Friends of Kyo Moden -Aki Desings-

When I held a stall at Kirribilli market in October, Aki the designer/craft maker held her stall next to me.

She is also from Japan. She is a mother of 3 girls, designs and makes fashion accessories out of leather, and also studying to be barista.



What a busy woman!!

Compare to her, I have so much more time. She makes me feel I'm lazy.

I bought her bookmark( in a shape of a cat!!), hair accessoris and a pair of earring.  Other things she makes are, key rings, necklaces, brooches and many more. It's all designed by her and made of Australian leather. 

It was the first time for her to hold a stall at a market. She was there again last week. However she said she probably won't hold a stall for a while.

Luckily, you can buy some of her products at a gift shop called "Megan Kate Emporium" in Willoughby, Sydney. I have been to this shop before and it was full of gems! You can find anything from babyware to cute summary dress!

The shop's website is www.megankateemporium.com.au

To contact Aki to purchase from her directly, her email address is akidesigns@hotmail.com

The last Kirribilli market is on this Saturday the 17th. I will be on a "bowling green area" from 8:30am till about 3pm. Please pop in!!

My stall location: M3 http://www.kirribillimarkets.com/general-market/location-map

News: Ryokan Gojyuan's open day

A friend of mine Linda is doing open day of her Ryokan Gojyuan in Balmain, Sydney this Saturday (10th of Dec).

I will be selling some of my products and promoting my town Kyoto. There will be other people selling their products and offering workshops as well.

It will be a fun day so please pop in anytime between 10am to 5pm! At this stage, I'm not sure if I will be there till the end but mostly likely tostay to help Linda.

You can visit Ryokan either by a bus or a ferry.  It's only a short ride!


Please refer to Ryokan Gojyuan's website for more information.

Apologize & News

There is nothing worse than cancelling a stall at the last minute.

That causes the loss of meeting potential customers. And that's what happened to me last Saturday. 

As everyone in Sydney knows, we had such a wet week last week. I knew it was going to be sunny at some point on Saturday but I couldn't tell when.

The weather was still very wild on Friday so I cancelled a stall for Kirribilli market.

And it became sunny much faster than I thought!!



I managed to book in for the last Kirribilli market for this year on the 17th of December so hope to see you all there!

In a mean time, please do your Christmas shopping on my website or at shops where I sell some of my products!

New Products

New stocks from Kyoto finally arrived!

I now have more handmade Kimono pouches, glasses/mobile phone cases and rings.

The rings have wires inside so you can change the size. You can wear it as a ring, hair tie or tie it around wherever you like!

New products will be available at Kirribilli market next Saturday (26th) and Beehive gallery in Newtown soon.

Some of the pouches are already available at Beehive Gallery and Romantic Notions in Lane Cove so please check it out!

Bean Drinking

Crows Nest....my home ground!

Apart from a cafe Montague, I also like the one next door called "Bean Drinking"

Because I always went to Montague, I never checked this place until one of my friend suggested to try out. 

My friend enjoyed beautiful coffee and I had earl grey. It was served in a very cute Asian style cup and tea pot! I also tried "Tiramisu log" which was fantastic. It wasn't too dry or too moist. It was just right.

All the staff were very friendly (We found all of them pretty handsome) and well informed with the products they are selling.

My friend and I had sat on the couch area which was very comfortable.

This cafe is great for catching up with friends or when you need to chill out. There are seats inside and outside.

The cafe's website is below:

http://www.beandrinking.com.au/

Furoshiki

Furoshiki is Japanese style wrapping cloth which is used for wrapping gifts and carrying items.

It has been around in Japan for more than 1000 years and it is available in many fabrics and different sizes. Fabric ranges include cotton, rayon, silk and chirimen. (Kyo Modern uses chirimen fabric in may products as well!)

There are many ways to wrap the gifts with Furoshiki. A friend of mine Yoshie offers Furoshiki wrapping courses in Sydney.

Her website is http://www.musubi.com.au/

The website explains about the history and use of Furoshiki in more details. She does regular workshops at Ryokan Gojyuan - 208 Darling Street, Balmain NSW.

Apart from Ryokan Gojyuan,  she will be holding a workshop Art Gallery NSW on the 13th and 27th of November.


http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/calendar/japanese-fabric-wrapping/

Please register her workshops to discover the beauty of Furoshiki wrapping!

The gift shop called Romantic Notions in Lane Cove Sydney now sells some of Kyo Modern's products. The shop is open 7 days a week.

It's located on busy Loungeville road.  It is easily accessible from a bus stop just outside the shop and also from the Lane Cove bus interchange. There are many cafes and restaurants in the area so you can have a cup of coffee after visiting the shop!

Please step into this fabulous gift shop when you are in Lane Cove. The range of their products includes cushions, bags, clothes, soaps, chocolates, candles, cards, cosmetic pouches jewels and many more.

There are always 2 ladies at the shop to help customers.  The shop has been there for over 50 years and the current owner Marilyn is running the shop for over 6 years.


Mini Teddy bear & dog straps, Gamaguchi purses, handmade kimono pouches, Chirimen Gamaguchi purse, cardholders and pouches are available on the table in the centre of the shop.

Romantic Notions
101 Longueville road
Lane Cove NSW 2066
Tel: 02-9427-6952

Coming back to Kirribilli market

It's been a while since I held a stall at Kirribilli market in Sydney.

I will be back there for next general market which is on the 22nd of this month.

I will be selling lots of  new products so it's very exciting! I will let you know my stall position once I find out. It will be on either gravel area or green bowling area outside.

Mihana in Crows Nest

There are plenty of nice Japanese restaurants in Sydney but Mihana is the only one I know as a Japanese style "dining bar". 

The term dining bar is perhaps incorrect English. This term is widely used in Japan. It basically means it is a bar where you can have decent food.

Mihana offers large varieties of Sake and other Japanese style drinks. And also tasty Japanese food! They are open till late so I go there when I can't be bothered cooking on late Saturday night or after watching a late night movie session. 

Their website is under constructions at the moment but you can still get the idea of the atmosphere of the place from this website. 

http://www.mihana.com.au/

They open Monday to Saturday, closed on Sunday.  Private rooms are available for small groups. 

My recommendation is Chashu (pork) salad. Desserts are pretty good too!

Mihana Dining and Sake Bar
32 Falcon Street
Crows Nest
(02) 9901 3895

Trip to Cowra

The trip to Cowra from Sydney was suppose to be 4 hours and 20 minutes but because of traffic jams, it turned out to be 5 hours! It always bit busy around Kattomba and there were roadworks.

It was such a warm day so perfect for the festival.....except all the Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) were finished already!!



It must have been very warm in Cowra in this spring. It looked like Sakura finished about 2 weeks ago. So I was bit disappointed with that but still enjoyed the garden.

Cowra Japanese garden is the biggest Japanese style garden in Southern hemisphere. There were many native Japaneses plants, rocks and beautiful water features.





The entertainments at the festival included demonstration of Japanese sports(ie Aikido) and music. I was expecting to see large varieties of Japaneses style gifts in the garden's gift shop but there wasn't much.

After visiting the festival, I went to Cowra POW camp and the cemetery for Japanese hostages. The cemetery was very quiet. It was very peaceful. Many of the grave stone had age of hostages and some of them were very young. It made me cry. If they didn't have a mind set of being hostage is a stigma, they would have survived.

I spent one night in a town. It was the first time for me to stay in a motel!! I wasn't expecting much but a room was clean and all the necessary amenities were there so it turned out to be ok.

A funny thing was, on the way back to Sydney, I stopped over in a town called Leura. And they seemed to have a lot more Sakrua than Cowra. And it was still blossoming!  It was probably because Leura is colder than Cowra(I coould be wrong)

In the end, I was very glad that I finally went to Cowra after living in NSW for 5 years and I had a good time. It was worth it!

Azuma cafe in Sydney CBD

I only know one Japanese style cafe in Sydney.

It's called Azuma located in The Regent place in Sydney CBD.

Japanese sweets culture is based on French style. Azuma is the only cafe I know where I can eat my favourite Mont Blanc(chesnut cake) in Australia!


Of course other sweets are just as great as Mont Blanc. If you have time to kill in CBD, please visit Azuma cafe. They are open till late.

Azuma cafe
Ground Floor Regent Place Shopping
501 George Street
Sydney NSW 2000

Review from Smh Sydney

Spring is here

I came back from Melbourne a couple of days ago. It was nice to see friends and check the trend in Melbourne! It was very sunny and warm day for Melbourne but Sydney is always warmer.

It's been 5 years since I moved to Sydney from Melbourne. Many people ask me which city I like and I always answer " It depends on what you like"

If you like Japanese food, nice weather and beach culture, Sydney is better. However if you like locally designed fashion accessories, clothes, cultural events, art festivals, Hong Kong, Taiwan or Vietnamese food, Melbourne is better.

I do prefer shopping in Melbourne but I love the markets in Sydney. They are everywhere! As some of you may know, I hold a stall at  Kirribilli market occasionally.  I like the vibe of Kirribilli market. Apart from this one, I like Paddington and Glebe market.

I've been trying to get a stall at the next Kirribilli market but their website is not open at the moment. It was suppose to reopen today but it didn't! Hopefully it will open soon so that I can book a stall.

In a mean time, please go to my website or shops in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.


(Photo: Sunny morning in Balaclava, Melbourne)

Thinking of Kyoto

In 2009, after having three wedding reception in Australia, Hong Kong and Japan, my husband and I did honeymoon in Japan.

I left Japan when I was 16 years old so I didn't travel much while I was still living there. So it was a very good opportunity to rediscover Japan.  We did top half of Japan in 2009 and the second half in April this year.

Each prefecture (this is how we address a state in Japan) has different culture, food and dialect. In terms of food, I liked seafood from Tohoku region which is the north end of Honsyu island the most. It's the area where the earthquake happened in March this year. It made me so upset when I thought of people who I met during the trip. I hope they are back on the track of their life now.

Jet Star is keep doing Japan sale which is very tempting.  As I mentioned above, I just went to Japan in April so I'm trying not to go back until next year to save some money.

Going to Kyoto in autumn is great. My town is very famous for nice autumn food and leaves! To see beautiful autumn leaves in Kyoto, it's best to go closer to the end of autumn. I would suggest mid to end of November.

If you are heading to north end of Japan for that, you can go from late September to mid October. 

(Photo: Autumn in Kiyomizu temple)

New shelf

I changed the location of my products at Beehive Gallery.

I moved  my products to a different shelf which was opposite to where I used to use. I have added more hair accessories, teddy bear and dog straps、chirimen cardholder and  Kanzashi.

I also added the explanation  of what Nishihin silk is so feel free to pick it up. I left about 6 copies. 

Please droop into the shop when you are in Newtown, Sydney!

Beehive Gallery

Shop1 441-443 King Street
Newtown 2042 NSW
Australia

Kyo Modern: Funktion Fashion

Recently, I started selling some of Kyo Modern's products at a lovely clothing and designer artwork shop "Funktion Fashion".

The shop is located in a busy district of Neutral Bay. The address is,  176 Military Road, Neutral Bay New South Wales.

The shop offers casual and formal female clothing, large varieties of  fashion accessories, gifts and cards.  This is the one stop shop to go before going to a party-You can choose your dress, select matching shoes, decide on hair accessories and pick up a gift & card!

The shop is certainly full of gems! Unique African cushions, cute shawls,handmade soaps and stamps are also available.

Some of Kyo Modern's chirimen hair Accessories and handmade kimono silk pouches are available at Funktion Shop. If you are passing by Neutral Bay, please pop into the shop!

If you would like to know what kind of chirimen and kimono silks are used in the products, please visit my site.

And to see which Kyo Modern's products are available at Funktion Fashion, please go to the shop facebook page for photos.  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Funktion-Fashion/182620645116084?sk=info

Handmade brooch

One of my supplier in Japan is a talented artist Junko.

She makes lovely bag/mobile phone charms, obi charms , brooch, obi and hair accessories.  She holds a stall at handicraft market in  Kamigamo shrine,  Kyoto. She is there almost every month.

Kyo Modern sells some of her brooch. Snowflakes and Sakura petal brooches are made of epoxy resin with swarovski rhinestone inside. I love the rhinestone. It adds an accent in a brooch. 


You can purchase theses brooches at Beehive Gallery in Newtown. If you are not in Sydney, you can purchase it on my website. 


Theses products are supposedly a obi charm with hooks but Junko used a safety pin to make a brooch for me. 


I wanted to explain this brooch is pretty thick. In the photo on right, hopefully you can see how thick it is. The brooch is about 1.8cm heights (including a pin) from the side so it's pretty big!
 
It will definitely adds accent on your bag, shawls, hat, or where ever you want to put on.


I put a snowflake brooch on my bag. It makes cold weather enjoyable!

They are here!

Yay! Kanzashi is finally here.

I'll be dropping them off at beauty salons and will sell it at next Kirribilli market if I can get a spot.

I will let you know once Kanzashi is definitely available at salons!

Please keep eye on the blog or my facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kyo-Modern/123458921000537

Kanzashi

After catching a really bad flu from and overdosing paracetamol which caused great issues with my health, I'm finally recovering.

I can't believe I was sick for a week! All those things I was meant to get it done last week obviously haven't been done...

Anyway, I should catch up with my work and social life now!

I'm in a process of getting Kanzashi from Kyoto.  Kanzashi is a hair accessory worn with kimono.  They are available in many different designs for different occasions.

I could get a very traditional one which is made of expensive piece of wood, covered with lacquer and gold flakes but that would be very expensive and you can only wear it  for very formal occasions.

Instead, I'm getting more simply designed ones,  so that you could wear it with casual outfit. I'm sure it will be suitable for formal occasions too.

I should get them early next month so I will let you know when I have it available for sale!

New Arrival at Ebisu Design

Ebisu Japanese Design is one of the best Japanese fashion accessories and homeware shop I know in Australia. It may not look that big from outside but it's actually pretty deep inside complete with a Japanese style garden and a Tatami room(studio) where they run workshops.

It is located in a sunny town Elwood in Melbourne.

I feel so lucky that they sell some of my products.   I think what makes this shop very different to any other Japanese style shops I know is the varieties of products. Apart from Kimono and homewares, you can find many fashion accessories, Japanese style dolls, bags and many more.

The shop owner Miho is also a calligraphy artist so you can purchase her work as well.

Some of Chirimen Gamaguchi purse and pencil case, Nishijin silk and flower mini hair clips are available on the shelf near the counter so please have a look!

Ebisu Design

Shop address: ebisu design
161 Ormond Rd
Elwood 3184
Ph +61 3 9531 2300

Apologize and news

I was pretty sad not being able to make the market at Kirribilli last Saturday. I woke up with a sore throat and massive headache. It was clear that staying outside for over 6 hours wasn't going to be a good idea.

I'm very sorry if anyone went there to find my stall on that day.

Stall allocations for June market are already full so it  looks like I'm not doing market for a while :(

But the good news is, you can still buy some of new products on my website and retails shops. I just finished updating the catalogue as well so please check it out!

I'm going down to Melbourne this weekend to meet my buyers. How exciting!

Stay warm.

Photo: A new Gamaguch Pouch available at Beehive Gallery in Newtown, Sydney.
Dimensions: Height 10cm, Width 14cm, Depth 3cm. Made of Chirimen fabric in Kyoto)

New products

Just added new Gamaguchi style pouch/bag made of Nishijin silk and Chirimen Gamaguchi purse on my web. There are more to come.

I should have realised long time ago that I'm not very good with designing a website... Somehow it takes forever.

All the new products will be available at my stall at Kirribilli market in Sydney on the 28th of May.

Spring in Japan

It's only been 2 days since I came back from Japan. My mind is still very much in holiday mode!

I know many people have been avoiding to trip to Japan since the earthquake but as long as you avoid affected areas, it is completely fine.

After spending few days in my town Kyoto, my husband and I flew to Okinawa, we then visited Kagoshima, Kumamoto, Oita, Yamaguchi, Hiroshima and Shimane prefectures. We took so many photos and bought heaps of souvenirs.

I normally see many overseas tourists in Japan through out the year but there were significantly less amount this time. But there were some. So I felt like thanking to every single overseas travellers I saw during my trip.

I'm glad I made it.  Initially I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to have fun while people in affected areas are still suffering but I then realised spending money in Japan helps Japanese economy to recover.

My husband and I definetaly spent lots of money in Japan so hoepfully we contributed to rebuild Japanese economy!

I will be at Kirribilli market on the 28th of May. I will be selling new products so please come to my stall!

(Photo: Touching remaining Sakura near my house in Kyoto in April mid)

Just came back

I just came back from Japan this morning. I had a great time in Okinawa, Kyusyu and Chugoku regions.

And of course I had heaps of fun in my town Kyoto too.

I'm still very tired from the trip so I will be uploading photos of the trip and new products once I have enough rest!

Gamaguchi

Notice Kyo Modern offers many "Gamaguchi" purse.

Gama means "toad" and Guchi mean "mouth". So the theory is, a purse looks like a toad with a mouth opened!

 In Japanese, both toads and frogs are described as "Kaeru". They believed to bring good luck.

The reason why frogs are suppose to bring luck is Kaeru can be interpreted as "Return".  They are 2 different Kanji but pronunciation is the same.

When you go to Japan, you will see numbers of frog ornament with the titles like "Buji Kaeru" (safe return), "Okane ga Kaeru" (money will return", "Usemono Kaeru" (Lost items will return) and so on.

 The original Gamaguchi is a purse for coins only however Kyo Modern's Gamaguch has outside and inside pockets and divider for cards and notes!

I'm getting more of it in Kyoto next week so please check my website early May for informaiton of new Gamaguchi. I will be in Japan for bit over 2 weeks.

(Photo: Nishijin Silk Gamaguchi Purse. Available for sale on Kyo Modern's website)

New Product

 I just came back from Melbourne trip. I had a fantastic time there with friends and it was very nice of them to worry about Japan earthquake.


Fukushima nuclear power plants are largely under control so I'm not too worried about it however people who have been evacuated are now facing serious issues of not having enough support.

They still don't have enough access to gas, electricity, water, food and medicine.

As I mentioned in previous blog and twitter, there is only so much I can do from here.  So I will keep doing my best with running Kyo Modern so that I can  make more donations to Japan!

From Australia, you can donate through Red Cross or Yahoo Japan.  Japanese communities, including take away stores are raising money for the earthquake victims as well.

As for what's new with  Kyo Modern, I started selling handmade Temari (Japanese style thread ball). I only uploaded one Temari so far but I will be uploading more soon!

http://sites.google.com/site/kyomodern/

Do what I can do

As everyone knows, the earthquake has hit north of Japan really badly. I couldn't believe the size of Tsunami I saw on the footage.

I'm from Kyoto which wasn't affected by Tsunami but small size earthquake was safe . But I have distance family members in Sendai and they are currently missing....

There is not much I can do for now but donating money and do my best at selling my products from Japan. I sell imported products from Japan so I am helping Japanese economy in that sense.

USTREAM (in Japanese) is showing the most updated information of current condition of Japan.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/tbstv

My heart goes to all those people who were affected in Tohoku regions.

If you are in Sydney, hope to see you tomorrowe (13th of March ) at Kirribilli market!

Personalise your phone or bag with "Mini Chirimen Teddy Bear"

Mini Chirimen Teddy Bear Strap has been one of the best seller of Kyo Modern. They are made of Chirimen fabric.

I'm happy to see them becoming popular despite te fact that people in Australia don't often buy bag or mobile phone charms. I guess they are too cute to ignore!

Mobile phone charms are so popular in Japan. You will see young girls mobile phones with HEAPS of charms to the point that you can't really see a mobile phone anymore!

In fact it is very difficult to find a person whose mobile phone doesn't have any charms in Japan. Everyone wants to personalise their phone with something that shows their personality.

I hope Kyo Modern's straps will contribute a culture of using mobile phone charms in Australia.

This product is now available for retail purchase on my site.

For retailers, please visit:  http://kyomodern.supplierhaven.com.au/2011/03/10/chirimen-mini-teddy-bear-straps/

Hina Matsuri (= Hina dolls festival or girls day)

Yes it was the 3rd of March again. I had my Hina dolls out.

3rd of March is known as Hina Matsuri in Japan. It is a celebration for a little girl. We celebrate the day by displaying Hina dolls and eat special food and snack such as Chirashi-Sushi and Hina Arare( Sweet rice cracker)

When a baby girl is born, mother's parents or parents in laws buy a set of Hina dolls for the girl. Hina dolls are set decorations that shows a wedding of rich family in old times.  You can just get a bride and groom or  plus maids & the band or a with the full set with furniture. And I happened to have the full set!

It was taking so much space in the storage in my parents' house so I brought them over in Australian several years ago. I couldn't bring the display unit as it was very big so I used boxes to display them...yes it looks bit cheap but anyway.


The custom of displaying Hina dolls was originated in Heian period. (794~1185).  The dolls are taking troubles or bad spirits with them so that a girl remains safe and healthy. More information is available on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinamatsuri

When girls become adults, most of them get rid of the dolls by taking them to temple to burn. And if they give birth to a girl in a future, they will buy a new set of the dolls for the little girl.

I thought I would do the same but my mother insisted me to take them with me so I did! I do believe the dolls have spirits and somehow I feel at ease when I have the dolls out. I wonder if they are really  protecting me?


And this year, one of my father's cousin who is a famous Japanese style doll maker gave me Hina dolls she made for free!

So now I have 2 sets of Hina dolls....Hopefully I will have a baby girl soon!

Okaki

Okaki is Japanese style rice cracker.


No, it's not same as Sakata from a supermarket.

It is normally flavoured with bit of soy sauce which some people may find it plain. However these days, they come in many more flavoures and shapes.

There is also Senbei which is basically the same but come in round shape. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senbei  for information.

When I was back in Kyoto, a friend gave me assorted Okaki in a bag. There were ordinarily soy flavour, curry flavour (!), sugary one and I liked Mattcha(Japanese green tea) flavoured at the most!

You can buy some Okaki and Senbei from Japanese groceries in Australia. I've seen soy, prawn, black sugar and black sesame flavour so far.

There are 2  popular Japanese style supermarkets in the city of Sydney. There are more in suburban areas.

Convini 8

Maru yu

(photo: Mattcha flavoured Okaki with a red bean)

Shibori

"Shibori" seems to be getting bit popular in Australia.

I've seen quiet a few Shibori shaw in Sydney and Melbourne. Shibori is a name of dying technique which is known as "tie dye"

Please refer to my site for more information: http://sites.google.com/site/kyomodern/our-fabric#shibo

Kyo Modern offers Shibori Obi pouches. They are handmade pouches that are made of Shibori Obi. 100% silk!!

These are available at Beehive Gallery , My Hair International and Plum Interiors at the moment.  Each Shiobori comes in slightly different colours and patterns so they are all unique!

I have more range of Shibori Obi Pouches than what's in the catalogue so please contact me if you are after any specific colour.

New Trend

 

I met some of my suppliers while I was back in  Kyoto and they told me the trend in Japanese style accessories are keep changing.

These days, both buyer and suppliers are bored of "typical Japanese patterns". For example, those flower patterned fabrics.  So people are looking for either retro patterns from Taisho era(1911-1925) or modern patterns and colours.

I think those modern patterns are often based on pretty bright colours. And patterns on fabric is not neccesarry Japanesey..for instance, penguins, ribbons and matryoshka.

So here I am trying out new products with new patterns..... I'll do my best to upload them on my website during next week!


(Photo: New Chirimen Gamaguchi, White Dotty)