Japanese design: Eirakuya

In preparing for a talk on contemporary Japanese design I recently gave at The Japan Society I was gathering some examples from one of my favorite shops in Kyoto, Eirakuya, which is one of the oldest companies around being founded in 1615 during the beginning of the Edo era in Japan. The company began as a cotton wholesaler and developed into a retailer as well with name taken from the Eirakuya Tsuho crest which was sewn into the company's ancestor's ceremonial court robes. Their colorful, graphic designs mostly on Japanese scarfs are some of my favorite examples of the ancient Japanese visual elements persisting in the modern day (much of the designs are reprints from the 19th and early 20th century) and the products themselves range from printed handbags to scarves which I find are exquisite and suitable for a frame.

Back from Japan and in the Thick of It

Magical, ancient, strange, wondrous, modern, and occasionally very nude- those are the descriptive terms I find myself referring to most often when talking about my nearly month-long trip to Japan but without question it was life-changing and most certainly a positive experience. I spent the last weeks of the summer vacation organizing my thoughts and photos and trying to digest the moments I had on the other side of the world and it turns out all the octopus and eyes and such don't digest quickly but I did put together 3 new travel journals of my trip to share. Here they are enjoy them and feel free to comment back on anything. I'm well into the swing of life as a slightly over-reaching teacher, writer, artist, etc. now so life quite a bit different than it was a few weeks back but it great to reminisce.

On my way to Japan

This week I leave for a long trip to Japan and I've been studying up on the history, language, and culture. Here's the song I'm learning along with the group of educators I'm traveling with (it was the only song by a Japanese artist to ever hit number 1 on the charts in the US). Among the surprises in my research was how small the country really is, the fact that speaking English is something you find everywhere even though it is usually taught in schools, and their public toliets are not flush toliets, they are squat toliets (I'll let my animated friend Shimajiro show you how to use them).