Hello!

I am Juveina Sim, ITA Certified Teacher, and founder of Jing Creations Sg from Singapore.
Today I would like to share about a recent anime event in Singapore that I attended, Doujinfes @ Leisure Park Kallang.

Doujinfes @ Leisure Park Kallang was held on 24 & 25 February 2024. It was an exciting weekend where cosplayers, artists, creators, makers, fans, etc gathered together to hang out, take photos, shop at Artist Alley, etc. There are many booths by amazingly talented creators who market their original illustrations, fan art merchandise, handmade crafts etc.

I also boothed at the event, sharing with my crocheter partner (IG: @kquaintsg ). I sell my original creations tsumami zaiku hair accessories, earrings, charms etc.

The crowd was very good and full of friendly enthusiastic wonderful people. The vibes were amazing and I was able to share about tsumami zaiku with many people who are interested in Japanese culture.

I would like to share a bit about the things I sell at events. For my boothing, I put a lot of thought into every piece of creation and initially, I just wanted to make things that I would use.

However, I had a greater purpose in life. I want to keep tsumami zaiku alive for as long as I can. For that, I felt that I needed to reach an audience as wide as possible, so my mindset soon changed to making things that will make people want to own, so that tsumami zaiku will have a small place in their lives, whether as earrings or hair accessories or charms, etc.

As kanzashi is not very relevant in modern times and also in Singapore, I decided to incorporate tsumami zaiku into modern accessories because the more people know about the craft, the longer it lives.

My best-selling product type is earrings. I use a variety of materials to make tsumami for earrings. Chirimen, Japanese cotton, silk, linen, etc. I want my earrings to be able to accentuate, not overshadow, the wearer’s overall OOTD, so I make simple maru-tsumami earrings using a variety of different materials and colors. They are really popular because there are so many choices!

I love making accessories that are youthfully and irresistibly cute. My chirimen Hanami Dango hairclips are very popular as well, and I always have to set aside time to specifically restock them so as not to disappoint my customers. A lot of people say that they cannot use cute things anymore when they become adults because it is unbecoming. I hope to make accessories that are so cute that people of all ages will want to wear them, no matter what.

My favorite material to work with is chirimen because I want to keep my tsumami zaiku as authentically traditional as possible. I want to make it as close to how it was made more than 200 years ago, and using chirimen and starch glue helps me feel a connection to the craftspeople who have worked on this craft from the past till now and also until the future. This is the connection and bridge of the past and future that I pursue endlessly, that gives me the meaning and the will to continue my tsumami zaiku.  Although habutae is another traditional material, I regretfully rarely use it because it is not very economical.

I will also be attending the next Doujinfes event at HomeTeamNS Bedok Reservoir on 27-28 April 2024, 11 am to 7 pm. (Free entry.)

Do come say Hi and do tsumami zaiku with me there! See you!