After 2 1/2 days of travel, I finally made it to Tokyo on Friday afternoon instead of Thursday afternoon. I managed to get myself transferred to a flight going to LAX, then to Haneda Airport, but after sitting in the Seattle snowstorm on the tarmac for 2 hours, they unloaded us and we waited around another couple hours. Then they rerouted me to an EVA Air flight to Taipei (Taiwan), then Delta from Taipei to Narita. Those of you who have flown to Asia will appreciate the deliciously long torturous route. Anyway, I made it to Narita, took the long bus ride into town, took a quick bath and made it to the last 2 hours of the show on Friday!
Yesterday I took the train (all by myself!) to a textile museum in Kamakura, met my friend Akemi, and met a group of Sashiko artists/teachers there. Then we had a noodle lunch at a local restaurant (yes, one of *those* bathrooms) and visited a local temple and shrine in Kamakura. Photos will follow later this week!
I have plans for a flea market this morning, weather permitting, photographing more of the show this afternoon, and perhaps something interesting tonight or tomorrow morning before I head back to the airport tomorrow afternoon. Sam's birthday is Monday so if I don't have any further delays, I will pull into the driveway about an hour before his dinner party. Whew!
Because I lost a whole day of my 3 1/2 day trip (now 2 1/2 days, as you may have surmised by now), my friends who live here talked me out of making the long difficult journey up the coast yesterday. (probably 7-8 hrs round-trip) The train only goes so far, then you have to rent a car or take a bus to get to the tsunami site. So I have one friend who was in Kesennuma 2 days after Mission of Love distributed the 2155 quilts to local residents. My friend is giving me the photos today, and I will make them available to you on my photo page.
Keiko Goke (who lives in Sendai) tried to help me – she offered that her husband could drive me around to see the area – but in the end it didn't work out for him. Anyway I must have looked like I crawled out of jetlag gutter because everybody agreed I should not go Saturday. So I am doing my best to get the story of what is happening here on the coast, and to get photos for you, from local residents.
There are many quilt exhibits and quilt/sashiko fundraiser efforts going on here, as you can imagine. I see them at the Tokyo Quilt Festival, and I saw more at the museum in Kamakura.
http://www.mapple.net/spots/G01400122601.htm
I see pleas for donations everywhere – in fact I dropped money in fundraiser boxes at 2 temples yesterday. My friend says the temporary housing for the homeless will expire after 2 years, and nobody knows where the elderly will go after that. A New York Times article today discusses the lingering radiation in crops coming out of Northern Japan. So although the disaster is largely forgotten in the Western press, the aftermath will continue here for years to come, as the aftermath of Katrina still continues in the US.
I want to take this opportunity again to thank all of you who rushed to ship your 2155 quilts to us and Mission of Love. Our contact in the military who supervised the distribution, as far as I can tell was then transferred to Afghanistan and we have not been able to get in touch with him to get any photos he had of the distribution day. However we know they were received with grateful astonishment, and we know they are treasured by the Kesennuma tsunami homeless who undoubtedly still count them among their few possessions. My friend's account of her July 15 tour of the area, was simply heartbreaking. So my friends, we done good, as they say.
sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul
