may handmade market

more photos from the may handmade market at chionji temple here.

march handmade market at chionji

these little guys are made of felt, and are sooo cute!
the same artist needle felted these animals on to fabric items.
they actually sell their works in a combination zakka/cafe/bonsai shop, it sounds awesome, i think i need to check it out.
and i love these pins made from reusing fabric with japanese traditional family crests, or komon.

august handmade market

it was so hot! just a reminder, you can click on the tags of this post to see photos from past markets.

june handmade market

since summer is here, the handmade market at chionji temple in kyoto (the 15th of every month) has been really busy. lots of cute new summer things for sale, of course...like the glass summer bells (above) or whimsical creatures (below).
lots of zakka

and awesome feltmakers whose work i hadn't seen before. these dolls are so lovely!
and crazy tissue holders in the shape of animal heads!
and wee walnut mice.

april tezukuri market

it was a lot busier than the winter markets! it was a beautiful day, and everyone seemed happy to be out in the sunshine buying handmade crafts.

1st thusday market, kyoto

this craft market is in umekoji park, on the 1st thursday of the month. i think its a little smaller than its sister market hyakumanben, at chionji temple on the 15th of the month.

tezukuri (handmade) market

this was my second time to visit the handmade market in kyoto. held on the 15th of every month, it is on the grounds of chion-ji temple. called hyakumanben, its in the northeast of kyoto, near the university. an easy way to get there is to take the number 201 loop bus to the hyakumanben stop. and while you're there, i recommend the veggie/vegan restaurant peace.
i got to the market earlier than i had last month, and there were tons more people and vendors. i guess the time to be there is 9am-2pm. after that, vendors start packing up, although there's likely still plenty to see until 4ish. these first 2 photos are cute felt things: the top one is of key chain holders--popular in japan.


the second pair of photos is amazing felt jewelry by simsim, who uses various color palates to create exuberant pieces.

here are some more photos around the market:

hyakumanben tezukuri (handmade) market, kyoto

on the 15th of every month, there is a handmade market at chionji temple in kyoto, called hyakumanben tezukuri market. (te means hand, zukuri means to make, so it literally means handmade). their website is here, buts it's all in japanese.this banner says 'handmade market' in japanese.
vendors set up all around the temple grounds, maybe there about 200 vendors. i guess its busiest in the mornings, starting around 9am, and in the winter people started packing up around 4.


there was a very impressive range of different kind of items, and different ages of vendors and size of their operations. there were some crafts people selling similar 'traditional' crafts that you would see in the u.s., like woodworking and ceramics.

there were cute piggies (remember, 2007 is the year of the wild boar in japan)

miniature scenes
woodworking and gnomes
dyed and print work

accessories of all kinds and materials
farm products from homespun to food and bath products
bags and more bags...
and more bags, lots of traditional japanese fabrics being reused to make other functional items/accessories.
super cute stamp work
handspun and handknits

felt food along with wooden play kitchens (of course my eyes were especially peeled for felt!)
there was quite a lot of needled felted stuff, and one felter who does very beautiful wet felting.

these photos are a tiny sample, there were also food vendors, both homegrown and snacks, and lots of clothes, old kimono fabric, jewelry, leatherwork etc.

the coolest part was that it was a total mix of people, both selling and shopping, which i believe reflects the strength and continuity of the craft tradition within japanese society. there were some young crafters similar to people in the states who are part of our huge craft resurgence (and mind you they are making some awesome stuff!), but they were part of a much larger crowd than included older folks and locals of all ages.