London

Thanks to everyone who dropped by my Daiwa Foundaition event! It is very much appreciated, and thank you to Daiwa as always, it was an honor and pleasure to be there. 

The SWAY GALLERY pop up has started, and will go for another two weeks, please drop by if you are in London, it looks fantastic! Thank you to SWAY for having me!

They have kindly arranged for everyone to pick up the kokeshi after the exhibition closes, so everyone can enjoy the entire show for the full two weeks. 

Over one hundred kokeshi (ranging from traditional, neo-traditional to creative/ contemporary),  folk craft, folk toys and my books. It is a rare chance to see many of these exquisite and quirky works outside of Tohoku hot spring villages. 

SWAY GALLERY LONDON

Im having a pop up at SWAY GALLERY LONDON! 

please drop by if you are in the area xxx

【19th – 31st July 2018】
Pop-up shop, talk and exhibition by Manami Okazaki, the author of
Kokeshi, from Tohoku with Love.

Kokeshi are traditional wooden dolls that are predominantly made in rural hotspring villages in the Tohoku region. Originally a children’s toy made by farmers, these simple and charming folktoys have captured the hearts of collectors around the world.

More than 100 kokeshi will be available, from traditional,
orthodox types to kawaii, modern varieties. A rare
opportunity to purchase new kokeshi by master
artisans in the Tohoku region.

Meet the author:
Sway Gallery (in store) 19th and 28th July all day.

Looking forward to seeing you here!

FREE ENTRY

Opening hours: MON – FRI 11am – 7pm
SAT (21st and 28th July only) 12pm – 6pm
Sunday closed

Daiwa London

Doing a talk/ mini exhibition of kokeshi at Daiwa Foundation in London.
This is a rare chance to see genuine, new kokeshi from living artisans from Tohoku in London!
If you are interested, please contact them directly!
Hope to see you there xxxx

Tuesday 17 July 2018
6:00pm – 7:00pm

Drinks reception: 7:00pm – 8:00pm

13/14 Cornwall Terrace, Outer Circle (entrance facing Regent's Park), London NW1 4QP

Organised by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation

Sorbet

Wrote an article on Kawaii culture and Hello Kitty for Dubai fashion magazine Sorbet magazine's Kitsch issue.
Check it out!
thanks Katy xxx

Gaijin Pot's Instagram list

I only just saw this, I received an email saying that they found my IG on Gaijin Pot!

Thank you Gaijin Pot! I really appreciate the shout out (my IG is @tohokukokeshi)

I really don't use social media (I don't have personal accounts) and really have no idea what I am doing. I very am grateful,  even if I feel like it is an undeserved place on this list!

Manekineko

Did a story about manekineko (auspicious beckoning cats) for Hong Kong Airlines in flight magazine based on my travels to Okayama and Onomichi. Had a truly fantastic time at both, and can't wait to go back, especially to Onomichi. They also hired Singaporean illo PuffingMuffin to draw some cats for the feature, her sensibilities are really different to Japanese kawaii cats so it is quite fun to see her quirky take on these manekineko figurines.

Tokyo Toy Show

Some outtakes from the Japan Times Licca chan story (see previous post). 

If you are into Japanese character design, heinously cute stuff, and overloading on kawaii in general, the Tokyo Toy Show at Big Site will probably be up your street. 

Like anything at Big Site, it is really overwhelming, it takes several hours just to see everything, and once you have, you are so exhausted you barely have the energy to make it home. 

A tip -- you can ride the incredibly cool monorail (wait til it gets dark, and sit at the front). The views are  sci-fi, and you get to see some of the best (or worst depending on your aesthetic sensibilities) modern architecture in Tokyo. 

OR you can get a boat back to downtown Tokyo, which is also really fantastic. You can see the city slowly morph downtown, with its old school atmosphere,  and you go past Tsukiji fish markets. You need to change at Hinode pier, but from there, try and get the Hotaluna boat (designed by manga artist Matsumoto Leiji)

Also went to the Koriyama Museum's Licca show, fabulous show with over 580 Liccas. You can easily see how fashion, beauty standards and society have changed in Japan over the years. 

The exhibition also had a bunch of Licca collabs, such as Ariana Grande, Kumamon, Bear Brick,  Denpagumi, Hello Kitty and so on.