To wake in a mountain house in the Japan Alps is a reminder as to why the sanity of cool air, no sound of cars, and a view of steep forested slopes disappearing into the mists rests the body and soul. For the past week in my flat in Tokyo I haven’t slept – or that’s how it feels.

I’ve always loved the mountains of Fujino and used to live here weekends that I could, amongst the community of artists and alternative media types, people who have downsized for their own sanity and health of body and mind, protesting against globalisation from outside the metropolis and providing a sanctuary for people like me from the city, environmental activists and tired-out city folk.

Bryan Whitehead is a fellow Aquarian and environmentalist. He came to Japan 17 years ago, about the same time as I did, and we linked up at a concert by Anya Light, in a clearing in the mountain forests with bats and flying squirrels soaring through the sky. I was asking around whether anyone could take me and my family for the night, such was the seduction of the mountains and this sweet air, and this alternative community of Fujino. Bryan, a Canadian, silk grower, hand weaver, and indigo dyer, took us in and later helped us find a little home near by.

And this morning, 11 years later, waking up with my children now longer than me, still sleeping in their futons like logs at 11am as teenagers do, it feels like a homecoming. Surrounded by the most beautifully crafted art, much of it made by Bryan himself, 6 handlooms where he runs classes in handweaving, and urns full of fermenting indigo dye for his classes in natural dyeing.

You really should come out here and learn from the mountains and from Bryan . . . you’ll learn so much from him, eat a delicious lunch, and learn the meaning of Tezukuri (handmade), and its part in creating a sustainable economy and beauty in an increasingly mass-manufactured world. Please e-mail Bryan for more information about indigo dying courses at leafytailstextiles@gmail.com
Bryan’s Natural Indigo Dying Workshops in Fujino

One day Japanese tenugui indigo workshop at my house.

I teach silk weaving and natural dying at my old farmhouse. The students study for years picking up a wide variety of skills. We raise silkworms and make threads and use natural dyes and eventually weave kimono. A lot of people come by and visit the classes. They are interested in Japanese textiles but cannot commit years to learning how to weave etc.
I’ve grown my own indigo and processed it for over 15 years. I’m very well versed in all aspects of traditional Japanese indigo dying. I keep an indigo vat going throughout the year and often get requests for short term or one day indigo workshops. I will open one-day workshop introductions to indigo dying for groups of five to twenty. Families are welcome. I speak Japanese and English.
A typical course would be:
*Arrive at my house at 10:00.
*A basic talk about indigo and how it was used traditionally in Japan and other countries. We will look at traditional Japanese shibori samples and each member will make two tengui and two handkerchiefs.
*I supply a simple udon lunch.
*We finish dying around 3:00 and return to Fujino station by 4:00.
*5000 yen including all materials and lunch.
Please contact me by email in English or Japanese for more information.
Bryan Whitehead
leafytailstextiles@gmail.com