Returning to England
This time I stayed in the UK for just over a month and then I went around lots of places, places connected to British craft, spaces I'd wanted to see for myself, and places to do with art. So I'd like to share them with you, along with some of my own thoughts.
In London, September and October are when there are just so many design and art events. There are events at other times of the year too, like Craft Week. But at this time of year, so much is happening all at once. So if you love art and design, it's a really good season.
William Morris and Everyday Beauty
I'd read a book about mingei, which is Japan's folk craft movement, and since then, I'd been wanting to learn a bit more about William Morris too. And this time, I was lucky enough to join a tour at the William Morris Society. It's in Hammersmith, in the house where Morris spent his last years, right up until he died.
Have you heard of William Morris? He lived in 19th century Britain, at the time when the Industrial Revolution meant more and more things were being made by machines. He really cared about the beauty of everyday things, and about things made by hand. He had a huge influence on the Arts and Crafts movement.
He's someone you can't leave out when you talk about British craft, isn't he? Something I heard on the tour is that Morris didn't like the dining room in this house, so apparently he brought in his own wallpaper and carpets and then turned it into a space he loved.
When you are someone like William Morris, I imagine it must be really hard to find a place that lives up to your sense of beauty. When I saw these words, I thought, yes, I do love things that each have their own character, where you can tell a human hand has been involved.
And I want to live surrounded by things like that too. I talked about Junichiro Tanizaki's In Praise of Shadows in a previous video, and there's a part in it about how he went through a lot of trouble to make even the heating fit in with the Japanese room.
I really love that. Wanting to be surrounded by things you find beautiful, things that belong in that place, I really relate to the way both of them think, and I would love to keep refining that sense my whole life.
Learning from Spaces
Actually, this is something I have been thinking about for quite a while, and if you watch my videos, you might have picked up on it already, but I would like to do creative direction for spaces. Before I came to London, I was reading a book by the founder of Four Seasons Hotels.
There's a part about how, in early days, he'd stay in good hotels when he went abroad, to learn from them. But apparently, he couldn't stay in good hotels all the time, so he mixed in more affordable places. And reading that, I thought I'd love to actually experience really good spaces myself.
So since I was in England anyway, I wanted to see a lovely country hotel too. And this time I stayed at the hotel in the Cotswolds called Thyme.
Different Kinds of Quiet
What I loved here was of course the inside of the cottages, but also the gardens around them, being surrounded by animals. How quiet it was at night. It was just so peaceful. And you know, something I really felt was, of course Japanese gardens and so on make you feel calm when you look at them, but I realise there are different kinds of quiet.
With Japanese gardens, it feels less about flowers and more about enjoying the finer details, like the greenery and the stones. But gardens like this in England have flowers scattered everywhere, and have plants and fruit growing there. It's the same with the interior design.
There is more boldness to it and when you see it, it gives you a sort of lift. I think the size of the buildings has something to do with it as well. It's true there are no other buildings or houses around at all, so there is that physical quiet of being surrounded by nature here too.
But the boldness of the design somehow puts you in a good mood. Getting to feel that difference in person this time was another interesting discovery.
Gordon Russell and English Slipware
By the way, in a small Cotswolds town called Broadway, there is a museum about a furniture designer called Gordon Russell. His father ran a hotel nearby called the Lygon Arms, and when he was young, he apparently helped out repairing the antique furniture used in the hotel.
Later on, he tried combining handwork with machines to make good furniture that ordinary people could afford. The museum also had a few pieces of English slipware, which I had been wanting to see, so I was really happy. I think I talked about it in my mingei video, that it's pottery decorated using slip, which is sort of runny clay.
There is an important Japanese potter called Shoji Hamada, who was part of the mingei movement. He went to England to help an English potter called Bernard Leach build his kiln. Later, apparently, he travelled around this area too, with friends from the mingei movement, and while they were collecting old pottery, they were telling people about the beauty of things made by anonymous craftspeople.
It's really lovely being able to see connections between Japan and Britain in places like this.
Hotel Interiors in London
I was in London for quite a long time this time, so I rented a flat for the whole stay. But in London too, I went to look at a few hotel spaces I'd wanted to see, to learn from them. And one of the hotels I found the most beautiful was Raffles, which opened a few years ago.
It's in the Old War Office building, where Churchill once worked and it became a hotel in 2023. They restored it while keeping the original interiors. And I was told there that they even polished the floor tiles again, one by one. Isn't that amazing?
Buildings with history and a story like this somehow makes you feel special, don't they?
Frieze and London’s Art Week
And finally, there was Art Week, which was a complete whirlwind. Every year in mid-October, there's a big art fair called Frieze, which started in London. That week, there's so many art events going on, and I spent the whole week taking part in an event my friend was running.
And of course, I went to Frieze too. But going around seeing all this art, I was really blown away by how much art is part of everyday life in London. I actually started painting in London and being in an environment like this made me realise again how much it makes me want to paint.
At Frieze of course the main thing is looking at the art but the people, they are so stylish and then I found myself looking at them quite a lot too. When I went to art fairs in Hong Kong and Tokyo, my impression was that a lot of people there were from the art world.
But at Frieze, there were children too. And it almost felt like an annual tradition with lots of people dressed up. It feels like even people who aren't buying art come because they look forward to the event itself. I felt again this time that Frieze is really good at creating that sense of occasion and getting people involved.
I think that's how art spreads and I find that really interesting.
Next Time: Antiques
Anyway, this video has got quite long so I'll end part one of my London videos here. Next time it's about antiques, which I absolutely love. On this trip, I met an antique dealer and I went all the way out to visit him and heard some wonderful stories, so I'd like to put that together for you.
I think you'll really enjoy it, so please subscribe and stay tuned. See you next time.
Behind the Episode
Hi everyone, so thank you so much for watching today's video. So yeah, I wanted to give you a little update because quite a lot has happened over the past month or so. So, first of all, I'm really sorry that I only managed to upload one video while I was in London.
I was hoping to share more, but my time there ended up being really busy and I just couldn't find enough time to edit. But I really wanted to focus on what I only can do in London, so I'm sorry about that. So the biggest update is that I have decided to go back to Japan.
I mean, like before coming back to London, I was still considering living there again if I found some interesting opportunities. But after spending this time there, I think I have a clear idea of what I want to do. I mean, like when I went back to Japan last time, I didn't really know how long I would stay.
I still thought that I might return to London. But this time, I've decided to settle back in Japan at least for a few years, and for now. So yeah, that's a big difference. So I actually sent everything I had been keeping in storage in London back to Japan, which was a lot of work.
So yeah, that made it feel quite official, I would say. But what I really want to focus on right now is creative work. Of course, I would love to spend some time, you know, painting when I'm back, but I'm also really interested in creative directions for spaces.
So yeah, this is something I would like to explore more seriously. So I'll be looking for opportunities in Japan around that area. But another thing that I'd love to do is organising some tours and events where you can meet people doing interesting things in Japan.
I'm still working out what that might look like, but if you're based in Japan or planning to visit, please keep an eye on my social media, you know, YouTube, Substack and Instagram. I will share more when I have something to announce. But also I wanted to talk a little bit about my time in London.
And the biggest difference this time was that I was able to see London with fresh eyes. When I lived there before, a lot of my life was about work and my own art. But this time, because I have been thinking about, you know, creating spaces, I found myself looking at architecture and interior design differently.
I was noticing things I might not have paid much attention to before. It was amazing, it was very very inspiring. And also I spent a lot of time meeting people. Something I kept noticing with these fresh eyes was how easily the conversations moved between different topics and how comfortable people were sharing their opinions.
And it made me want to learn more about things outside my usual interests too, for sure. Because there were moments I wanted to join more, but I couldn't quite find the words, so that gave me some extra motivation to keep improving my English.
I mean, making these videos is a good practice for me too, so I'll keep doing that. But overall, I'm really glad I went back and put myself in a different environment again. I learned a lot, both from the places I visited and from the people I spent time with.
But to be honest with you, by the end, I was also very tired. You know, I had been going out and meeting people so much that I needed a little time to rest and take it all in. But yeah, I filmed a lot while I was in the UK, and this is something I would love to know from you.
Is a vlog-style video something that you enjoy watching, or do you prefer more like an essay-style video? Like the ones where I talk about Japan? Please leave your comments below. Anyway, this is where I am at the moment. Yeah, so thank you so much for watching and for being here.
Your support means a lot. It's very encouraging for me. So thank you so much. And I hope you are doing well, and I will see you in Japan. Bye.
