Our female friends in the Mishima area of Shizuoka Prefecture had been saying, “We’d love to have a Nishijin-ori obi from Shiozawa’s collection…,” so we all gathered at a kappo restaurant in Izu-Nagaoka. We started by raising a toast over a kaiseki meal!

The piece they’d like to have made into an obi is “Toyouke-no-Okami,” for which the sketch was just recently completed. Today, we brought the original artwork with us and showed it to them. Everyone praised this piece, saying it was so beautiful it took their breath away.

Next, we’ll introduce some samples of Nishijin Art Weaving obi.

Since the Nishijin Art Weaving looms weave six identical obi side by side, we need orders from six people.Four orders have been confirmed, so we decided to reach out to two more people.

While Nishijin-ori boasts superb craftsmanship, it faces a dire situation with the market having shrunk by 95% from its peak.

Amid this crisis facing Japanese culture, what can we do?

The incredibly cheerful and fun women of Mishima are truly a source of strength. If orders come in, it will surely be a great encouragement to the Nishijin team.

We were feeling a little tipsy and in high spirits, so we headed to a snack bar for the after-party.