Many of
the links which we will list here are individuals or companies
with whom we do business or know personally. In some cases we
know more about the parties than others, and will add comments
where applicable.
We will
also review relevant sites for listing here on a regular basis.
If you know us & feel that for some reason we have overlooked
including you here, or have a site to recommend, please contact
us.
Yoko & Dana Lewis
(Newer
links are added to the bottom)
-
Fabric
Art, Textiles, Sewing, Patterns, Other Links: http://www.flash.net/~ccstudio
-- This site is an act of love; Cyndi has assembled a wonderful
and broad-based listing of information on many things relating
to fabric art. Tell her yokodana sent you!
-
Looking
for assortments of small pieces of kimono fabric? Stop
in and visit www.ahkimono.com.
This creative and kindlylady has a professional but approachable
web business. We refer many folks to her when they are looking
for those special small pieces for quilting or other projects.
If you send her an email, of course tell her "Yoko sent
me." Also, the fabric/kimono bibliography is outstanding.
-
Susan
Fatemi has a site, Oh Noh!
Kimonos! (at:
http://www.netwiz.net/~susanf/ ). She is highly knowledgeable
in the field of Japanese and other textiles; She offers
a variety of kimono-related things, and also now offers
himo (tasseled cord closures) with clips for men's
formal haori and hera, the stay for Hakama;
and a few all-silk nagajuban. Susan is one of our first
'e-neighbors', so tell her we said hello. And, BTW, the
Bibliography
on her site is rather specialized and outstanding.
-
Fabrics.net
http://www.fabrics.net/default.htm:
This is an excellent resource, both having its own detailed
content (example: definitions of 'silk'), as well as serving
as a clearinghouse of sorts for all fabric-related things.
-
Gatherings,
Taunton Discussion Groups:How could I have forgotten
to add this one!? This link might be in the FAQ, but surely
belongs here. This is a highly visited set of discussion
groups, with the one on fabrics etc being recently resurrected
following some sort of merger-takeover-whatever. The one
sponsored by THREADS magazine is here.
Or,try this link: http://www.taunton.com/thetauntonpress/forums.asp
for all their forums (woodwork, cooking, gardening etc).
-
Specialized
Links, Costumers etc: We are pleased that costume.org
has a link to our site; so if you visit this page: http://www.costumes.org/ethnic/1PAGES/asiancostlinks.htm
you're in for a treat if you've been looking for those specialty
items. This seems a marvelous resource for those with highly
specific needs. Site lists by country to resources &
information pertinent to costume & dress. A magnificent
resource it seems, though we only browsed it. While this
lists a few of our web competitors, we think it is such
a rich and helpful source of information that we gladly
put it here.
-
Fibre
Arts Portal Site: -- We recently came across this site.
It seems very relevant for many of our visitors and customers:Fibreartsonline.com.
It has many nice links in a wide range of resources.
-
SewNews:
We are pleased to have been featured in the May, 2000
issue of this national magazine's Making Connections
section. We recently re-visited this site and find it
is highly professional and has many links and resources
for a wide range of folks interested in sewing-related activities;
well-designed and easy to navigate.
-
www.denverfabrics.com
: Impressive resource for all manner of sewing and design
crafts. Located in Denver but have a colorful and impressive
web site, with everything from sewing & quilting
notions, to buttons, trims and sewing patterns.
-
There
is a book by Kathy Pippin, called Quilting
with Japanese Fabrics. It comes highly recommended
by some of our customers, and the reviews of users on Amazon.com
are very positive. Learn more by clicking logo below:
- Modern
Novels Set in Japan: We welcome Deborah Kemp, Author of
Kyoto Connection and Kiss of the Geisha to our
site. To learn more about her novels you can visit Amazon.com:
Kiss of the Geisha by Deborah Kemp: Now on Amazon.com.
Logo below takes you there:
Kyoto
Connection by Deborah Kemp: Also on Amazon.com. Logo below
takes you there:
-
We
recommend a book by a customer of ours, Mary Parker:
Sashiko : Easy & Elegant Designs for Decorative Machine
Embroidery
by Mary S. Parker
We
are more than pleased to introduce a lovely new book by one of our
customers, Joan Elliott. We are especially proud of her inclusion
of a full page picture of a wonderful furisode which she obtained
from us. She has captured the spirit of the beauty of traditional
Japanese fabric art pieces and themes -- all the while respecting
them. It is no easy task -- particularly to one not born and raised
in the Japanese culture -- to applythe complex nuance of Japanese
artistry to a new (cross-stitch) context. Yoko
feels that Joan has done an excellent job of honoring and respecting
the tradition, while applying it exquisitely to something new. This
book is a gift to cross-stitchers and others as well, as is apparent
from the first few reviews on Amazon.com; Some excerpted reviews
follow:
Book Description:
A
breathtaking collection of 30 designs around a fashionably Oriental
theme. Created by American artist Joan Elliott and skillfully
adapted for cross stitch by Design Works for cross stitch. These
modern interpretations of classic Oriental images include pictures
of fans and ladies in Kimonos, pot lids decorated with bonsai
and butterflies; and linen decorated with birds and blossoms.
(Reader Rates this 5stars)Fantastic book for all cross stitchers!,
January 9, 2002
Reviewer: Judy from Massachusetts USA
This book by Joan Elliott truly takes you on an odyssey....After
closing the book it became very clear that Joan Elliott not only
loves Oriental art but also has an ability to incorporate it into
her cross stitch designs and share it with others. She not only
created designs that are appealing but also that relate a story
within the borders of their stitches.
To learn more
about, or order, Joan's book, please select the logo below:
A Cross
Stitcher's Oriental Odyssey
by Joan Elliott
Joan Elliott may be contacted by email at: jelliottdesign@earthlink.net
Jref.COM: Great
informational site with some very nice links to various resources
about Japan & Japanese culture. Updated frequently and has terrific
links to forums and wide range of resource information. Highly Recommended.
JETRO,
the Japan External Trade Organization
(http://www.jetro.org/ ) is a
good place to begin searching for product sources or other resources
relevant to Japan. JETRO has offices (and web sites) all around
the world and in many languages (see the country link on left of
the jetro.org site). If you are business oriented, you might start
at another URL, http://www.jetro.go.jp/
which has more commerce /business/ trade related links & resources.
We happened upon this interesting site. It is a portal to Japanese ecommerce sites which normally are only accessible in Japanese. Definitely worth a look for the Japanophile.To visit them click HERE. If you use them, please let us know what you thought of their products/service by writing us via our webmail page or on our blog
http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/
This
is a site based in Australia but with an abundance of links and
information relating to Japan, in a wide range of topics. At the
top of the home page they say: Japanese
Lifestyle features over 800 pages of Japanese culture,
Tokyo Travel Japan, kimono, Japanese fashion and Japanese food. In addition, the site also has a forum, and specific travel links
by destination in Japan. A nice portal which complements the above
2 sites(JETRO,JREF).
We've
recommended this site for a couple years now, but wanted to comment
on some recent changes to this site. Immortal Geisha is the brainchild
of Naomi -- who is a long-time net associate (and from time to time
customer) of our site. She recently did an upgrade to her beautiful
site www.immortalgeisha.com,
but we feel that this 'update' is more like a 'rebirth', and we
love it!
While
it's lost the lovely lady on the home page (sigh -- we've kept her
here though, below), Naomi's site may now be one of the richest
specialty resource sites on Japanese culture I've seen, particularly
-- but not exclusively --in Geisha-related themes.
This
site (and sister site Caged Birds (www.thecagedbirds.com)
are a personal project -- an act of love, and it shows. So....if
you love Japanese aesthetics and culture, we strongly suggest you
spend some time there again, it's just wonderful:
-
-
Stephanie
Masae Kimura has published Art to Wear with Asian Flair (Krause
Pubs., Sept. 2001) Stephanie is a visitor to our site and
a customer of ours. We first heard of this book at our fall
Quilt show from a number of quilters who recommend it highly.
Learn more by clicking logo below:
-
FEBRUARY,
2003: Check out this wonderful new book, MATSURI!
Japanese Festival Arts ,by Gloria Gonick (February 2003).
Thanks to Susan Fatemi for making
us aware of this work.Excerpt from Foreword:
The spectacular Japanese community festivals known as matsuri
are centuries old. Even today, in a society driven by technological
advancement, these annual rites continue to function as a mechanism
for purification and renewal and also to ensure all aspects
of communal productivity. The pageantry of these events - their
extraordinary dress, performance, and Shinto-Buddhist ritual
enactment - brings communities together in an act of worship
that is, as well, an extravagant artistic celebration. Dominated
by the gorgeous textiles worn by troupes of participants, matsuri
also boldly incorporate decorated banners, exquisitely "dressed"
festival wagons, dramatic masks, and elaborate portable shrines.
The historical importance of matsuri within the cycle of annual
religious events in Japan is also reflected in the representation
of these festivals in several pictorial forms, from lavish screen
paintings to elegant woodblock prints.
This volume identifies and describes the exuberant textiles
and costumes of matsuri and considers their significance within
their cultural context. Many of the examples illustrated date
from the Meiji period (1868-1912), the last time when handwork
was produced by individual artisans for their own use or that
of their neighbors. The unique focus on festival arts in this
book allows us to identify the special aesthetics that differentiate
the textiles worn and used on Japan's holy days. At matsuri
a cascade of beautifully crafted garments in vibrant hues meets
the eyes, foregrounded distinctly against the hushed simplicity
of the Shinto shrine. It is an incredibly vital spectacle of
human artistry at the service of a sacred occasion.
Matsuri!
documents the use of textiles in more than 25 different festivals
scattered over the length and breadth of Japan. The book interweaves
these textiles with the other arts that constitute matsuri as
well as with their symbolic meanings and the history of textile
making in Japan. Gorgeous photographs bring the festivals to
life.
We think that many Japanophiles or textile enthusiasts will find
Matsuri! most fascinating. We do -- as we've just added it
to our collection. You can order it on Amazon.com
by clicking image below:
-
We
know that many of our visitors are quilters. We recently
were approached by The Quilter Magazine and have reviewed
their site. It is chock full of information and resource
links most useful to quilters and others interested in
textiles and sewing. We are happy to include them in our
links page:
www.thequiltermag.com
-
Another
Quilter's Resource (a specialty web shop):
(Note: This is a nice niche site carrying a wide range of fabrics
from major suppliers; especially check out their specialized
links page of value to quilters: http://www.fatquartershop.com/links.htm,
dl)
www.fatquartershop.com
- Specializing in fat quarter bundles for the quilting enthusiast.
We carry Moda, Benartex, P&B Textiles, RJR Fabrics, Timeless
Treasures, Marcus Brothers, Fabric Visions, and more. We also
carry fat quarter related patterns.
-
Looking
for Tabi? Cool
East Market, located in Canada, has many styles of Tabi
from traditional all-cotton to stretchy cotton/nylon blends,
in all sizes and colors including Festival Tie-Dye, also
Jika Tabi Boots. Very nice folks. If you shop there, please
tell them "Yoko Trading sent me".
As for
sites selling geta, take a look at karankoron.com.
Karankoron is the onomonopoetic Japanese word-sound
which geta make when walking. We've not worked with this site,
but they seem quite legitimate. If you use this site, and
have an opinion on them one way or the other, please let us
know so we can let others know here. The English page starts
here: http://www.karankoron.com/online_shop_top.html
-
-
Are
you going to Japan? We recommend the town of Narita, so
schedule some layover time at NRT (Tokyo's International
Airport) so you can spend at least a few hours in
this town. All major hotels have free shuttles to and
from Narita.
We
highly recommended a restaurant in the town of Narita
: Hero's Grill House
Ask for Henry and tell him we sent you (details &
pics of our latest Japan trip are here)
Kimono
Stands:
If
you are looking for a stand for your art-fabric uchikake or
furisode (ceremonial kimono) and cannot abide the cost of
the Japanese imported stands, a reasonably priced alternative
is now available from Gene Riggin, a woodworker in Decatur,
Georgia USA. He is a tansu, shoji and shoji paper artisan
who recently has begun making these stands. If you buy from
him please tell him we sent you:
Calling
all Textile Enthusiasts!
Here's a terrific resource for all manner of textile enthusiasts:
www.textilelinks.com
provides articles and links covering spinning, weaving, quilting,
felting, knitting, sewing, dyeing, and the whole world of textiles.
Links to supply sources, guilds, organizations, museums, events,
training, etc. Covers a wide range of information.
An
interesting site: Marie makes quilts from your t-shirts at www.tshirtquilt.com
.
In
addition to offering a rather interesting product -- quilts
made from your T-shirts -- Marie Turnock in Arkansas has a nice
site with a good number of reference links to sewing, quilting
and fabric-related resources.
Spider
Woman Quilts
Do
you like Japanese temari (decorative balls)? If so, there
is an entire site dedicated to them, www.temarikai.com.
This is an interesting resource site, which also has a Japanese
language version. Owned and managed by Ginny Thompson, Poughkeepsie,
New York, this site has patterns,discussion groups, resources
links etc etc. We love this kind of niche site, most often an
act of love, growing out of the owner's passion, and believe
that it may be of interest to the many creative folks who tend
to visit our site -- thus this link and recommendation. www.temarikai.com
More
on Temari!
Here's
another interesting niche site dedicated to temari. This is
a commercial site owned and managed by Barb Suess of Raleigh,
North Carolina. In addition to temari themselves, her site has
unique products as well as resource material and references
about the art of temari-making; also has photos, temari jewelry,
bibliography, free patterns:
Japanese
Temari from Barb Suess, Kiku Designs
Discover the ancient craft of temari. Beautiful thread wrapped
and embroidered balls. Photo gallery and free patterns.
If
you watch PBS TV, then maybe you've seen Kaye's show. She has
a nice site as well which is chock full of things of interest
to quilters and other sewing enthusiasts. Visit at http://www.kayewood.com/
Interested
in Japanese kasuri (ikat)? One of our customers,
Jeff Krauss, has a wonderful collection of e-gasuri (lit.picture-kasuri)
which he has put onto a web site, http://e-gasuri.com/
If you enjoy the indigos and Japanese country textiles you'll
love this site, which has a remarkable variety with examples
of many types of e-gasuri.
Excellent
new book about kimono & Geisha:
We
just received a copy of a lovely and special book and are pleased
to review The
Kimono of the Geisha-Diva Ichimaru (Pomegranate, San
Francisco, 2006). Compiled and written by Barry Till, Michiko
Warkentyne, Judith Patt, all of The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria,
this charming and well-made book centers around a collection
of kimono of a famous Geisha, Ichimaru. Her kimono are at the
Victoria Gallery, and scheduled to go on tour to museums &
galleries around the country in the near future.
Being
partial to good visuals, we liked this book from the moment
we laid eyes on the cover:
The
rest of the book has a good number of high quality pictures
of Ichimaru's kimono(s), Ichimaru at various ages, katsura (wig)
and even one picture of dissembled kimono silk fabric as done
for cleaning and sometimes re-cycling old kimono silks (called
araihari ).
The
pictures are excellent and are obviously the center of this
book -- and much of its appeal. But we found the complementary
text and information to be as valuable in that the content is
very well-informed and descriptive. There is a brief summary
about the world of the Geisha and some cultural and historical
contexts as well as a small bibliography of the better works
on the subject of Geisha and use of kimono.
We
were pleased also to see informational tidbits in this book
which we have not seen in some of the other English books about
kimono. Perhaps what we liked most about the text of this book
is that the tone is understated, but not arcane nor overly academic.
Also, these authors had obvious love and respect for their subject,
but did not use hyperbolic or romanticized expressions about
this aspect of the Japanese culture. Unlike much of the recent
media attention to the Geisha theme since the premier of the
movie
Memoirs
of a Geisha, this book is a refreshing and respectful
work about something which has fascinated -- and eluded -- many
in the West for years. This is a welcome addition to our own
bibliography.
In
short, we recommend this to those who love traditional kimono
or who have an interest in the culture and kimono of traditional
Geisha. It nicely complements the other fine books on the subject.
You
can learn more and/or order this book via Amazon.com via the
link below:
We
happened upon this recently. Initially in year 2000 an online
journal with cultural and scholarly articles from the Sennin
Foundation, it has not had new articles posted for some
time, but has a nice list of on-line resources for many things
relating to the Japanese cultural arts.
If
you have a blog or your own web site, or just want to decorate
your emails or screensaver, here is a great little site done
by a Japanese artist which offers a good number of traditional
crests (kamon) and Ukiyoe images for download.
Though
this site was originally made in 1999, and updated a bit since
then, it still has an abundance of useful links to many resources
concerning Japanese culture, living and working in Japan etc.
The site was made by Lynne Davis (UK) during her residence in
Japan as a JET teacher (JET is the Japanese government's educational
exchange program to teach in Japan).
JAPANOPHILIA:
Lynne Davis' Japan Links Page
We
love what are called niche sites! Our favorite ones (many
of them listed on this page) start off as acts of love, put
together because someone has a passion for something and pours
it into a web site. Brian Chandler lives in Sano, Japan and
contacted us recently. We were delighted to review his shop
which sells gorgeous jig-saw puzzles from Japan. We recommend
this web shop because of the puzzle's visual appeal (that is,
we like them), their relevance to the themes of our site, and
because the site also has other information on Japan. If you
visit the jig saw puzzle shop you will see images like this,
a puzzle by Morita Haruyo:
To
see what else Brian offers from his view in Sano, Japan you
can visit his home page here:
If you visit
him please tell him yokodana sent me. %20Cool.gif)
We
have recently come to know of a splendid collection of vintage
kimono available for your viewing on line. While some of them
might be for sale, all are from private collections and are
posted on the site in honor of the site owner's mother. He has
some succinct explanations as well .So, please visit Jim "Yoshida"
Walker's new site at eastwestkimono.com
. If you communicate with him, please tell him we sent you.
Aikomei
is
an online gallery of Asian-inspired finely handcrafted furniture,
art work, jewelry boxes and more created by Southern Californian
artists.We are putting it here because we loved what we saw,
as well as the site design itself. This site is definitely in
tune with the wabi-sabi concept! Enjoy!
This
latest addition to our links page features not only the
creative work of fiber artists in Washington State, but
also an array of various supplies, patterns, notions etc.
A distinctive site.
UK Wholesalers, Trade Suppliers and Wholesale Distributors Directory
We recently came across this site and found it helpful. As many of our customers are wholesale buyers (ref: our bulk kimonos)we thought it might be of interes so share it heret. Site describes itself as The Internet's largest trade portal of verified wholesale suppliers, importers, dropshippers, manufacturers, wholesalers and trade distributors in the UK and worldwide.
Haka Sewing Furniture: www.hakasewingfurniture.com
While this site is not related directly to the themes of our site -- Japanese fabrics, etc.-- we thought that our many sewing artists, quilters and others might find this site of interest. They are located in Ontario, Canada and have been in business since 1989 (same year we started!). Their site is well built, user-friendly and packed with helpful information to help the customer make an informed purchase. Haka Sewing Furniture offers unique furniture styles and height choices: sewing, serging and quilting tables, folding cutting tables, multi-tasking cut-sew-serge tables and custom designs - many with a pull-out folding ironing board in a drawer. Haka is made to order in Canada (since 1989).
You can visit their site for more information by clicking their logo above, or HERE.
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Friday, February 01,2008
Yoko Trading, Kumamoto-ken, Japan & Fleetwood, Pennsylvania USA |
