Open Air Museum @Kawasaki, near Tokyo

Nihon Minkaen is an open air folk museum in Kawasaki,

30 minutes train ride from Tokyo.

They have a few dozens traditional houses in the park.

Most of them with thatched roof.

I love folk museums because they are always unique.

Where ever I go, I try to visit the local museum

In my country, it's no exception.

I have visited Minkaen a few times.
There is a volunteer association for folk art working with this museum.

They demonstrate basket making on some weekend,

and hold a craft market in May and October.

(Visite website for details)

In the front yard of a farm house

many baskets were displayed.

"But you know the good ones have already gone on the first day,

as if they had wings..." a lady said modestly.

No wonder.

They were solid and authentic, and modestly priced.

Besides the craft market,

my favorite is this mobile ferryman station.

Ferrymen escaped from river floods,

carrying the hut on their shoulders.

The photograph showing the hut on the river side.

I'm amazed by how much our life has been changed in Japan.

It's just several decades ago.

Good to know

Tour is provided in English for a group of five or more people. Two weeks advance reservation required.

Apple Baskets @Hirosaki, Aomori

Aomori is the northern end of  the main island of Japan.

It's cold... and dark...

but they produce really good apples.

The landscape is covered with apple orchards.

I borrowed a bike at the tourist info,

and started off to the mountain to meet the local basketmaker.

But first of all, I had to pick some apples.

From August to November,

Hirosaki Ringo Koen (Apple Park) offers apple picking.

They have many varieties we don't see in the cities.

When I visited there, they were harvesting "Miki Life". 

Only a small quantity is produced in this area.

It had intense flavor and crisp texture.

I  liked it very much.

They have a cider house in the park too.

I'm not particularly fond of cider.

But this one was different.

It had a crisp fresh fruity note.

It was like an apple orchard in a cup.

I liked it very much.

Well...

Where are the baskets?

I pedaled through the orchard toward the mountain.

There they were.

Farmers were picking apples in the nemagaridake baskets.

"Oi! Why are you taking pictures?"

The farmer shouted and laughed.

"Never seen so many apples", I said.

They laughed again,

and  gave me some green apples.

20 minutes later, I arrived at Mikami basketry center. 

It's their shop/warehouse/studio under one roof.

"We used to have another building for warehouse.

At that time, we were selling a hundred thousands baskets every year..."

Mr. Mikami was in the studio.

They were making dish baskets to fill the order from Tokyo.

"Ah, I know this shop. 

It's one of the most sophisticated and popular among the posh and mindfull people."

I muttered.

I'm not a good talker.

When I open my mouth, I can make strange remarks.

"I have something to show you"

He opened the big door to the strage area.

"We are still selling the apple baskets.

These are not sophisticated but very durable.

Plastic cannot quite replace them"

So, the baskets I saw in the orchard came from here...

I got a basket full of apples and cider on the bike ride.

The bottled cider was good.

But it didn't taste the same.

Maybe it's worth revisiting the cider house someday...

Koshu-zaru @Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi

It is a good 2 or 3 hours on train from Tokyo to Kawaguchiko.

They have the lake,

Mt. Fuji,

pleasant trekking paths,

and the baskets.

Koshuzaru is made of fine Suzutake bamboo from Mt. Fuji.

It snows heavy here.

Basketry had been peasants' side job.

They traditionally make kitchen utensils like this pasta dish in this area.

Products were traded and probably sold in the cities like ancient Tokyo.

Nowadays it's protected under a preservation scheme.

Good thing about preservation is that often they have open studios.

To form this type of basket, several techniques are used.

The square part at the center is Ajiro pattern.

Nanamawashi is the windmill blades like part

that makes round bottom from the square center.

In their visitor workshop, they prepare the bottom part,

so you can finish coiling part and bring the basket to your home.

The course is available in Japanese.

Bring your Japanese friends or hire a guide,

or alternatively, you can learn Japanese

to explore the world of Japanese bamboo baskets.

Group Exhibition

It just started at a lunch with my friends from pottery studio.

"Hey, how about doing a joint exhibition?"

"I'm not much doing pottery recently...", I said.

"You can bring your bamboo work"

Seriously?

Several months later, 

we opened an exhibition at a small gallery in Midwest Tokyo.

There are different areas in Tokyo.

Busy city center, hectic downtown, affluent area, east end, endless suburb...

Midwest is relatively affordable residential area,

where people are mild yet open minded.

Me and most of my friends live in this area.

Random weaving flower vases

a fruit basket

a shopping bag,  a square basket, and a dish basket...

a  tiny dish

and a spice pot with a miniature bamboo spoon.

There is a sort of relaxed sense of community in this area.

Friends and neighbors dropped by, attracting passers by. 

You cannot make fortune from making baskets.

Nor from pottery.

"But it was such a good fun"

"Yeah"

"Let's do this again someday"

Someone muttered.

We closed the door and returned the key to the gallery owner.

And we went home with the good feeling.

Making Dish Basket

Hexagonal is one of the basic patterns in bamboo baskets.

It covers a large area with minimum material,

maximizing the advantage of higo, the thin elastic material made of bamboo.

The pattern is primarily composed of triangles

and a hexagon is the minimum pattern.

The bottom is usually woven from the center to outward.

Bend the sides to form corners

and weave up the body part

You can also attach the rim to finish a basic hexagonal basket,

but instead a hoop is inserted to continue making a dish basket.

Fold higos and insert them back into the body.

Fix the end.

Attach the rim

and fix it with rattan.

Turn it upside down.

The rim became the leg part to lift the bottom

so that the dishes dry quickly.