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Home to the court for 1,000 years, the city attracted its most talented artisans who continue to produce the highly prized crafts of Kyoto. Lacquered paper umbrellas, painted doors backed with gold foil, handcrafted paper- covered tea canisters, paper fans of seasonal motifs and a gorgeously glazed array of dishes produced in the Kiyomizu area along the Eastern Hills, reveal the refinement of its artisans.
Just saying the word “Nishijin” conjures up resplendent images of elegant wear, but the original meaning of the word denotes the Western campsite of a decade-long war. The rivers in Kyoto might be one of the reasons the weaving and dyeing industry settled here, for the Kamo River was often the site of luxurious lengths of dyed silk being washed and readied for the next stage of work. Today, most looms are automatic Jacquard looms, but individual artists still dot the area, especially the fingernail weavers, who spend hours bent over the cloths patiently straightening the weft with ser-rated fingernails, and the obi weavers, who create unique designs either for wealthy clients or performing artists.
Another famous product is Kiyomizu-yaki, ceramics made near the Kiyomizu Temple. Today, the old wood-firing kilns are not allowed in the city, and most production takes place in a ward beyond the Eastern Mountains. Using centuries-old techniques, steady hands apply delicate tendrils of gold enamel glaze before loading the pots into kilns for their last firing. Many shops and galleries along the Eastern Hills (Higashiyama) display fine porcelain and clay products, often with high prices that reflect the work and talent that went into them.
The best-known crafts shop is the Kyoto Handicraft Center, west of Higashi-oji, on Marutamachidori. Items range from simple greeting cards to high-end antiques with a nice representation of woodblock prints, cloisonné, pearls, lacquerware and swords.
Many antique and print shops and galleries are clustered along Nawate-dori, Furumonzen-dori and Shinmonzen-dori, three areas north of Shijo, near the Shinmachi and Gion districts, and along Teramachi, north of Sanjo-dori. A stroll along these streets can be like visiting a museum, but one in which you are allowed to handle the exhibits.
The best artists in the land served the court, and even today the concentration of ateliers makes Kyoto a delight for those with a discerning eye.
Many steps are necessary in producing a kimono. This woman is shading a stretched length of silk to be dyed, one of the early steps in the process.
The art of wearing a kimono involves understanding motifs and color combinations, the dictates of the social status of the wearer and the demands of the occasion. Here, a model pivots on the runway during one of the kimono shows that are featured daily at the Nishijin Textile Center.
A fragrant branch of the blossoming daphne infuses the tearoom with spring.
A busy employee in the textile center answers a customer’s question.
Decades of experience are needed to become a master weaver: an understanding of the textures and colors of the threads to be selected, along with the technical dexterity of managing all the spindles and shuttles involved in producing a single obi.
An exquisite array of dyed silk skeins fills several walls at Kawamura Weavers in Nishijin.
Katsuji Yamade applies hot liquid wax to a length of silk hung across his studio and held in place with bamboo stays. He will decorate the entire length before the cloth is sent to the steamers for fixing the dyes and then to a seamstress for assembly.
A careful selection of colored silk is readied to bring to the loom.
KYOTO’S
AMAZING FESTIVALS
As the men lift a one-ton portable shrine unto their shoulders, they cry out “Hoitto, hoitto” to announce that local gods are on their way. There are few places in the world where communities celebrate festivals as enthusiastically as in Kyoto. These impressive events have evolved into gorgeous pageants laden with cultural richness. Embodied in the festivals’ aesthetic element, is the serious business of appeasing and pleasing the myriad Japanese gods who love to be entertained by their descendants, the Japanese people, who in turn love to celebrate their deities.
Festival time brings a variety of customs that are synchronized in the cultural heart of Kyotoites. Families display treasured heir-looms and offer charms to dispel ill health. Gods are moved from their home shrine to a smaller more distant one. Massive portable shrines are jostled on the shoulders of men, exuberantly shouting hoitto hoitto or solemnly pulled through the capital streets to the musical accompaniment of transverse flutes and bells. Their path is aflutter with kimono sleeves, while sky-high halberts sway in the air above.
The Gion Festival, one the city’s oldest, is now designated an intangible World Heritage. This mid-summer extravaganza culminates in two solemn processions on July 17 and 24. Other activities such as assembling the floats, practicing gion-bayashi music, selecting participants, and preparing offerings all require community effort. Households in each district contribute money for upkeep of the floats and carts, costumes, and attendant expenses. All ages are recruited, from the young boys who sit atop the floats playing instruments, to the men who slowly pull the massively heavy floats through the streets. Another two men stand astride the front of each float giving directions with a delft flicks of handheld fans. Despite the sweltering heat and hours of organizing, participation in this cultural heritage is a coveted honor.
The floats themselves have been transformed into moving museums with heavy European tapestries and ornate lengths of Chinese embroidered silk that traders brought into the county over 400 years ago. To the Japanese artisans and merchants with the prescience to recognize the novel beauty of these imported fabrics, the subtly colored pigments and elegantly fine needlework bespoke different cultures and societies; they conjured worlds inhabited by unknown artists whose skills were revealed through their handiwork.
The Aoi Festival on May 15 is a procession and pageant that takes a whole day to unfold. Glistening black oxen pull black lacquered carriages dripping with wisteria blossoms through the streets of Kyoto. Ladies in ancient court attire sit resplendent inside. Attendants and men dressed as courtiers walk alongside. They all accompany the female messenger of the Imperial court as she bears a greeting to the chief priest of the Kamigamo Shrine. Along the way, the procession stops at the Shimogamo Shrine where “courtiers” in ancient garb display archery skills. They shoot their arrows while perched on wooden saddles set on bedecked and tasseled
