Kyoto Well-Known as the Crafts Capital of Japan

To the Japanese, Kyoto means tradition. This quiet city was the bustling capital for over a thousand years. During that time, local artisans, providing the imperial court and its officers with textiles, ceramic wares and the other necessities of life, developed their skills into fine art.

When Japan’s center of commerce and political life shifted to Edo (the ancient name for Tokyo) during the mid-1800s, many of the craftsmen remained in Kyoto and continued to work, refining their craft. Kyoto evolved into a center for contemplative activities, the spiritual capital of Japan.

The city’s atmosphere is established by dozens of temples and hundreds of shrines, each surrounded by beautifully landscaped gardens. There is high regard for Kyoto’s crafts, many of them associated with the production of goods used in the tea ceremony, ritualistic method of preparing and drinking a special type of green tea. The tea ceremony utilizes beautiful cups, jewel-like tea caddies, special brushes and paper items. Participants dress formally in fine kimonos, carrying traditional purses and wearing special accessories. The tea ceremony is widely practiced throughout Japan, and especially in Kyoto.

Sold Throughout City

Tourists who come to see the temples and experience the tea ceremony quickly discover the beauty of Kyoto’s traditional crafts. These items are sold throughout the city. As a matter of convenience, some artisans have gathered to sell their wares under one roof.

The Kyoto Craft Center (Kumano Jinja Higashi, Sakyo-ku) has seven floors of shops offering different types of crafts and other merchandise. The center is a modern building, a bit touristy, but it will give you a good overview of Kyoto’s traditional crafts, or, more specifically, many of the current crafts that are heir to those traditions. You’ll see craftspeople at work and that will give you added appreciation of the skill required to produce the items you can purchase.

On the first floor, men employed in the Damascene workshop demonstrate how gold and silver strands and flakes are inlaid by hand to form flowers, landscapes or geometric patterns on a black background. The technique has been used in Kyoto for over a thousand years to decorate swords for samurai. It is applied to costume jewelry and small items for home decoration, such as screens and boxes.

The second floor has kimonos, happy coats and summer cotton yukatas. A weaver is there to demonstrate hand-loom techniques. But in ready-made, the quality varies widely. There are some beautiful antique pieces, but most of the garments are new, and some are designed to appeal to tourists. There are lovely things to buy, but the selection really won’t give you a comprehensive look at the hand-painted silks, special hand-dying techniques and gold brocades that give Japanese textiles their reputation as the world’s best.

A Close Collaboration

A woodblock printing demonstration is also on the second floor. Designer, engraver and printer collaborate closely in this ancient art. You’ll find good reproductions of old prints, as well as contemporary originals depicting Japanese life and landscape. An artist is also at work, painting screens and scrolls on silk, and mounting them on fine brocade backings.

On the fifth floor, you’ll find a potter at the wheel, surrounded by Satsuma, with its distinctive crackled glaze and gold trim, and other types of ceramics. There is also a demonstration of Satsuma painting. A good variety of cloisonne, ranging from decorative finger rings to large vases, is sold.

One of the best demonstrations is the doll-maker, who painstakingly dresses little porcelain figures in kimonos and obis made of beautiful fragments of antique textiles. The work is exquisite.

The Kyoto Craft Center offers other treasures: Mikimoto pearls and other jewelry, modern Noritaki dinner sets, and an array of electronics.

The craft center is one of the most efficient ways to shop in Kyoto, but if you are willing to venture further, into Kyoto’s smaller streets, you’ll be amply awarded with treasures, as well as a more intimate view of the city.

Nawate-dori ( dori means street), in Kyoto’s antique district, has several excellent shops for antique textiles, the kinds used in doll-making at the Kyoto Craft Center. Nakamura Chingireya, a shop that is over 100 years old, specializes in ko-moni , or small things made from old kimonos or other antique fabrics. In the window, you’ll see lovely neckties ($20), eyeglass or business card cases, and small clutch or change purses ($5-$30). These are made from old hand-stenciled cottons. The shop also has tie-dyed and hand-painted silk kimonos and obis brocaded with gold. Most of these date from the turn of the century.

Precious Pieces of Fabric

Across the street, Konjaku displays batiks, ikats and brocades imported from throughout the Orient. These precious pieces of fabric overflow from wicker baskets; you dig around until you find a texture and pattern that appeals to you. Especially popular and well-stocked at Konjaku are men’s silk under-kimonos. These colorful items, often in plaids and geometric patterns, sell for $50 and up.

Konjaku’s owner’s sons have opened an antique kimono shop around the corner on Furumonzen-dori. Turn-of-the-century silk kimonos sell for $20 to $200; workers’ antique happy coats of heavy, hand-stenciled cotton sell for $40 and up.

More kimonos and textiles are found in the shops on Shimonzen-dori, a short street lined on both sides with antique shops of all descriptions. R. Kita, at 256 Shimonzen-dori, sells old kimonos of very high quality, and equivalent price. The shop also sells fine old ceramics, of both the Imari (mostly blue on white) and Kutani (red and gold) types. The stock ranges from sake sets, tea cups, chopstick rests and bowls (about $25 and up) to the popular ceramic cats with their large eyes and raised paws.

Nakajima (238 Shimonzen-dori) has a more eclectic collection, including ancient Buddhas carved of wood, gilded and lacquer trays, and fine old ceramics of exceptional quality. One treasure is an exquisite old copy of the Kutani Buddha bowl, a beautiful round platter (about 24 inches in diameter) that depicts in subtle colors a dancing Buddha. The original has been designated as an “important cultural property,” and is closely guarded in a museum. The copy sells for about $1,300.

More moderately priced antique ceramic wares, especially of the Imari type, are abundant at Kanzando (207 Yamatooji-Higashi, Shimonzen). Vintage rice and soup bowls, tea cups, plates in sets or random assortments are stacked high on the shelves of this crowded small shop. You have to do some rummaging, but you’re likely to find lovely pieces at good prices.

Not So Easy to Find

Don’t let this list limit your browsing on Shimonzen-dori, or the other streets mentioned. The shops, ranging from refined galleries to cluttered junk shops, are all interesting. Those mentioned here are well known. But that doesn’t mean they’re easy to find. Building numbers in Kyoto (and other Japanese cities) are seemingly assigned on a random basis. Your best bet is to ask the hotel’s front desk clerk to write the name and address of the shop in Japanese, then give that paper to a taxi driver. The ride will cost several dollars, even for a short distance, but the cab drivers are honest and very helpful, and the price of the taxi saves confusion and gives you more time for browsing.

(Prices quoted reflect rates of currency exchange at the time of writing.)