L

isa Nakagawara said her parents first visited Bali 25 years ago, and were impressed by how the Balinese led their lives.

“They felt a living spirit of humanity in Ubud. They saw Balinese people who were living in harmony with their natural surroundings. In Japan, we have lost that due to economic development. They love Bali and have visited Bali regularly ever since,” she recalled.

Bali also occupies a special place in Lisa’s heart. The island was the destination of her first overseas trip, which left her with a sense of tranquil peace. The Balinese people know how to live in present time, she said.

Bali also strengthened the family’s friendship with Dorothy Goh Beehoon and Yusuf Wanandi, an art connoisseur with an extensive network in the island’s cultural mecca of Ubud. The friendship provided momentum for the family as it mulled a plan to open a workshop in Bali.

“We would like to create handmade original textiles. We have a lot of respect for the Balinese people’s skills. They have specific skills that had ceased to exist in Japan. The textiles will be a combination of Japanese, Balinese, Indonesian and other Asian traditions,” Lisa said.

The family’s Bali workshop will be an eco-friendly facility, powered by sustainable energy sources.

“The recent nuclear crisis in Japan has made us think a lot about energy. The Bali workshop will take a lot of time and money to build and we don’t know when we will be able to build it, although we already have a place in Ubud,” she added.

For the time being, the Nakagawara family continues it cooperation with local spinners and weavers at a nearby village, where it had started a silk farming pilot project.

“We share our knowledge about rearing silk worms, cocoons and spinning thread with the locals. We have started producing silk thread in that village. My family will work in Bali with the local people,” she said.

 The family believes that part of its future destiny is now being woven in the land of Bali.

 — JP/I Wayan Juniartha