Yokimono or ‘good things’, a Japanese Christmas Market featuring art, craft and cuisine was held on the first weekend of December at the Factory in Dalston.
With around 30 stalls selling handmade products by Japanese artists, artisan made goods produced in Japan and 10 different performers, the market attracted about four thousands visitors over two days.
Not only could they buy some unique green tea sets, jewellery, posters, ceramics and even kimonos but also get a taste of Japanese cuisine and watch and listen to Japanese artists.
Sonoe Sugawara, the organiser of the market said: “I always wanted to do something together, to introduce the Japanese community to East London.”
And this is how it all started.
Sugawara added that she has been organising theme markets since 2019 and her first initiative was actually a summer event and only later she decided to organise another one in winter.
She also explained: “I didn’t think it would carry on, I thought it was just one off but everyone was asking ‘when is the next one?’, and not only traders but also the visitors.”
“We invite some musicians especially for our event as we realise the audience expects to get to know Japanese culture, music, traditions as well as handcraft.”
Tamakurya Boutique with its Furoshiki cloth eco-wrap ran a stall at the market and organised a show of how to use their products to wrap pretty much anything.
Maurya Brady, from Tamkurya Boutique said: “We sell ‘furoshiki’ which are fabric wraps for an easy-way packing, gifting or transporting goods in an alternative eco-wrap which you can use again and again.
“It’s a beautiful Japanese tradition of wrapping in fabric.”
She added that the very idea of it is to build a bag around the object like an origami in fabric.
As a seasoned trader who showcases her products at Yokimono, Brady also shared: “The atmosphere here is brilliant, the music, the culture and then hand-picked artists.
“It’s been really lovely.”
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