photos taken by hubby.

Archaeologists and historians have been trying to figure out what the early Izumo Taisha may have looked like. They came out with several ideas. These are the miniatures of the probable early Izumo Taisha.

This figure depicts how people of the ancient Izumo were dressed. This could have been the village chief or something. Somehow he reminds me of the Native Indians in America. What do you think?

Izumo boasts itself as the Land of Gods. The Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) is the oldest record of Japanese history. It contains records of ancient Japanese history as well as Japanese mythology. And Izumo Taisha is closely related to the myths in Kojiki since an important deity is believed to be enshrined there. This deity is Okuninushi, who is the son in-law of the storm god, Susanoo, who is also the brother of Amaterasu, the major deity in Shinto religion. Therefore, you will see a variety of symbols related to this fame. But, Japan being Japan, these symbols drawn very cutely if I may say. Look at these cappuccinos we ordered as we were taking a rest at the cafe in the museum. Aren't these just cute? One depicts cloud (where the gods live I guess) and the other Okuninushi's face (perhaps?). And oh, in case you wonder why those cookies have funny shapes. Well, this shape is of the shape of Magatama or comma-shaped beads. These beads date back to prehistoric Japan. It's also considered a talisman in Shintoism, to bring good fortune, etc.

 

And the cuteness doesn't stop here. The tales of Okuninushi tell about a rabbit who was helped by Okuninushi. As we were walking the paved path leading to the museum, we spotted some rabbit statues. They're so cute! I wish I had taken more pictures of them but this one really caught my attention. Don't you wanna hug this cute rabbit statue?

After this museum, I visited several more places. To be continued.. :)

A Weekend Getaway Part 1: A Visit to Izumo Taisha

I seldom go out of town for a weekend. I spend (or prefer spending) my weekend at home, cooped myself up in my working room, creating new pieces of tsumami zaiku for my shop or just making things. But last weekend I made an exception. I went out of town for a two-day trip to a prefecture next to Tottori. It's Shimane prefecture.

Actually the reason why I finally decided to have a weekend getaway was that a friend of mine in Tokyo had been planning to visit Shimane and Tottori. So we planned this trip for a couple of months.

My husband and I went to Yonago airport to pick her up on Saturday afternoon.

Our first stop was Shoji Ueda Museum of Photography. Shoji Ueda was considered one of prominent photographers in Japan. He received Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the goverment of France in 1996. He passed away in 2000. I didn't take any pictures there as the museum was being renovated when we were visiting. To know more about this museum this is the link.

From there we headed to Matsue city in Shimane prefecture. It took as about 1 hour from Yonago to reach it. Two friends joined us for a dinner and the trip the next day.

The Sunday trip was really fun! We went to several places.

Our first stop was the famous Izumo shrine located in Izumo city. Izumo is one of the most ancient and important Shinto shrines in Japan. This was my second visit to the shrine. My first one was in 2011. It had undergone some renovations which completed in 2013. Izumo Taisha is easily recognized by its shimenawa or sacred straw rope. Izumo Taisha has the largest shimenawa in Japan. There is an interesting habit there where visitors or pilgrims throw coins to the shimenawa. If you throw a coin and it manages to get stuck in the shimenawa, it is said that your dream will come true. However, apparently people cannot do that anymore. Wire netting has been attached to the bottom of the straw rope to prevent people doing it. I was told that the reason was that often the coins which were stuck inside the straw fell off after a while. And children happily picked them up whenever some coins dropped from the straw. I guess the shrine's authority thought this would encourage dishonesty among the children so they decided to cover the bottoms with wire netting :) Here are some pictures from Izumo Taisha.

This is the gate.

Shimenawa or sacred straw rope. But this is not the biggest one.

Now this one is the largest shimenawa :)

When visiting a shrine, pilgrims often pick omikuji. Omikuji is kind of fortune telling. The fortune is written on a small piece of paper which one can get from a box by making a small offering like 5 yen. When one gets a good luck, they can bring the paper home and when it's bad luck, they must fold the paper and attach it to a pine tree or a wall. Like this pine tree in the yard of Izumo Taisha is literally covered with omikuji. Looks pretty though. But not to worry. No nails attached to the tree. The authority made some kind of device made of bamboo around the three. So pilgrims can attach the omikuji without hurting the tree. I never try omikuji. I guess I am a bit coward hahaha I just don't want to get bad fortune :))

Our next visit is to another shrine. But I'll write about it in another post.

My Solo Spring Craft Show

A friend of my husband once asked me why I didn't join a craft show held by the local craft community instead of holding a solo craft show. Well, there are some strong reasons as to why not.

First of all,  in a group exhibition each participant is allocated very small space to exhibit their works. Therefore, I can't exhibit all my works due to this limited space. Secondly I prefer doing it by myself since I can set the date according to my timetable. As a part time English instructor I have a weekly teaching schedule that often changes from time to time. So holding a solo exhibition sounds perfect.

I held my exhibition in April so I simply called it a Spring Craft Show.

For this show, I had prepared, of course, loads of tsumami kanzashi and tsumami zaiku. I had also made crochet jewelry! Yes, I've been taking up crocheting since last winter (see My First Crocheted Pieces). I especially like crochet jewelry.

The exhibition went well. I sold about 10 or 12 tsumami kanzashi and tsumami zaiku and some jewelry. But I don't think I can do this craft show too often I think. The amount of time to prepare is just too much plus I had to pay extra for renting the room. However, it doesn't mean I won't do it again. I will, but not in the near future I think.

And these are my crocheted jewelry. I couldn't make a lot because I didn't have enough time to do it. I'm planning to sell some of these pieces on etsy. I will write it on my post when I do :)

A Picture from A Customer in USA!

A couple of days ago I got a very nice surprise as I was checking my Etsy shop inbox messages. I got a message from a customer who had bought one of my works. Along with the message, she attached some pictures of her wearing my work!! It's an obidome with koi fish on it. I was so happy!!

I felt so touched by this gesture. As an Etsy seller who doesn't have money to promote, a good review or a photo from customers will make my shop look good. But I can't force a customer to write a review or even take a picture of them wearing my work if they're busy. So when they actually write a good review or even take a picture of them with my work, it's immensely appreciated.

A customer who sent me a picture of her wearing yukata and an obidome that I'd made lives very far away from me. She lives in USA. Not only picture, she had also given me a wonderful review before that.

Isn't that so sweet of her?

And this is her in yukata.

Thank you so much Melissa!! xoxo

My First Crocheted Pieces

Although winter is not the season I hate the most (I hate summer the most), I have to say that winter often prevents me from making a lot of tsumami zaiku/kanzashi. The glue takes aaaaages to set, not to mention the coldness makes my fingers all stiff and almost numb making them so uncomfortable to use tweezers.

This is not my house :D Just a building across

If there were central heating in my house, this wouldn't happen. But just like most houses in Japan, our house doesn't have a central heating system. We use portable heater that we bring to the room where we want to do our activities there. The heater is not enough to warm the whole room, just its surrounding so I have to sit very close to it. The only room that has an air conditioning is the living room so in winter I prefer staying in our living room to staying in my working room.  However, I can't do my work there. The room is so small, I don't want to clutter it up. But I didn't want to stop making things just because it's winter. 

I've always been fascinated by the crocheted pieces I come across on Pinterest, Etsy, and other sites. I thought why not teaching myself to crochet. I was thinking of making Christmas presents. Besides I could always stay in the warm living room all the time!

I bought some yarns and crochet hooks at the nearest craft supply shop and started learning. There were tons of tutorials, I was unsure which I should learn from. I thought youtube was a great start.

My first project was to make a flower. This is what I made.

 I found the tutorial on youtube but I can't find it now. I don't remember the url. Well, anyway, I made this based on that tutorial. I used cotton yarn.

Next thing I made was a beanie. I found the tutorial here. I was making it for me. My head got cold when I was walking in winter so I thought I should make a hat. I added a little flower. I used acrylic yarn.

But I never wore it because my husband said it looked as if I had worned bandage around my head ha ha ha. Well I'm not a hat person.

Then I made a kindle case using the same color of yarn. I also learnt from this tutorial on youtube. I had wanted to make this kindle case for my sister who owns a kindle.

It's not as pretty as the one in the tutorial but it's not bad I think ha ha ha. I sent this case to my sister in Indonesia. She loved it but unfortunately, it didn't fit her kindle case. Too bad.. I had thought her kindle was the same size as the one in the tutorial. Anyway, she likes it and said she'll use it for other purpose.

New Daffodil Themed Tsumami Zaiku Pieces

Although the highlight of the spring in Japan is Sakura or cherry blossoms, one of my favorite flowers in the spring is actually not cherry blossoms but the Daffodils or suisen in Japanese.

They grow somewhat wildly around my neighbourhood. But the shape of the blossom is really cute I think, and special. I feel that the daffodils are such carefree, cheerful and unassuming flowers.

These daffodils grow wildly around my house.

And of course, consequently it's one of the tsumami zaiku flowers I love to make. Up to now I've completed two daffodil French barrettes and two corsages/hair clips.

For the barrettes I mainly used batik, jacquard trims, and habutai silk. And for the corsages/hair clips I used the linings from vintage kimono.

Kanzashi Meets Cottage Chic on French Barrettes

I've been fascinated by jacquard ribbons or trims. They're so beautiful! I love the intricate woven patterns. Just like batik.

I had an idea of combining these with kanzashi on French Barrettes. But since both are quite extravagant in regards of the designs, I need to find balance by toning down one of them. For a jacquard trim with very colorful and elaborate design, I make very simple kanzashi flowers and the other way around. This create a cottage chic style french barrette with a Japanese touch :)