Hello! We hope your new year is going well.

Both of the Foundation Kasuri Courses in 2013 are full now, but please contact us if you would like to be on the waiting list. We will let you know if there is an opening. We are truly thankful for the number of people who have shown interest in studying at KTS and hope to be able to increase the maximum number of students in the future. Thank you so much.

Dates and details for workshops (1-4 days) are coming soon. Like last year, we plan to have Shifu 1, 2, 3, Day Trip to Miyama and Natural Dyeing.

We have been updating the FAQ page with information on courses and weather etc. Please take a look if you haven't been there for a while!

Warping and binding in the Foundation Kasuri Course, autumn 2012

The International Students Courses for 2013 are filling up fast! We have just closed applications for the spring Foundation Kasuri Course.

If you are interested in joining us next year, please let us know so we can send you our application form.

Our workshop schedule for 2013 will be posted here in January. Workshops are 1-4 days.

1. The leaves are turning color so quickly.

2. Handwoven kimono and obi. You can see the same obi on another kimono here.

3. Emelie (Sweden) checking her weft kasuri thread in the Foundation Kasuri Course. Can you see the  white section on the weft?

4. Johanna (Estonia) using the Nassen technique in the Applied Kasuri Course. This turned into a lovely scarf.

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KTS is featured on the Märta Måås-Fjetterström blog!


Märta Måås-Fjetterström AB is a carpet company founded in 1919 and their studio is located in Båstad, Sweden.

Linnea, who works as an artistic weaver there, has just finished studying kasuri in the Foundation Kasuri Course this Autumn. Her "rapporter" -or reports about her studies at KTS are now being published on their blog. *They are all in Swedish, but you can use a translator site like Google translate to get a rough idea of the text.

Please head over to their website, and don't forget to look at all the gorgeous carpets!

1. We are very happy to have five international students this autumn! Here is Jenny (Australia) chaining her warp for her structure sample in the Beginners Course.

2. Emelie and Linnea (Sweden) finishing their first kasuri pieces in the Foundation Kasuri Course.

3. 2nd year student Atsushi Sato's work has been selected to exhibit at Miniartextil Como (Italy).

4. Beautiful, beautiful Gabbeh carpets from Yukihiko Henmi's lecture. Mr. Henmi is the owner of the carpet store, Jahan.

We are back from summer vacation!

Here is a post by Beth, who studied in the Beginners Course of Spring 2012. Please check this post to read more about her time at KTS.
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During my time at Kawashima Textile School I was lucky enough to join a demonstration with silk artist Mayumi Terakawa. Not only did she share an insight into her process, and let us touch her delicate works, but she also showed us how to get silk from the cocoons of silkworms.

Kasuri Coasters by Patricia (Foundation Kasuri Course 2012)

We have updated our "Schedule and Fees" page with dates for the International Students Course for 2013. These courses are held twice a year, in spring and autumn (both lovely times to be in Kyoto), and are 10 days minimum. Both beginners and experienced weavers are welcome!

In these courses students focus on Kasuri (ikat), starting with the basics in the Foundation Kasuri Course (10 days). If you would like to study further, you can then experiment with 2 new kasuri techniques in Applied Kasuri Course I (10 days), and work on your own design in Applied Kasuri Course II and III (10 days minimum). There is also a Beginners Course (12 days) if you are new to weaving. Please click here for more information on the courses.

You can see previous blog posts by students by clicking on the "Student Voice" label on the lower right.

Please contact us if you would like to join (we will send you the application form), or have any questions. We look forward to meeting you next year!

Patricia, who studied here this spring as an exchange student from HV Skola (Sweden), shares photos of her thirty-two days in Kyoto on her photo blog, trettiotvå i Kyoto. Please head over and take a look!


A morning walk near the school.


Applied Kasuri I: zurashi gasuri (shifting kasuri) hot bottle cover.

*all photos are from Patricia's blog.

1. Tapestry weaving class (1st year). They are working on their first piece and learning the basic techniques.

2. Critique for the 2nd year students' rugs using Shihoko Fukumoto's fabric remnants (you can read a little more about the project here). The chosen students will be creating a final piece for Ms. Fukumoto's villa.

3. Patricia from HV Skola has finished her Kasuri courses at KTS. Here is a photo of her with her Nassen Gasuri (stencil dyeing kasuri) scarf.

4. The indigo plants have grown (you can see photos from April here)!

Beth, who has studied in the 12 day Beginners Course this May has been writing about her time at KTS on her blog:

1 Preparing and Dyeing the Thread
2 Preparing Giant Bobbins
3 Preparing the Warp
4 Preparing the Loom
5 Time for Weaving

Lessons in weaving, lessons in life
Colour Magic

Please check her blog, Do What You Love, to find inspiring stories and beautiful photos of Japan and Kyoto!

photo: Beth and a 1st year student reeling silk from raw cocoons in a lecture by textile artist Mayumi Terakawa.

I LOVE SUMMER
cotton / nassen gasuri (stencil dyeing kasuri), embroidery

When summer is coming, I always think about when I was young. I don't have to go to school. I just play. I enjoy every moment around me. I put all my memories of joy into a scarf. When summer comes, just bring this scarf with you and enjoy it.

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At Kawashima Textile School, I have learned and understood how difficult, and at the same time how fascinating textiles are. From preparing, dyeing until starting to weave, you need love and passion to do it. That is why these woven pieces are called handmade.

Kawashima has a very nice environment. It is surrounded by mountains and trees so you always find inspiration just by turning around. I have learned the basics of weaving and the basics of Kasuri. They were very helpful for me to understand how textiles are created and will be a very strong basic for futher studying.

People here are very impressive. Teachers and friends are very supportive. They help you even out of school. I had fun traveling in Kyoto, and learned culture by sitting down at a cafe. I have brought not only knowledge back home but warm relationships as well. Kyoto is such a lovely city on earth. A lot of cultures, craft shops, very good food and nice galleries. People are nice. This is just one reason why I will go back to Kawashima and Kyoto again.

kasuri cushion and sample

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Kittiya has graduated from King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok in 2002 with a degree in Interior Architecture. She had worked as an interior designer in Bangkok at the beginning of her career path, and then turned to project management. During this period, she had opportunities to start working as an interior stylist for show units in Bangkok, and discovered her interest in interior textiles such as curtains, pillows, and bed linen. Studying at Kawashima Textile School was a great opportunity to explore the world
of textiles, and to gain knowledge to develop her skills in interior in the future.

Kittiya studied in the Beginners Course, Foundation Kasuri Course, and Applied Kasuri Course I of Spring 2012.

Watching the leaves fall
Six weeks at Kawashima Textile School


In the west, we see Japan as a beautiful mystery, a culture that embraces tradition and technology with such ease and precision. I was very inspired by the beauty of everyday life in Kyoto, the ritual of drinking tea, taking a bath and eating a bowl of rice, watching a monk sweeping leaves and elders tending to their gardens.

I came to Kawashima Textile School to learn the basic theory and methods of Kasuri weaving, and thanks to all the time and support I received from the teaching staff, I was able to experiment with the kasuri technique and create a large work which showed my understanding. I enjoyed using native natural dyes, and binding the yarn to create the patterns that I envisaged. I found working with the Japanese raw materials such as Ramie, Hemp, and bast fibers really inspiring, and I hope to experiment with them more in the future.

Autumn was such a beautiful time to be in Kyoto, watching the leaves turn crimson red and the night skies clear. It was nice to see the students wearing bright coloured felt and wooly hats to school as the days turned more cool. I was so happy to be able to see exhibitions of Japanese Textile artists in the city, and really got a sense that there is a thriving Textile community alive in Kyoto. At Kawashima, I was able to watch other students create beautiful Kimono cloth and see some really innovative ways of creating textiles, I was touched by the other students warmth and friendly nature, they made me feel right at home.

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Maeve studied in the  Foundation and Applied Kasuri Course of Fall 2010.

Weaving in Japan was a learning feat which I would have been sorry to have not undertaken. The technical knowledge alone is something that will vastly improve my weaving, dyeing, and design planning. Not to even touch on the tools and equipment which make even the most difficult task easier, and more precise.

Kasuri weaving was a labor-intensive technique which results in an endless amount of pattern creation. Learning this skill one-on-one with a knowledgeable teacher is an experience not to be passed up. There are nuances to this craft which would have been frustrating to learn from a book; so having the teacher present to guide one through was invaluable. I feel this technique is one which I can use in my own work and is easily adaptable to one's own style.

Staying in the dorms, eating home-style Japanese cooking, and getting along with fellow students has been a fun and funny experience for me. I will miss the hot bath of the onsen, the cafeteria ladies' delicious food, and all of the yummy treats my fellow students shared with me. I never felt that my lack of understanding the Japanese language was a detriment to my experience here; actually, at times it was something to be gotten much hilarity from!

at the Kawashima Textile Museum

As for the world outside Kawashima, oh, what fun!

There is so much textural history in Kyoto, from the beautiful shifuku of the tea ceremony, to the incredible kumihimo which adorns the kimono, it would seem that there are textiles in every part of the Japanese life. Traditional textiles are not the only type to be found here, the modern textiles of such designers as Mina Perhonen and Sou-Sou neither disappoint nor are lacking in panache.

One of the things I noticed as I was shopping was the creative displays and incredible attention paid to the packaging; things which have been an inspiration to me, from a business point of view.

Not to be forgotten, the food was delicious! Hot giant bowls of ramen, bittersweet cones of matcha soft serve, mochi wrapped anko, revolving sushi, and the many tasty treats to be found in the basements of Takashimaya and Daimaru. Oishii! I only wish that I could fit it all in my suitcase.


Places I found of interest:

Shijo-dori area:
mina perhonen
basement level of takashimaya; pan (bread)
6th floor of Takashimaya; wooden bento, shifuku
basement level of Daimaru; tea sweets, honey
basement level of Fujii-Daimaru; organic produce
Nomura-Tailor, floors 1-3; many varieties of fabric, pinbacks, sewing notions
lisn; modern natural japanese incense

Teramachi-dori:
Itoh Kumihimoten; just gorgeous silk kumihimo
sou-sou; really awesome tabi shoes
Gallery Kei; amazing unique textiles form japan's past, ramie, banana fiber, shifu
Ippodo; matcha tea, ocha tea, tea tasting and brewing demonstration
Kamiji Kakimoto; washi store

Kyoto Station:
Malebranche; delicious matcha and white chocolate cookies, matcha icecream

kitayama station:
La Droguerie; buttons, ribbon, liberty tana lawn, sequins
Kamigamo; 4th sunday of the month

Shijo-dori to Oike-dori, between Karasuma-dori and Kawaramachi-dori:
lin-net; linen fabric, linen clothes, linen bias tape, linen thread
avril; like habu textiles? you'll love avril.
Kyoto Design House
Ippudo; yummy fresh ramen, i ate here three times
konnamonjya (in Nishiki Market); tofu doughnuts

shrines/ temples/nature:
Saihoji (also known as Kokedera (moss temple))
Uji
Fushimi Inari Taisha


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Anastasia studied in the Beginners Course and Foundation Kasuri Course of Fall 2010.
To read more about her studies and adventures in Japan, visit her blog, birds in chandeliers.

I specifically was very happy to get to see the brocade weavers in action, having the weave almost covered by shuttles in so many colours I couldn’t even count them! Then in another room I was impressed by complicated thin warps with goldthreads as well as really nice velvet weaves – and I was also very surprised to see a 24 metre wide loom!   -Maria

Maria will be staying with us for one month, and Janne for two and a half months.

I had planned 11 weeks of exchange studies at Kawashima Textile School by HV school in Sweden where I graduated in 2007. From the very beginning I felt very welcome!

I started to spend a few weeks for the Foundation Kasuri Course when I made a sample, including kasuri tying, dyeing and setting up. In the beginning I felt that my lack of Japanese ability was a barrier, and compared to the weaving procedure in Sweden, everything was upside-down and made me confused. After a while, the language problem became less and less. The teachers and the students are really nice and caring about me all the time. We have found some (sometimes funny!) ways to communicate which work very well!

Although Japan and Sweden are very far from each other, it's interesting to see how similar our schools and courses are. The Japanese students are working independently and are focused. It is extraordinarily quiet during school hours! It is easy to concentrate.

I am staying in the school's dormitory. Its strict rules are forgotten by the warm atmosphere the students create, and they introduce me different Japanese sweets almost every evening! And for a Swede like me, Kyoto's outskirts are like a magical zoo with monkeys, shining fireflies, crabs walking in the streets and frogs singing at night...

I have started to design and to weave my own kasuri fabrics, but I have also participated in some of the classes of the regular course. We have also visited festivals in Kyoto and I have had many opportunities to visit exhibitions and galleries. The experienced teachers, and also the students, share with others their experiences and knowledge. Right now I am full of inspiration!

I wished to get a glimpse of Japanese culture, textile techniques and textile art expression, but have gotten more!

My Study at Kawashima Textile School (13 May – 11 July 2008)

Having spent five and a half weeks travelling in southern Japan, I arrived at Kawashima Textile School to begin eight weeks of study. I was a little apprehensive, as I can’t speak Japanese and knew relatively little about the school or what to expect, but I had soon learned the ease at which one can communicate and learn during my travels, due to the exceptionally friendly and helpful nature of people in Japan.

Kawashima Textile School is situated in an extremely peaceful, tranquil setting, backing onto the forest-covered hills of Northern Kyoto. Whilst being able to look out at monkeys in the trees from the school, Kyoto city is only a short bus ride or train journey away.

Kawashima Textile School has fantastic facilities, and enough equipment to ensure every student has access to materials and equipment at any time. I stayed in the school’s dormitory rooms, which were very comfortable and spacious and was given a very warm and comfortable welcome by students and teachers alike.

I began my first course, a Basic Weaving course the day after my arrival. The class was a comfortable size of six with a diverse range of ages and experience amongst the students. My teacher could not speak English and classes were taught in Japanese. Despite the language barrier, I learned how to weave by a process of observation and did not find myself hindered by the limited verbal understanding. If anything, it added to the authenticity of my experience. We covered a wide range of technique in a short space of time and I thoroughly enjoyed the process and learning.

Further to my introductory study I took a Dye Course. I had the aid of a translator for this, due to the technical nature of the dyeing process. I learned chemical and natural dye processes applied to wool, cotton, ramie and silk. I thought this course and department was exceptional. Although I had my schedule at KTS, what each day held in store was always something of a surprise and I ended up learning far more than was outlined in my courses. I arrived one morning to study chemical dyes and found my teacher preparing fresh indigo leaves (which are grown on the school’s grounds together with a range of other natural dye stuffs) to dye silk, as it was the right time apparently. This was fantastic as I was able to observe and learn the dyeing process. Having showed an interest in Shibori and Itajime processes, I consequently learned and practised them during the Indigo dye part of my course.

The course that had urged me to attend KTS was the Tailored Course. For this, my mentor was Suzumi Noda, the School’s director. She advised me to learn Japanese textile processes to take advantage of my being in Japan, and alongside this, to realise my concepts and ideas in a project which would defy tradition, by manipulating found objects to suggest and inspire textile technique. The experience was truly enlightening. Individual tutors were immediately booked to teach me Kasuri, Katazome and Basketry, along with visits to artists’ studios, who were successful practitioners using these processes. I set about fashioning items I had found and collected whilst in Japan with passion and enthusiasm. Whilst training my hands in technique, I was also training my creative mind in approach and interpretation of ideas and concepts, and learning about the industry by meeting working practitioners (my mentor included) and gallery owners. I came to Japan having been inspired and interested in Japanese textiles. Particularly the artists’ and designers’ use of traditional techniques when combined with contemporary materials and concepts. This deep-rooted sense of tradition coupled with the contemporary is embodied at KTS, and was throughout my Tailored Course.

During the last week of my stay, I was invited to join the students specialising in the Kimono and learned how to make an Obi. The teachers at KTS are experts in their field and I felt such a willingness from them to share their knowledge and experience with me at all times.

I went on to meet designers in Tokyo as a direct result of my study at the school. KTS exceeded my expectations of gaining a textile experience in Japan. As the website rightly explains, ‘all in all if you're passionate about textiles and interested in Japan, KTS is unlikely to disappoint you.’ It is certain to immerse you in a world of knowledge and creativity for you to absorb at your will.

Antigone Lentzos (U.K.)

Studying in Japan

I arrived at the Kawashima Textile School -KTS- on Saturday morning. Quiet all around, the peace of the weekend in a Kyoto suburban neighborhood surrounded by green mountains. The quiet continued until Monday morning, ending with a buzz of activity, the rhythm of shuttles and beaters in the spacious workshops.

I met my teacher, Ms. Kozue Yamamoto (called “Yamamoto Sensei” in Japanese, meaning “Teacher Ms. Yamamoto”),and thus began five weeks of study of the traditional Japanese weaving technique, Kasuri. The technique involves tie-dying of the undressed warp or weft, to create patterns and images. KTS is a school of textile design attached to the textile company “Kawashima Selkon Textiles Co., Ltd”. The school offers a variety ofprograms, including Advanced Courses (one year to three years), Technical Study Courses (short-term and six-month), and workshops ranging from a day to a week or more in weaving and dying.

The company is a story in itself. Working side by side are some of the world’s leading textile designers creating designs for manufacture, and hand craftsmen working in traditional techniques to weave obis (the broad kimono belt) in superfine silk threads. These hand weavers sometimes weave only three centimeters in a day.

Adjacent to the company is a museum, with a collection of breathtaking antique cloths between the 5th century and the 18th century, and designs and samples woven in the company over the past 140 years. Those antique cloths were the foundation of the Kawashima’s design sources, and the products woven basing onthese samples decorated the halls of the Imperial palace and the homes of the aristocracy.The museum and the school are an expression of Kawashima’s commitment to the weaving history of Japan, past present and future.

I found KTS by an internet search. I was looking for a place to study traditional Japanese techniques. When I arrived I knew almost nothing about the place, but I quickly found myself at home in this “Disneyland” for lovers of fiber.

Yamamoto Sensei showed herself from the start to be a very professional teacher. Only later, when we had learned to communicate in fractured Japanese, English, Hebrew, hand signs and drawings, did I discover her sense of humor and enthusiasm.

Ms. Suzumi Noda, the director of the school, is a Japanese fiber artist and textile designer of renown. She appeared daily at the school in clothes of her own unfettered imagination: jeans with red Lego bricks sewn in, pink hats and bracelets of colored pig suede.

Ms. Kimiko Kawamata was my translator and chaperone. One of the only people on campus who spoke passable English, she helped me whenever I needed, translating teacher’s instructions and helping me find my way around Kyoto’s beautiful sites.

I quickly became immersed in work. I learned to tie-dye warp and weft. I spent hours trying to create the traditional Japanese designs of crescent moons and birds. The technique involves wrapping groups of warp or weft threads with a dye-repellent plastic thread, then dying the whole skein. Then, when weaving, the undyed patches must line up exactly to create the design. I worked from early morning until workshop closing at nine or ten at night, alongside other students weaving kimonos from superfine threads, spinning and dying.

A week after I arrived, I joined the class for a tour of Hiroyuki Shindo, a fiber artist whom I had longed to meet. Hiroyuki Shindo lives in a remote village, two hours from Kyoto. He told us that he says a prayer to the god of indigo before he dips his threads in the dye-pot in his workshop.

Another field trip was to the “Gallery Gallery”, a textile gallery in the heart of Kyoto. There we saw an exhibit of damask weaving by a Japanese fiber artist who uses a weft of polished stainless steel rods to create designs of pattern and reflection.

During my free weekends, I wandered about the galleries of Kyoto, where I saw examples of Japan’s textile tradition – an art anchored in the past but with sites to renewal and the future.

After five weeks of work at KTS, I began to understand the concept of “the art of Zen” in the fibers – the art of deep concentration and attention to every single thread, dedication to work and the sense that the fibers of the warp and weft are an extension of myself. I learned the passion of the thread and the fabric.

Ziva Epstein Moshav Magshimim, Israel