Today is my 15th day in Japan. My beloved is going to fly back from Osaka to Belgium today.

Vladimir and I will continue to travel together from now on. MokuhangaMagic in Japan!

Japan has been nothing short of fantastic until now. We have visited beautiful places, dodged wild monkeys and deadly snakes. We have cycled under palm trees and across islands, visited the beautiful city of Kyoto, climbed to the top of Miyajima and visited Hiroshima. We discovered the whirlpools of Naruto and compared them with the Naruto whirlpool ukiyo-e prints of Utagawa Hiroschige. We visited the Awagami Paper Factory and I honed my shibori skills in a multi-day workshop. We were introduced to the architecture of Tadao Ando and visited beautiful museums on Naoshima and Teshima. Most importantly, we ate delicious food, the futons are good and the people we met were friendly and helpful.

On the red line platform of Hommachi subway station, we say goodbye. It is strange to be left alone halfway through the journey. My husband is going home to look after the offspring, and I will continue here for a while longer. From now on, it is real and I am on my way to do the things that I have been looking forward to doing for so long.

To take my mind off things, I go to the Jam Studio, the riso hall where Vladimir is working today. They have 35 colours there. That’s a lot, believe me!

I am just in time for the guided tour. And yes, this is indeed the Valhalla of riso. They print to order: business cards, flyers, zines, artwork, everything. Great. What a nice place. Cool atmosphere. Lots of nice things. Clean details. For example, the booklets are sewn with two colours of thread, so the stitching on the inside is a different colour to the stitching on the outside.

There is a small shop downstairs and you can easily do a screen print on the spot with a system of their own invention.

I test the screen printing system, Vladimir works on his design and agrees to bring his design to the studio the next morning before we travel on.

Satisfied, we head back to the hotel. We stop for a tasty udon on the way. I have no trouble finding my way back to the hotel, even taking the lift to the 25th floor without a second thought. One last wave to an airplane in the sky and off to bed. Ready to continue travelling.