Nagoya Day 24: Craft Day (Again)

I can’t avoid crafts. The art of craft-making is patient, detailed and precise, and that lures me in every time. Yesterday, a few of my dorm mates and I made a trip down to Fukiage Hall where we checked out this handicraft fair, named Art & Heart 2014.

Art & Heart Handicraft Fair!

Funny tidbit: The demographic was largely elderly women. I felt a little awkward being there, but after awhile, it didn’t even matter cause there were so many crafts to admire.

The best part of the fair was that, for 500円, there were crafts to try out for yourself, and you get to bring them back! I chanced upon this little booth where they featured 5 different crafts. One was an alarm clock decorated with something similar to food samples. It looked like this:

Cute eh!

But I decided to go with this one instead, partially cause buttons seem to be much more useful maybe? I loved the felt texture too.

On the display

It seems rather easy to make though. First you sew the thread into round pieces of cloth, probably cut up from a huge piece, and then cover a round metal button with it. Next, you apply some super glue in the middle and press the other side of the metal button on it. Add a piece of leather, before adding a metal pin to it, all using super glue. Of course, I’m being kind of vague here, because I don’t actually know what they were called, but hopefully you get the idea. Up close, it looks like this:

Whee completed buttons!

Happy with my completed craft haha

Now I know how they are made, and that they don’t take too long to make. Of course, I took 5 minutes for the first button, but subsequent ones were much faster thank goodness. The next exciting thing? I was able to follow the instructions given by the teachers! They were using words that I just learnt, like 糸、結ぶ、選ぶ, and I was on the verge of hopping up and down when I understood what they were saying. Other new words were like “ボンド” (Super glue), ”リッボン” (Ribbon). Katakana is hard. Like they are not always obvious, but it takes some getting used to (慣れる).

The range of crafts they offered to teach.

Another really interesting thing I wanted to learn, was how to carve soaps. I was tempted to join in with Vimy, but I was watching the money in my pocket haha.

Vimy carving soap. It’s beautiful!!

Mm. I would love to try it out some day. Another challenge? Would be to try making these:

Rows and rows of leather miniatures!

Nagoya is indeed a place for crafts, and there are plenty of shops to show for it too. I’m definitely going to keep an eye out for more.

Nagoya Day 19: Creator’s Market

I promised a post on the Creator’s Market and here it is.

The Creator’s Market is an exhibition and a marketplace for a variety of exquisite craftsmanship and artworks. By variety I really mean it. 700 stalls featuring a range of works from woodwork to porcelain to paper crafts to beautiful gradient hues of printed t-shirts to a samurai . I stayed there from 3pm to 6pm and I just got through one exhibition hall of 400 stalls.

I am a stationery addict, and I’ve done pretty well to get through 3 weeks without spending much on stationery, but this is where the aesthetics of Japanese craftsmanship was too much for me.

First, the place. The market was held at Port Messe Nagoya Exhbition Hall at Kinjo Futo station. As the name suggests, it is held by the port, 6 stations south of Nagoya. To enter, you gotta pay 900円 if you’re an adult, and 600円 if you are a student. Tons of Japanese people crowd the place. On the other day I went to the racetrack for the flea market, I saw plenty of foreigners, but here, I seemed to be one of the few. People pretty much only spoke Japanese, and it felt like a unique experience.

Port Messe Nagoya Exhibition Hall

As I entered, the exhibition hall was huge. Tall towering ceilings, and rows after rows of stalls lined up, vendors hawking their goods, but in a rather more silent way. A polite bow, ”いらっしゃいませ”, and an eager expression. Their goods do the talking, not them.

The Exhibition Hall, brimming with people and stalls.

The craftwork is absolutely breathtaking. Creative pieces such as this owner’s stunned me. The textured pieces of paper were put together to create a variety of objects, such as a castle, birds hung from a pole and a church.

Paper Crafts by this maestro. How do they look so pretty? The owner seems flattered to have her photo taken hehe

Ink drawings such as this one, shows how much effort was being put in.

Intricate Ink Drawings

Look at this person seriously working at his craft. He doesn’t even flinch when people stop and walk by

The best thing is that art was done not to be sold, but instead, to be admired.

Dragon pieced together by a lady who just hides inside, watching people’s looks of awe and shock. What an artist.

Artists at work, I especially love the one with the animals on the car.

There are also places for children to play around with wooden toys that the craftmen made. The look of wonder on the children is really heartening as they examine the work from all sides.

（あそびひろば）

Then this. Powder art, made into sculptures. I was left jaw-dropped at the detail.

Powder Art

On top of this, beautiful leather craft. Crafters were making it at a table beside, and to give them some respect, I decided not to take a photo of them. But one take-away: Craftmanship requires a slightly sombre mood, a willingness to bite the dust, and slowly get your craft perfect. They were unflinchingly focused, completely absorbed. Their eyes don’t wander, their posture consistent – These people are really good at what they do, and I need to adopt that persistently.

Beautiful and elegant, slightly roughened too.

The last thing I’ll feature is an origami shop, run by this girl that looks like a university student, but I didn’t ask further. Usually, I walk by origami and wonder about buying them, but this was just crazy. The designs were so appealing, the slightly toned down colours very easy on the eyes.

Origami glory

Tidbit: If you wanna entice people to buy your stuff, why not let them try it? This store owner put up a sign inviting me to make an origami crane, and I did it. I saw the paper as so beautiful that I bought a few, and made these the moment I got back to dorm.

I love the designs so much!

There you have it. An incredible experience at the creator’s market. More photos right below.