October 9th Time: The two-part bamboo basket workshop has successfully concluded✨ Perhaps I've been able to stay healthy this year precisely because I had these bamboo baskets🤔

Good morning☀️ It's Time😊 My lower back and shoulders are completely stiff from this morning😅 I wonder if I've just been accumulating too much fatigue. It's true that between everything going on, both my mental and physical strength have been drained, but I can't let that defeat me, so I'll do my best today too🔥

Yesterday was the final day of the two-part bamboo basket workshop. For Time, this bamboo basket marks the end of this year.

Including yesterday's, I've made five baskets this year.

Last year, I first learned about Nemagari-take bamboo baskets, met the teacher and his wife, and just kept participating in workshops. I kept getting better at weaving, and I loved working with my hands so much that before I knew it, I was surrounded by baskets.

The bamboo basket bag I ordered from the teacher also appears in various places in my daily life.

It wasn't just about the bamboo baskets; the teacher and his wife also offered me kind words when I was feeling down after being dumped by my ex-boyfriend in February.

"Spring is just around the corner. Days filled with light are waiting for you."

I couldn't really take those words in when I was at rock bottom, but looking back now, it was truly the case. I spent the year silently weaving bamboo baskets as if to shake off my lingering attachment to my ex. Thanks to the teacher, I was able to go to places I'd never been before, and I made new connections.

For this last bamboo basket project of the year, my partner Utan drove me the four hours it takes to get there and back. When I wove my first bamboo basket in April of this year, Utan wasn't even in the picture. Yesterday, the couple sent me off with huge smiles as I left, saying, "He came to pick you up!" Their smiles were so appreciated, and I felt completely filled with happiness.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to be as active next year as I was this year, but I intend to keep weaving bamboo baskets. There were times when I couldn't do it at all and felt like crying, but I love this time spent working with my hands with a clear mind. I couldn't hear the voice of the bamboo haha, and I ended up snapping it in various places, but that's been happening less lately.

If it weren't for these bamboo baskets, I wouldn't have met the teacher or the people I shared the workshops with, and those connections wouldn't have been made. This year was truly a year where I was helped and saved by the bamboo baskets, the teacher, and the people I connected with through the workshops. I'm already looking forward to seeing what kind of baskets my hands will weave next year, and what kind of time I will spend.

Teacher, thank you so much for everything in 2025!

This is the couple's website. It takes time, but they do accept orders, so please take a look if you are interested.

"Bansanka" Cover by Yudai Takenaka (Novelbright)

My favorite bamboo basket bag had a defect, so I left it with the teacher yesterday. It's sad that I won't be able to use it for a while, but I am truly grateful that I can keep using it for a long time while having it maintained.

I wish I could make things like that too.