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In the summer of 2015, we traveled through France with two handmade bears—one heading to Arles(Traveling Bear No.2), the other to Paris.
At that time, it was simply a quiet wish: to bring a self-made bear along to every place I visited.
The floral fabric came from a set of European-style botanical prints, delicately patterned and finely printed. The moment I saw it, I could already imagine the Paris Bear taking shape.
The golden thread on its nose bridge was originally a fastening cord from a commemorative bento at the Nara Shōsōin exhibition. Subtle rather than flashy, it carries a quiet sense of elegance, fitting perfectly with my way of collecting everyday ephemera—small, discarded details that I can’t help but keep.
For the ruff collar, I couldn’t find a suitable material before departure. In the end, I used packaging paper from a skirt to create a structured ruffle with a medieval European feel.
During the trip, the weather was extremely hot, and with two children in tow, we didn’t take many photographs—only a few scattered fragments remained.
This fabric was very limited, enough for only three bears, each with slightly different floral arrangements.
After returning home, I carefully refined the ruff collars, experimenting with different ribbons until I found the right texture. It turned out to be surprisingly wasteful—more ribbon than I had expected went into a single collar.
I also shaped a small clay identity tag for each bear, stamped with numbers, and once fully dried, stitched it onto the back.
In the end, I kept one Paris Bear for myself, displayed in my collection cabinet. The other two were adopted by my most devoted followers.
Paris, in two quiet fragments.
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