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!