This morning we went to the Kondo Dye Factory. This is another example of things the average visitor does not get to do. Mr. Kondo and his son spoke to our group. Kondo makes flags, banners, tapestries, kimonos, towels, etc. You see banners everywhere in Japan - for restaurants, political candidates. Flags are especially important when a new ship is created and you may see up to 60 being flown on the ship. The design is created and hand dyed which is significant because not many business are doing hand dyeing anymore. Many businesses are using laser printers these days.
We were shown many beautiful pieces and watched a video on how a flag is made. A special glue is made from rice which is then used to layout the outline on the flag. This protects the fabric from being dyed and in the end is washed away to reveal the white fabrics. After the glue is applied it is dried and then the dyeing can begin. There are about 30 colors to pick from and the dye is applied with a small or large brush. You must work for Kondo for 3 years before you are allowed to dye. Once the color has been applied the flag is hung in the drying room. Finally, the glue is washed off. It takes about 1 week total to make a large ship flag and they would not reveal how much an average ship flag costs.
We were able to make a place mat at the factory. The day before they prepared the place mats with the glue. Each one of us had a place mat that featured the Asahikawa Bridge (an important symbol in the city) and our name written in Kanji. We picked the color we wanted and then (with staff assistance) dyed our place mat.
The risk manager in me was a little nervous. To get to the dyeing room we had to go through the room where they wash the flags. There was a stream of water so the kids were jumping across it and I was imagining someone slipping and falling. In the dyeing room I was concerned that the kids would slop dye all over. Some of this was personal; I was wearing my Coach sneakers and did not want to get dye on them. I was assured, though, that the dye washes out of close with soap and water. In the end I was unscathed although some of the kids got a bit on shoes, clothes or hands. After the activity I stayed to watch every single student wash there hands because it was in a slippery area.
Following the Kondo Dye Factory, we went to Tokai University for lunch. Mrs. Yanbe, a sister city committee member, works there. We later learned that Tokai U. has only 2 areas of study related to furniture and practical designing. A professor offered an impromptu tour of the wood working area and their chair museum. We had plenty of time that afternoon and so we accepted. I was, however, skeptical that the kids would be so bored. I was quite wrong.
The boys were intrigued by some of the projects in progress in the would shop and stayed behind for a minute to chat with a professor. As we walked into the chair museum, a couple kids went straight to sit down. Bob and I shouted, "No" stopping the kids from sitting. This was of course a museum. We were corrected by the professor who said all of the chairs could be sat in. We spent 20 or 30 minutes in the museum and I'd say nearly all of the 100 chairs did get sat in. The kids were having a blast sitting chairs that had quite interesting designs. I'll be honest, I was shocked by how much fun they had. We ended our time at Tokai U. by going up to the observation deck where we had a full view of the mountains and all of Asahikawa.
The rest of the afternoon we:
- Visited the B-N forest
- Went to the city museum
- Got ice cream at a road stop
Road stops are very popular in Hokkaido and each city has one. It is like a big souvenir shop featuring items unique to that city. I bought a few things but the kids were most excited about the 100 yen coin machines where they could buy Pokemon figures. I had no idea how popular Pokemon was.
No comments:
Post a Comment