Sanuki Kagari Temari embroidered hand balls

The Manila Times

Sanuki Kagari Temari embroidered hand balls  Temari are colorful balls made of thread, embroidered with flower and animal motifs. In old Japan, temari were popular as toys for young women and girls. Today they are prized as home decorations. Each region has its own distinctive tradition, and the style known as Sanuki Kagari Temari has been practiced for over 1,000 years in Kagawa’s Takamatsu City. Its distinctive feature is the exclusive use of natural plant dyes to color the yarn. Traditionally about 140 vibrant hues are employed, and we see how temari artist Eiko Araki is making use of subtle color gradation to create beautiful temari.   VIDEO BY MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF JAPAN  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe    Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net    Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion    Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital    Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcher Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein   #TheManilaTimes #Japan #embroid #flowers #animals #arts

Transcript

00:00 [Music]

00:09 These gorgeously embroidered balls are known as temari.

00:16 Originally, temari were children's toys.

00:22 Young women and girls used them in games of handball.

00:29 They're usually decorated with flower or animal motifs.

00:32 Today, temari are popular as decorations.

00:36 Each region of Japan has its own distinctive tradition.

00:40 Takematsu is a city in Kagawa on Shikoku Island.

00:44 Practised here by women for almost a thousand years,

00:48 the local tradition is called sanuki kagari temari.

00:52 Making a temari begins with the core.

00:58 At the centre are rice husks wrapped in paper.

01:02 Cotton yarn is wound around the centre to build up a base ball.

01:07 Then the pattern is laid out using pins and thread as guidelines.

01:13 In this simple pattern, the ball is first divided into eight segments.

01:19 Patterns can be incredibly complicated, but they're all constructed by hand.

01:24 To create a pattern, the thread is passed under both the guidelines and the yarn of the base ball.

01:29 This will be repeated many times, adding layers one by one.

01:34 Eiko Araki is a temari artist.

01:44 Originally a jewellery designer, she chose this craft nearly 30 years ago.

01:51 In this area, we traditionally use only plant dyes to colour our yarn.

01:56 I think making the temari with naturally dyed cotton gives them an especially warm, friendly feeling.

02:03 Sanuki kagari temari's distinctive feature is the use of natural plant dyes.

02:10 Cotton is hard to colour using natural dyes, but they developed a special method here,

02:18 soaking the cotton in boiled, mashed soybeans makes it more absorbent.

02:23 For red dyes, the colour comes from madder root.

02:29 The intensity of the hue depends on how long the yarn is soaked.

02:35 There are over 140 colour variations.

02:43 It's these many subtle colour gradations that make Sanuki kagari temari so warmly appealing.

02:49 I want my temari to give you the impression that you're walking on the clouds,

02:56 over fields covered with flowers, with little blooms everywhere.

03:02 Here, Araki has chosen a very simple common flower to create a charming effect of many tiny blossoms opening.

03:12 She uses only pale shades for her temari, which is quite unusual.

03:17 Here, she's gone even further, abandoning colour altogether

03:25 and relying for contrast on subtle natural variations in white between batches of yarn

03:30 to capitalise on the cotton texture.

03:36 Araki's energetic example has attracted many others to take up temari art.

03:41 Takamatsu now has nearly 100 women using this old craft to express themselves creatively.

03:49 It's deceptively simple to make. What I really love is arranging the colours.

03:55 When I make temari, I'm trying to do two things.

03:59 To keep this old tradition alive, and also to take it in new directions.

04:05 This is a lovely, uniquely Japanese handicraft, and I want to teach the world about it.

04:10 Handed down over the centuries from mother to daughter,

04:14 Sanuki kagari temari adds a colourful natural warmth to any home.

04:20 (Music)

04:26 (Mouse click)

04:28 (Mouse click)

04:30 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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