Village to Table Stories

Kihada (amur cork tree) is Rutaceae, citrus family of plants used as traditional herbal medicine in Japan. When it's cut down, it smells like orange peel. Rainy season (June to July) is the best season to process kihada, as it absorbs moisture and thus it's easier to peel of the bark.

Today, I learned how to dye with Ruri-san, who taught me how to dye in Southeast Asia.

Ruri Kitadai's blog "Travel and Colors" (Japanese only)

http://rurilapis.blogspot.com/



Collecting plants while listening to stories about how to make mordant liquid and the wisdom of textiles and plants from Asian countries.




まずは羽窯で染液づくり。よもぎをぐつぐつ煮出していきます。


鉄媒染は、酢と鉄釘を混ぜたものでオリーブ色に。ミョウバン媒染は黄色になります。


Strain the mugwort through a colander and place the cloth in the dye solution; simmer for 20 minutes. As soon as it boils, the water overflows, so it is difficult to maintain the heat at low heat. I need to change the charcoal material at the beginning, middle and end of the cooking as same as the Okudosan cooking. The same as stewing, you have to turn off the heat and let it soak until it cools down so that it will gradually soak through.

(Silk can be dyed as it is because of its animal protein, but hemp and cotton have been pre-treated with Kureju (Japanese soup). There are many different ways to prepare the groundwork for dyeing in different countries, so it is interesting to think about dyeing folklore. (It's interesting to think about dyeing folklore because there are many different ways to prepare the groundwork in different countries.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)


Abeno-mask looks nice when it is dyed


Abenomask is disassembled


I made galette with buckwheat flour for lunch. This is difficult. If it's not spread thin, it's just a crepe. Topped with sesame seeds from the garden, arugula, parsley and sprinkles.




同じ染料でも、媒染液や布の材質によって様々な色に染め上がりました。

Tour to visit hidden beauty spots for viewing cherry blossoms, visiting 8 temples and private residences and eating 3 tailor-made sweets

Shorenji temple

a local vegetable seller

Tenyakuji temple, also famous for  its camellia flower

katakuri, dogtooth violet

home visit to see cherry blossoms at a private residence

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After visiting a traditional indigo dyeing atelier, which inherits 150 years old indigo vase, we explored edible forests. Uda city is a historical land, where wild medicinal plant has been conducted, since ancient Yamato dynasty in 7th century.

Wild medicinal plants master taught us how to distinguish  porcelain berry (or wild grape, scientific name: Ampelopsis glandulosa) and ornamental grape vine (scientific name: Vitis coignetiae), how to make yakushu, alcoholic beverage for medicinal purposes by using natural resources such as Linden arrowwood (gamazumi in Japanese, scientific name: Viburnum dilatatum), silver vine, cat powder, matatabi in Japanese (Scientific name: Actinidia polygama), deodeok or lance asiabell (Tsuruninjin in Japanese, Scientific name: Codonopsis lanceolata), and so on.

Pick and eat, eat and learn, by using five senses, we learnt traditional knowledge of ancient people on living in co-existent with nature.

only use mountain water for 150 years in kasama indigo atelier

"When father-in-low went hospital, I thought someone has to learn how to take care of 150 years indigo vase. My husband is a business person, and only I could do that for the time being. This is how I started to learn, and got deep into this world."

Said the 4th generation of Kasama indigo dyeing atelier, Ms Kayo.  

In the village of Kasama, there are households earning their livelihoods by dyeing, blacksmith, farming... Nowadays, this knowledge is gradually disappearing. Dyeing workshop and black smith are also last one craftsman.

Ms. Kayo, still has hope to keep the lifestyle living with indigo as it is.

walk and eat: medicinal plant hunting in the forest. 

After lunch, expedition for edible forests.

this is taken in a village surrounded by tea trees. it seemed to be lost in a world of another time era

Village of Traditional Medicine

Today, we will be in off-the-beaten track in Japan to Kasuga village on the foot of Mt. Ibuki. It is not a tourist place, and even not so known to Japanese people


Although Japan is a mountainous country covered with 67% of forest, about 70% of Japanese population is concentrating in the urban areas, and depopulation and aging in rural areas are always big problems. It is pity that tourists only look at big cities and do not see rural livelihood.

Japanese life-style has been changed a lot in recent years, but still, in the deep mountains, isolated from the rest of the world, you can find traditional livelihood and knowledge to live with nature handed down from generations. So, today, I would like you to touch another world of Japan besides tourist attractions.

shuraku, community of kasuga village

Can you imagine how to collect foods in the deep forest? Wisdom to read the voice of wind or trees, or to know timing of sowing seeds by observing stars or living creatures. This knowledge has been developed from long-term experiences of their ancestors. Mostly, they are over 80s, and it is about to disappear... I would like to pass down this local knowledge, what I call ground mothers knowledge to overseas as well as Japanese young people.


Kasuga was once known as a village of traditional medicine. The origin of offering yakuso in this region dates back to Nara period in the mid 7th century. There is a record to indicate traditional knowlede of plant medicine was transmitted through the descendant of royal family.


Now, most of the yakuso used in Japan are imported from china, and the industry of yakuso has been desolated. Still, the villagers grow yakuso continuously for their domestic use to maintain their health or to treat illness by themselves.