Tokyo Quilt Show 2023 - Part 1

 It is spring which means it is time for another quilt event in Tokyo. 

Today was the opening of The 2nd Tokyo Quilt Show, 2023 organised by Japan Quilt Society.

Last year's spring show was held at a small event venue in Gotanda, Tokyo and did not draw many visitors. You can read my report about it here.

In November last year, the autumn show was held in Pacifico in Yokohama, where the hall is larger and more visitors came. I wrote six blog posts about it, starting here. There were many quilts to look at.

So I had high expectations for this year's spring event. A new venue had been chosen, Hamamatsucho-Kan, which houses Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Trade Center. It is a large modern building with many exhibition halls, eateries and cafés as well as a number of terraced gardens.

Although the building is impressive, the exhibition hall was on the small scale and the huge number of visitors queuing up for the opening soon filled every corner of the room.

In the afternoon the crowds had thinned out so it was easier to move around. As you can see, the screens for showcasing the quilts were kept in the middle of the hall and the traders' booths were lined up along the walls. There were 47 stalls, most of them selling quilting goods, a few though, traded cosmetics, shoes and coffee pods.

So what quilts were on display? Was there a contest?

The large quilts on show were made by 'sensei', famous quilters and quilt teachers, all of whom must be members of Japan Quilt Society.

 If you have read my previous reports from the Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival at Tokyo Dome (held annually before the pandemic) you might well remember some of these quilts.

Fabulous and fabulously funny! A Japanese village wedding.

Yoko Sekita ＊関田陽子

On the Earth and In the Earth.

both made by Yoko Ueda ＊上田葉子

The interior of a Parisian café.

Yoshiko Kurihara ＊栗原淑子

Precise piecing and lots of movement.

Masako Sanada＊眞田雅子

Blue Ocean

Kathy Nakajima＊中島キャシー

Huge flowers.

(I think this quilt is new...)

Denim is always in fashion.

(This quilt, however, I have seen before)
Both made by Noriko Nozawa ＊野沢典子

For the love of indigo.

Shizuko Kuroha ＊黒羽志寿子

For many years Ms Kuroha has made the most beautiful quilts from Japanese fabric, especially indigo. She is now retiring from official duties. I hope she will still make some more quilts, though.

To my knowledge, this is a new quilt from a new quilter...

Yoshi Nishimura ＊西村淑

Dragons dancing in the moonlight.

Yoneko Maruya＊丸屋米子

Many of the white pieces are paper / Japanese washi and have brush writing in ink on them.

Yasuko Saito ＊齋藤泰子

This quilt was made from kimono silk. The silk in the border is from an obi (kimono sash).

Junko Sugahara ＊菅原順子

The next quilt is a celebration of the parts a quilt is made up of.

The quilt is large, it is white and it is impeccably hand quilted, it hangs straight. Check out those stitches! 

I certainly take my hat off to 

Junko Yasawa ＊矢澤順子

Here is a complex pattern.

Taeko Ando ＊安東多惠子

Now for some sweet desserts.

Ayuko Katayama＊片山あゆ子

The other large quilts were hung from the ceiling. I must admit I did not notice them until I looked at this photo!

More in my next report.