Today we went to the quilt show at the Tokyo Dome. I have so many photos, I'll have to do them as several posts over the next week. We arrived at Kasuga station on the Oedo line because we were coming from Asakusa, but Korakuen station is also nearby. The dome was well signposted all the way from the station platform. If you plan to use this route to the show yourself sometime, the following photos might help.
You can see the dome from the exit, but to get up to the entrance level, we crossed the road and went through the entrance to Korakuen station.
We arrived at 10.30 for the show's opening at 11 (first day only - other days are 9.30) and there was already a long queue for ticket holders (we bought tickets in advance via the website). But once the doors opened, it moved quickly.
The floor area is probably less than the total for Festival of Quilts in the UK, but it feels bigger because of the stadium seating all round. This also means that there are steps everywhere when you go in or out of the centre.
UPDATE - I found this article about the show later. Worth a read! Click here.
At the start of the show, there were crowds everywhere, so getting close to the winning exhibits was impossible. We saw everything close up later in the afternoon.
Each area of the competition has differently coloured walls - the 'Wa' or Japanese inspiration section had pale green. We bumped into Susan Faeder and her tour group for the third time on our trip while we were looking at the quilts there.
A few minutes later, we were spotted by Shiro Tamakoshi from Euro Japan Links. It seems quite strange to be bumping into people we know when we are about 10,000 miles away from home!
A few views of the show and traders' areas, which were around the edge of the floor.
There were a lot of kimono sellers, including some selling really high class pieces and a lot of traders selling antique indigo dyed cloth.
These ladies were wearing lovely 'kimono reform' outfits made from Oshima tsumugi.
After the show...
More photos - of quilts - soon!
5 comments:
Loved this 'These ladies were wearing lovely 'kimono reform' outfits made from Oshima tsumugi.
Also loved looking at your pics, shame about the rain.
Maureen P
Hello, thank you for sharing those pictures. The underground is also part of the Japanese experience! Looking forward to your next post(s)! Beatrice, from France.
This looks so exciting (and I know I would get lost). Can't wait until you post photos of the quilts.
Loving your posts of Japan. Are there any stores in Tokyo selling yosegi please? Visited the Yokohama Quilt Festival last year but could find any of the woodwork products. Thank you.
Re places in Tokyo selling yosegi, I haven't really spotted any. Last September I bought a few pieces at Takashimaya. I think if you're interested in buying some yosegi, the easiest thing would be to take the train from Shinjuku to Hakone Yumoto and just have a look in the shops opposite the station - several of these gift shops have a big selection of yosegi. It is also pretty easy to go from there to the yosegi museum as well. So you could buy some smaller pieces and see a variety of yosegi without really going beyond Hakone Yumoto :-)
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