November 2015

Toki-san travels extensively to festivals,
workshops, and cultural events to share his
knowledge and to supplement his income.
Always willing to share his extensive
knowledge of the Tokyo kite tradition, Tokisan
has been a mentor to many of us who
are interested in the Edo kite forms. He has
the hands-on experience and the shared
knowledge of his Tokyo predecessors to
explain the subtleties of the Edo kite and to
demonstrate their wonderful flying
characteristics. Toki-san playfully described
spending months on one of his first large
Edo-dakos. After skillful painting,
painstaking bamboo-work, and careful
bridling, on the first flight the kite overflew
and crashed dramatically!
Toki-san is no stranger to new ideas and
techniques. He has shown us new Japanese
paper that is as strong as Tyvek. The new
“magic paper” has an internal grid or
lattice, and painting techniques have to be
experimented with, but the paper transmits
light beautifully and can be sewed, glued,
or stapled onto a kite frame of any material.
Toki-san can also create his own stronger
paper using traditional methods, laminating
paper to cotton scrim or to silk. This
technique provides a different painting
surface that results in a more matte-looking
finish.
Toki-san’s craftsmanship has become
spectacular after his many years of
experience. In his small kites that you might
expect some “corners to be cut,” you’ll find
no such thing. Every bridle is perfect,
bamboo is finished and consistent, and the
paintings show maturity and power in the
simplest of images.
www.mikiotoki.com/english1.htm
www.asahi-net.or.jp/~ea8a-tkkw/toki.html
www.facebook.com/mikio.toki ◆
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