January 2008
Mum wanted to go on a quick trip back to Asakusa as she remembered there were lots of fabric shops in the alleys around the temple. At home, she has an entire room full of pretty materials and uses them to make all kinds of appliqué things such as pictures and cushion covers. She also makes three dimensional creatures – she once made a dainty white dragon that ended up on the Christmas tree in Buckingham Palace. Not entirely sure how that happened, but she is very good at whatever art or craft she turns her hand to. So she wanted to try and find some off cuts of Japanese kimono fabric. She did and was very happy.
Whilst there, we discovered a rather fabulous stationery shop: not your standard stationery, this contained lots of Japanese woodblock prints, reams of washi paper and some pre-framed blank paper ready for calligraphy. Mum spent ages in there and bought some of the latter to experiment with her botanical watercolours.
It was a bit too busy for me so I came outside to snap a couple of photos while I waited for her.
Then I spotted this incredibly intricately roped tree.
What on earth was that all about? It certainly wasn't anything to do with Bonsai. Yes, they do manipulate large trees into stylised shapes too, as you can see through the ropes. But this rope wasn't moving the branches anywhere. The branches were trapped in a kind of roped cage. Tree bondage? Very strange. It took me a very long time to find out the answer.But what an incredible work of art!
Can you work out what it is for? (the answer is below)
Further below...
Keep scrolling!!
This is called yukitsuri. Yuki means snow and tsuri means suspension. It's to protect the branches of the tree from breaking off under the weight of snow. Something we don't get much of in Tokyo (so far!)
