Welcome to our Japan Textiles & Handcrafts Tours information page!
This exciting itinerary features multiple private textile or handcraft-based workshops and classes in various media including bamboo ware, kumihimo braid making, ikat weaving, thread dyeing, kintsugi, silk weaving, botanical dyeing, shibori and sashiko. We also enjoy studio and workshop visits where we meet weavers, antique textile specialists, and indigo dyers. We take in specialist handcraft museums, temples & shrines and the cultural sites of Tokyo and Kyoto, and include cultural activities including a traditional tea ceremony and the opportunity to enjoy an onsen (hot spring bath).
A priority of our handcraft and textile tours is engagement with artisans directly, whether that’s a hands-on class with an expert, a formal seminar or lecture on textile traditions, a private tour of a textile collection, or simply visiting artisans in their studios and having the chance to chat informally and look around their workspace.
This exciting itinerary features multiple private workshops and classes in various media including bamboo ware, kumihimo braid making, ikat weaving, kintsugi, botanical dyeing, shibori and sashiko. We also enjoy studio visits where we meet weavers, antique textile specialists, contemporary textile designers, and indigo dyers. we take in specialist museums, temples and shrines, and a couple of the cultural sites of Tokyo, Arimatsu and Kyoto, and include activities such as a tea ceremony, and the opportunity to enjoy a traditional onset (hot springs bath).
Should you wish to apply for a place please scroll down to access the following tour documents:
- Itinerary
- Trip Notes
- Application Form, ‘Fitness to Travel’ Declaration & Booking Conditions
Please read all documentation carefully and thoroughly to determine if the tour is right for you, noting the insurance, health, fitness and mobility requirements to participate in this tour, the application procedure, non refundable nature of the deposit, and the Booking Conditions.
If after reading the documentation thoroughly you wish to apply for a place, please download and complete the Application Form and Fitness to Travel Declaration, and email them to retreatrecreate@gmail.com when applications open at 9:00am on xx xx October. You can either use the ‘fill & sign’ function on your PDF reader software, or simply print the form, complete it by hand, and email us a photo or scan of it. Please write JAPAN TEXTILES in the subject header of your email.
Applications received before 9:00am on xx can not be considered.
Applications that do not include the Fitness to Travel declaration can not be considered.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
- If your application is accepted, a deposit of AUD$2000 will be required to secure your booking. Instructions for payment will be provided to successful applicants;
- The tour price and inclusions can be found on the last page of the itinerary;
- If AUD (Australian dollar) is not your local currency please use a currency convertor for a guide to an approximate equivalent price, however all payments must be made in AUD;
- This tour is for women only;
- Travellers need to be in excellent heath and have good fitness and mobility levels to participate in this tour (see requirements in the tour documents);
- The maximum group size is 12. If we exceed our maximum group unsuccessful applicants can request to be placed on the waitlist;
- This itinerary doesn’t include names of hotels, venues etc. A detailed itinerary will be provided closer to departure;
- The tour is fully escorted by one of our fabulous local English-speaking Japanese guides only. (There will not be a retreat|recreate host accompanying this tour.)
We’re very excited about this textile and handcrafts itinerary and hope you are too! We’ve tried to anticipate all questions by providing information on costs, conditions, workshops and activities etc, in the documents below but if you have any further queries, please don’t hesitate to contact us. (However, please carefully read the contents of this web page and the documents first as your answer is very likely there).
EXPECTATIONS:
- to participate in this tour you must be able to sit on the floor for some presentations, meals and the tea ceremony;
- you will stay at accommodations where the bed is a low futon on a tatami mat;
- you will stay at accommodations where baths and showers are communal (hot springs baths);
- you may encounter the occasional squat toilet;
- this itinerary is the result of many years of painstaking research, experience and careful curation, and we think it’s excellent! We expect that within reason, everyone in the group participates fully in the scheduled activities. It’s not helpful for group dynamics if people take days off from the itinerary to go shopping or pursue their own interests. Our tours have long waitlists, filled with people who would love to participate in all the wonderful activities on our tours. If you wish to do your own thing, please arrange additional pre and/or post tour days for your own independent exploration;
- this tour is for active, curious, tolerant and cheerful travellers who enjoy travelling as part of a group, and have an enthusiasm to learn about Japanese culture and textiles.
ITINERARY & PRICE
TRIP NOTES
APPLICATION FORM & BOOKING CONDITIONS
A brief overview of our Japan Textiles & Handcraft tours plus a selection of testimonials from previous Japan tour travellers can be found HERE
