The Italy Pavilion at the Osaka-Kansai Expo, themed “Art Revives Life,”

The Kyoai dyed artwork using Moleskine notebooks, which was recently delivered to the Moleskine Foundation in Italy, will be exhibited at the Italy Pavilion of the Expo 2025 in Kansai.

I have received photos from Moleskine showcasing Kyoai dyed works using Moleskine notebooks currently on display.

If you’re visiting the Italy Pavilion in August, please take a look! 🔵

【Exhibition Period】: Friday, August 1, 2025 – Saturday, August 23, 2025
【Venue】: Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Italy Pavilion
【Opening Hours】: 9:00 AM – 10:00 PM

I delivered a Kyoai(Kyoto indigo) dyed artwork using Moleskine notebooks to the Moleskine Foundation in Italy—traditional notebooks once loved by Van Gogh and Picasso.

In June, I happened to have plans to visit Slovenia (neighboring Italy), so I decided to create the piece as close to Moleskine (Italy) as possible and worked on it in Slovenia.

This piece was created by fermenting indigo using a technique from 700 years ago and dyeing scraps of fabric for three minutes each day.
Because it is a 700-year-old technique, it is extremely unstable, resulting in significant color differences depending on the day.
It documents the life of the indigo, which was prepared in March last year and completed its role in May this year when the pigment was depleted.

I turned the peak I aspire to reach, and the life of Kyoai spanning over a year and a few months, into this artwork.

This makes two pieces in Italy—Kyoto indigo (KYOAI) is now part of the collections of Valextra and Moleskine.
In Japan, Kyoto indigo (KYOAI) has been dedicated to Myoshin-ji Temple’s Keishun-in in Kyoto and Toshodai-ji Temple in Nara.
I will continue to leave traces of Kyoto indigo around the world.