Traditional Japanese paper postcard making in Osaka

I don’t want to let you wait to know about the awesome paper-making-postcard-sending experience you can book in Osaka downtown with Miwako.

When Mika and I went to Japan in 2017 a few weeks earlier than Ken I booked some fun traditional activities for my girl to experience her homeland to the fullest and to fuel my Japanlove even more.

We got welcomed by a little tea ceremony before we watched a documentary about the unbelievably complex process to get the fiber out of these shrubs. Lucky us, they prepared that part already. We got the frames for our postcards and some instructions on how to scoop up a load of fibers, how to shake it and then repeat a second time for the right thickness. Then still wet we could design our flower arrangements with beautifully prepared pressed wildflowers. Primary school kids who Miwako knows do this prep for her… I was so impressed.

After finishing our flower art a very thin premade paper layer came on top like in a sandwich to cover up the flowers but still let them shine through. Drying, ripping after wetting it with water at the folded edge (don’t cut real washi-paper we learned!) and let the fringe pop for the traditional look. Then we did the postcard-writing before we actually brought them to a post office and sent them off.

I could do things like this all day long… what about you?

If you want to book Miwakos experience this is your link. Say hello to her from Mika and Ronja from Switzerland. Ronja, the tall blonde lady who came to the temple for the zen-meditation. : ) She’ll probably remember. We’re still facebook-friends.

I love craftsmanship with all of my heart…and there are so, so many artful crafts in Japan, you can’t even count. Pottery, indigo dyeing, weaving and paper making are about the most famous ones. Do you know kintsugi? The art of repairing broken crockery and making the crack golden? Kin means gold in Japanese. I have you a video which is so wonderful in Japanese. Dive into the beauty, the slowness, the care, the details if you want… If this amazes you as much as me, google for Kumihimo, which is braiding threads for traditional kimonos, temple gear and just all the elegant Japanese things : ). Or look for Yosegi, a wood-art-process which blows my mind.

Sometime in my life I’ll go to Japan looonger to learn more and experience more like this. The only problem is that I’m not super patient. I get it that I have to practice AND I would love to go from beginner to master within hours and not decades : ). We’ll see!

Have you been to Japan? Do you like these Japan-related stories or is it becoming toooo much? Let me know!

I’m sending you lots of L❤️VE from Zurich, Switzerland

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