Falling in Love with Japanese Culture - by Maribel, Pennsylvania
When my husband was little, his father was in the service and stationed in Japan, and his younger sister was born there. He lived at Washington Heights; a militay installation in Tokyo in 1961 - 62, attending Yoyogi Elementary School.
After we got married, we lived in the US Armed Forces Housing Complex in Shibuya, Tokyo. There was a large depression on the earth nearby, which was taken advantage of when building the swimming and diving complexes for the 1964 Olympics. My husband was stationed in Seoul, Korea as well. Every time we were in and out of the region, I made sure we traveled through Japan with plenty of time to stay so we could mingle with Japanese people. I find the culture so interesting; stem, soft, creative, industrial, and all at the same time. It always amazes me how rich the Japanese culture is.
I always admired the delicate work. When living in Spain, I admired the American Quilts and wanted to learn how to make them. When we moved back to America, it was one of the first things I learned to do. Since I loved Japanese fabrics, I started working with them instead of cotton that is what American quilters mainly use. Mixing American and Japanese cultures, I started being a fan of Yoko Saito; a well known Japanese quilter who does beautiful quilting and hand sewing work. Since I like the Japanese fabrics so much because of its colors, consistency, and all, I started making bags and quilts with them. Japanese fabrics never disappoint me. Learning from Japanese culture, nothing goes to waste and even the imperfect is perfect. I also started to apply that philosophy to my ceramic pieces and I learned from a Japanese artist in Japan that pieces are often imperfect / irregular because everything should have its own charm. If anyone is interested in pottery / ceramics, you should read about Wabi-Sabi, you would be fascinated, I know I got captivated.
Nowdays we are retired and live in the country where we rescued 15 sheep. Many of them are wool sheep. I have learned to process the fiber, clean, wash, spin it and finally take it to the loom! It is so peaceful, so wonderful. I feel nostalgic about all the travels and culture exchanges we experienced throughout our career. To keep up with the Japanese culture, we sponsor students from Japan. Some of them come for the whole school year, others come just for the summer. They stay with us and we expose them to our culture and how we live in America. It is a fascinating experience. - by Maribel, Pennsylvania
