Last winter I packed my bags and took a plane and flew far away, almost as far as possible, to Japan.Japan has always been one of the places I’ve wanted to visit. I’ve always been fascinated by Japanese aesthetics and I just knew that one day I have to visit. The fact that my partner often goes to Japan for business trips made this journey even more attractive. There we were the 2 of us, he worked during the days and I boarded the train every morning, heading to a different destination, off to discover Japan. Most of the time the view from the train window was snowy white, which helped to create an even more magical experience.

 

And so Japan revealed itself to me – large, bewildering and full of contrasts.
The most dramatic contrast in Japan is probably the one between classical and modern. On one hand, Japanese tradition plays a very important role. Old Japanese culture is still existent in every place and it is exciting and impressive. On the other hand, no other nation is more fascinated by technology, new inventions and anything related with Western culture, than the Japanese people.
The old

 

The new

 

The Japanese are the most polite people – always standing in a straight line, no pushing or noise making. In the escalators everyone sticksto the right, allowing others to pass them (the sides vary in some of the cities, so you need to be updated so as not to be considered rude) and one of the words that Japanese use most often, in different connections and meanings, is “excuse me” or “sorry”. On top of that, Japan is extremely clean. I couldn’t find even one piece of trash in the street, despite (or maybe because of) the fact that garbage cans just do not exist. Nonetheless, the streets are far from being boring and they are packed with small details that catch the eye, from decorated sewage lids to street art.

 

This is what I liked most about the Japanese –the important role that aesthetics plays in their culture and daily lives. Japanese just need for everything to be pretty, and that’s enough of a reason for me to love them for it. This neatness mostly stands out in their food and in the way it’s served – beautiful small dishes, every portion of the meal is served in a separate uniquely designed dish.
Mothers even buy special kits for decorating the food they send in their kids’ lunchbox.

 

But even more than pretty, Japanese like it “cute”, or as they call it – “Kawaii“. Japanese are just crazy for anything that’s cute, childish or naïve – stuffed animals with big eyes, cute small-size dogs and more. In their strive to make everything look cute, they humanize anything possible and add faces to the local snack packages or to strange things such as cleaning brushes and rags, or they hang out in coffee shops packed with fuzzy teddy bears of all shapes and sizes.

 

One of the things you will notice about the Japanese is that they never consider anything as too strange or different. Sunglasses for a dog? Totally common (not to speak about dog’s apparel, which is totally standard). A coffee shop full of cats? There are many of those around.

 

In summary, my trip to Japan was so rich with new and different experiences, that only now I feel that I’ve managed to assimilate everything I experienced there. Lucky me, I came back just in time to design my new jewelry collection, and there was no doubt that the design inspiration would be Japanese.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are only a few items from my collection. In order to see more you can enter my website.
You are welcome to leave a comment and tell me what you thought about the collection!