Okan Arts Quilting & Textile Tours to Japan are open for booking. To learn more +click here By Patricia Belyea TOKYO JP Three days after a traffic-stopping snowstorm hit the most populated city in the world, the Tokyo Quilt Festival opened its doors. Here are oodles of photos from Opening Day so you can vicariously tour the show floor. NOTE: This is only a thimbleful of the quilts exhibited! Most of the credits were listed in Japanese. I have included the artists’ names when they were available in English. original design category—a sampling original design category—the winners Detail: First Place—Jim Hay Detail: 2nd Place—Emiko Yakushiji Detail: 3rd Place— Hiroko Ouchi wa (the essence of Japan) category—a sampling wa category—the winners First Place—Yasuko Anai Second Place—Momoe Kashihara Third Place—Tamiko Mawatari traditional design category—the winners First Place— Rieko Hasegawa Second Place—Emiko Kobayashi Third Place—Kyo Saito invitational category—a sampling Quilt Artist: Sachiko Yoshida Quilt Artist: Mitsuyo Akita Quilt Artist: Keiko Miyauchi Quilt Artist: Toshie Shinohara Quilt Artist: Etsuko Ishitobi show winners Friendship Award—Chikako Akashi Hand Making Award—Toshiko Imai Japan Quilt Grand Prix Second Place—Chiharu Katsuragawa Japan Quilt Grand Prix First Place—Masako Sanada To take a look at the SPECIAL EXHIBITS at 2018 Tokyo Quilt Festival +click here To examine UP-CLOSE PHOTOS of the quilts at 2018 Tokyo Quilt Festival +click here # # # # # ABOUT US: Okan Arts, a petite family business, is co-owned by mother-daughter duo Patricia Belyea and Victoria Stone. Patricia and Victoria sell Japanese textiles online, host creative quilting experiences, and lead quilting & textile tours to Japan. FOLLOW OKAN ARTS ON INSTAGRAM @okanarts