I saw these hand-dyed indigo textiles at the Tortoise General Store in Venice last week. I like how the red one has a fractal pattern. They were hanging on a clothing rack in the annex behind the main building. I told Sachiyo at the store how much I liked them and asked if I could take some pictures. Not only did she say yes, she also offered me tea. It tasted like genmaicha. She only filled the tea cup a half inch or so. "It's just for the taste" she said, handing it to me. It was actually the perfect amount.
Many things caught my eye. A beautiful book about Lucie Rie written in Japanese. This bowl made of iron (looked over by an iron bird).
Two women walked into the annex and spoke with Sachiyo in Japanese. They were also offered tea. When they were alone they spoke Korean to each other. At one point I turned around and saw that one of them was playing vigorously with Rosie (I brought her with me on my Venice outing). I had been to several other shops that day and everyone cautiously asked if they could pet the pug. I liked how this woman just went for it. Rosie seemed to like it too.
In one corner I found several products made of hinoki. I bought a box of incense made from the wood. The unlit sticks smell wonderful. The scent of the smoke is nice too but mostly it just smells of burning wood.
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