INSIDE A TRADITIONAL KIMONO CLASS IN JAPAN
The kimono class I took in Japan was small — just four students and one teacher, Maaike from The Dressmaker's Academy. Every morning we'd take the train to a studio she'd rented, which became its own little rhythm — commuting in Japan, then spending the day doing something as slow and deliberate as hand-stitching a kimono.
What stood out was how international the room was. Maaike is Dutch, one student had come from Sweden, one from Ireland, one from Australia, and I'd come from the US — five women from completely different places, all sitting around the same table learning the same traditional Japanese technique. There's something quietly wonderful about that when you think about it.
Maaike is hands-on as a teacher — always there, guiding you through each stage, checking your work and making sure you understood what you were doing before moving on.
But it was also genuinely fun. We talked constantly while we stitched — about sewing, about where we were all from, about everything really. There's something about shared focus that makes conversation easy, and spending days with people who all care about the same things, from completely different backgrounds, was one of the best parts of the whole trip.
What stood out beyond the stitching was how craft in Japan doesn't exist in isolation — it sits alongside dyeing, ceremony, food, daily ritual. It's just part of how things are done, which made being there to learn feel less like a class and more like a proper immersion.
The hand-stitching and construction I've written about separately — this post is really about what the room felt like, and that international group of women around a table in a Japanese studio is what I'll actually remember most.
HOW THIS FITS INTO MY SEWING JOURNEY
This class sits alongside other learning experiences that have shaped how I sew. Each teacher I've learned from has added something different to my practice, and this one in Japan holds a particularly special place among them.
In the next post, I step back and talk about Japan as a whole, and why travel matters when you're learning a craft.
CONTINUE THE SERIES
This is the second in a five-part series on learning traditional Japanese kimono construction:
- Learning to Make a Traditional Kimono in Japan
- Inside a Traditional Kimono Class in Japan (you are here)
- Making a Traditional Kimono by Hand in Japan
- Three Weeks in Japan as a Maker
- Learning Through Making: Craft Experiences I Sought Out in Japan