Tag Archives: #japan

Soichiro Tomioka (1922-1994)


Soichiro Tomioka is an abstract Japanese painter of the twentieth century, born in 1922 in Takada city in Niigata Prefecture.  The artist specializes in the world of black and white consistently used a paint he developed, called Tomioka White, to paint the snowy lands of both Japan and international locales.  He says this of his work:

“At the root of my “white world”, there is a spirit of nostalgia for my snow country. My “white world” was to discover and express the mysterious beauty of white through the journey and pilgrimage of the snowy country.”


Images:  Courtesy of Soichiro Tomioka Estate.

M’s Craft

We’re always on the lookout for creative ways to wrap a gift.  We found these garlands that we think will greatly embellish a package.   It is sold in the Japanese handmade market site Minne.

The shop name is M’s Craft and as typical of Japanese sites the creator’s name is not listed.  The items are made from cultivated in-house flowers carefully chosen for their colors and picked as per season and occasion. 

Images:  Courtesy of M’s Craft.

Murmur’s Shop

We never leave Japan without browsing stationery stores.  Elated that we found these paper cut wreath tags on the online handmade market, Minne.  The unknown artist from Okinawa carefully cut and pasted paper to create these delightful designs. The items are sold on Minne and on Taiwan’s handmade marketplace, Pinkoi.  For now only Pinkoi delivers internationally.

Images:  Courtesy of Murmur’s Shop.
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