Published inGain Inspiration·PinnedMember-onlyEngrave Spirit of Japanese Tradition in Love for Kawaii FashionPresentations of Two Youngsters from Kyoto Awed Me — 2 — The week in Seattle has indeed become in their words, a life-changing experience for the two TASK students from Kyoto, Japan. I’m relieved and happy to hear that. The daily snapshots of their visit appear on the TASK website. The highlight for me was the presentations they conducted at Seattle…Inspiration5 min readInspiration5 min read
Published inGain Inspiration·PinnedMember-onlyBeautiful Plates for Happy MealsPresentations of Two Youngsters from Kyoto Awed Me — 1 — The week in Seattle has indeed become in their words, a life-changing experience for the two TASK students from Kyoto, Japan. I’m relieved and happy to hear that. The daily snapshots of their visit appear on the TASK website. My highlight was the presentations they conducted at Seattle University on…Inspiration5 min readInspiration5 min read
PinnedDescribe My StyleDay 14 of 30-Day Writing Challenge I’m trying to minimize the purchase of my clothes. I still wear a T-shirt that I bought when I went to Grand Canyon for the first and only time 32 years ago. I’ve been wearing the same jeans for over 15 years. They were brand new when I bought them…30dayswritingchallenge2 min read30dayswritingchallenge2 min read
Published inAbout Me Stories·PinnedMember-onlyAbout Me — Akemi SagawaContinuing my Life ver.2.0 — Hi, I’m Akemi Sagawa. Nice to meet you! My Life version 1.0 I was born and grew up in Japan, and moved to the US in August of 1994. Remember a product called Microsoft Windows 95? I was transferred from Japan to Seattle to be part of the product launch group for the Asian…About Me2 min readAbout Me2 min read
Published inDancing Elephants Press·4 days agoMember-onlyCompleted! Now I Enjoy This Wearable ArtWe Love Kimono Project 11 — Finally, the whole process of Yuzen 友禅 kimono dyeing process was complete. Now time to sew both the kimono and the obi. Mamiya-san, my kimono retailer, said that ideally I should see the final status of the kimono and obi fabric before they were sewn respectively. He also told me…Dancingelephantspress2 min readDancingelephantspress2 min read
Published inGain Inspiration·Oct 23Member-onlyKinsai 金彩 and Embroidery 刺繍: Yuzen’s Last ProcessWe Love Kimono Project 10 — The dyeing process is over, but the Yuzen 友禅 process is not complete yet, said Mamiya-san, my kimono retailer. What else is there, you may wonder. So did I. According to Kosaka-san, the kimono maker, there are two more processes. One is Kinsai 金彩, and the other is Shishu 刺繍. …Kimono3 min readKimono3 min read
Published inShare Your Creativity·Oct 9Member-onlyIrosashi 色挿し — Freehand DyeingWe Love Kimono Project 9 — The Process of Dyeing a Kimono Jizome 地染, the process of dyeing the kimono fabric with the base color, is complete. The Fuse-nori 伏糊, the paste applied onto the designs to resist the base color to penetrate the fabric, has been washed away. The Itome 糸目, the finely drawn design, is still intact on the fabric…Kimono3 min readKimono3 min read
Published inGain Inspiration·Oct 3Member-onlyFuse Nori 伏糊 and Jizome 地染 — Techniques of Dyeing Kimono FabricWe Love Kimono Project 8 — Fuse-nori 伏糊: Covering with paste Once the Itome-oki 糸目置 is complete, the craftsman moves on to the process called fuse-nori 伏糊.Kimono4 min readKimono4 min read
Published inWeeds & Wildflowers·Oct 3Member-onlyMy Neighbor Cat Jorge, The KillerCruel Truth of Nature — Jorge is a male cat of my neighbor. He is a survivor. He used to be an explorer. For days, he would not come home. Turned out he had a few other families to visit and get fed from. Jorge had a little sister cat, Marley. In contrast to Jorge…Nature2 min readNature2 min read
Published inShare Your Creativity·Sep 29Member-onlyTegaki Yuzen 手描友禅 Process — How Kimono is Temporarily Sewn to be DyedWe Love Kimono Project 7 — With the Medashi of my Obi complete, Kosaka-san, the kimono maker using Tegaki Yuzen, a hand-dyeing method, started his work of making my kimono. Tegaki Yuzen 手描き友禅 is a resist-dyeing technique that became fashionable at the end of the seventeenth century in Japan. Applying paste dye directly to fabric to…Kimono3 min readKimono3 min read