I’m excited to share that Coloratura’s tsumami-zaiku (traditional Japanese fabric crafts) will be for sale at the upcoming Japanese School Fair in Rotterdam.
While I won’t be attending in person, the organizers have selected some pieces in advance to be showcased at the event.
I usually don’t sell in Rotterdam, so I’m happy for the local community to get a chance to see and enjoy tsumami-zaiku.
This school fair is open not only to Japanese school families but also to the general public, so it’s a wonderful event to explore!
At Coloratura, workshops are my main focus. Miniature clay and Japanese-style handmade crafts are sold only a few times a year at Japanese markets and events etc., and I do not operate an online shop.
However, I am happy to accommodate special orders, such as multiple items, upon request.
If you’re interested, please feel free to contact me.
Yesterday, I participated in the “BUNKA-SAI Festival” held at SAKB (Nemo Sabo) in Amstelveen, organized by Jacop, and sold handmade items such as miniature clay and tsumami-zaiku crafts.
I offered a wide range of items, including Japanese-style miniature clay pieces like onigiri and wagashi, handmade accessories and ornaments, as well as practical items such as bookmarks and keychains. It was wonderful to see so many people take an interest in them.
At these Japanese event, many visitors are either Japanese or locals who love Japanese culture.
Seeing people smile and say “So cute!” or “Beautiful!” when looking at the items is truly heartwarming. Some even expressed interest in joining my workshops, which is very encouraging. I was especially happy to meet people who said they follow me on Instagram or came specifically to see my booth. The little interactions with visitors were also enjoyable, and it was a real pleasure to sell my items.
The event was blessed with great weather and was a huge success! I believe visitors also enjoyed Japanese food, various shops, performances, and workshops.
Thank you to everyone who visited our booth! We are also deeply grateful to Jacop and all the volunteers who supported the event.
They had first joined Coloratura’s miniature clay workshop at the Japan Festival in Amstelveen this June, and since then they became interested and came this time.
At the Japan Festival workshop, the sushi toppings (tuna and salmon) were prepared by me, and participants sliced them. But in this workshop, we created the toppings entirely from scratch.
In the first lesson, we focused on making nigiri sushi and prepared ingredients for miso soup and gunkan sushi.
In the second lesson, we made sushi rolls, gunkan, miso soup, chopsticks… We also painted chopsticks, applied varnish, and assembled everything on plates and boards to complete the set!
The girl is 6 years old.
This sushi project is one of the more challenging ones among the miniature clay workshops. Some parts were difficult to make, but with help from me and her parents, she was able to finish such an adorable and delicious-looking sushi set.
Thank you very much for joining !
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☆ I hold one-day workshops from time to time. Please see below.
On Sunday, September 28, the event “BUNKA-SAI” will be held in Amstelveen, organized by JACOP (Stichting Japanese Communities Platform), and Coloratura will also be joining to sell handmade items.
This event takes place at Nemo Sabo / SAKB Kunstlokaal in Amstelveen and recreates the atmosphere of a Japanese school festival (bunkasai). There will be many food and goods stalls, stage activities, and a lively program for everyone to enjoy.
A girl who had previously joined one of my miniature clay lessons came back for her birthday and wished to make wagashi (traditional Japanese sweets).
It was a birthday celebration with a Japanese child and friends who hadn’t eaten wagashi very often, but they all enjoyed the process so much and worked with such skill that they finished well ahead of time. They all seemed to love crafts and were so skillful—it was hard to believe they were only ten years old!
The pieces turned out beautifully, and the children were delighted with their creations.
It made me so happy that she chose a miniature clay workshop to celebrate her 10th birthday.
Two children who joined a previous workshop came again, bringing along friends to join the workshop on making Western sweets.
The participants included students from 4th and 5th grade who love crafting, as well as a mother and 4-year-old sister.
Everyone was fully focused and kept saying how fun it was—they truly enjoyed the process of creating.
Today’s workshop included ice cream, tarts, chocolates, parfait, and Dutch stroopwafels and poffertjes.
While making, they complimented each other’s cute creations and admired their own work with satisfaction, saying how adorable everything looked.
They were such sweet children, and it was heartwarming to see how well they all got along.
The 4-year-old little girl also did her best—despite being so young, she carefully and skillfully made her own sweets. She did an amazing job during the full three-hour workshop.
Some of the children will be returning to Japan soon, and they said “This will be such a nice memory.” I truly believe it because a special experience that all of them will look back on one day, thinking. “Remember when we all made these together?”
I’m really happy to be able to provide such a meaningful experience.
Following the last session, today we welcomed another group eager to make miniature wagashi (Japanese sweets) – a mother with her two children and one of their friends.
They had seen my workshop at the Japan Festival in Amstelveen and had been wanting to try it ever since. I’m so glad they finally had the chance to join!
The mother and children all enjoy crafting, and they worked with great concentration and joy, carefully creating each piece.
The younger child, just in first grade, was skillful and precise even she was little.
Even among lower grade children, those who truly enjoy making things and are naturally good at it tend to focus deeply and work very hard throughout the session.
The family of three will be returning to Japan soon, so I was especially happy they could join before their departure.
I hope today’s creations and this fun experience will become a cherished memory of their time in the Netherlands.
Today, a pair of siblings joined to create miniature Japanese sweets (wagashi).
The older sister, cheerful and friendly, looked after her younger brother like mother. Both of them seemed to really enjoy making things, and they worked quickly and skillfully!
The younger brother, who is still in primary school, not only did a great job with the clay work but also folded a tiny origami crane using a 3cm-square paper — with impressive precision.
She said that there are some Japanese sweets that they have never tried before, such as dorayaki, and I feel that they will love their pieces(they created today) even more when they once tastes them.
She mentioned that they would love to visit Japan someday. I truly hope they’ll have the chance to enjoy authentic Japanese food, wagashi like the ones they made today, and experience Japanese culture firsthand.
They seemed to enjoy the entire process and were very happy with what they had made. They even said they would love to join another workshop again — which made me so happy to hear.
It’s such a joy for me to meet people like this and to be able to offer these kinds of creative experiences.
Thank you very much for participating!
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☆ I hold one-day workshops from time to time. Please see below.
Despite the hot day, many people visited the Japan Festival yesterday and joined Coloratura’s miniature clay workshop. Thank you so much to everyone who came!
At the Japan Festival, participants created tiny and cute Japanese foods, including Japanese dishes (rice ball etc..), Sushi, Japanese sweets.
Thanks to your support, all workshop sessions were fully booked within the first hour, including the final session after 5pm. I’m so happy that everyone who joined seemed to enjoy the experience.
Thanks for those who participated in the workshop, those who kindly showed interest, the Japan Festival organizers, my friends who helped with the reception, And to friends and acquaintances who stopped by to say hello.
Thank you very much.
Through miniature clay lessons and workshops, as well as sales of miniature clay pieces and tsumami-zaiku (traditional Japanese fabric crafts) at markets and events, I’ve had the joy of meeting so many people, and that has kept me going.
Looking ahead, I hope to expand beyond miniature clay and offer workshops in tsumami-zaiku and other Japanese-style crafts.
✳︎ I‘m holding the same “Japanese Food & Sweets” workshop again and other workshops in summer.
Details will be shared here soon, so please check back if you’re interested.
