About

Amizu Japan is run by Naruhiko, Naru for short, a maker based in Japan. The guides are for knitters and crocheters outside Japan who want to use Japanese charts, books, yarn, and tools.

What you'll find here

How to read the symbols in Japanese knitting and crochet charts
Japanese needle and hook sizes converted to US, UK, and millimeters
How to buy Japanese craft books and yarn from outside Japan
The Japanese words that show up on patterns and yarn labels

How the guides are made

Naru's first language is Japanese. The English text of every guide is drafted with AI (Claude, made by Anthropic). Naru chooses the topics and checks the Japanese side of each guide: the characters, the terms, and the Japanese sources.

Numbers, symbol meanings, and prices come from sources opened while writing each guide: Japanese tool and yarn makers, publishers, and the official pages of the services compared. Every guide ends with its list of sources. When two sources disagree, the guide says so instead of picking one quietly. Prices and fees change, so check the linked page before you buy.

Japanese books, charts, and photos are not copied here. Any charts and examples on this site are made for it.

Photos and videos

Any photos or videos on this site show hands only, without narration.

Who runs this site

Amizu Japan is published by MOTCHALINI LLC (合同会社MOTCHALINI), Tokyo, Japan. Author: Naruhiko Morita (Naru).
UCF501 Ginza Wall Building, 6-13-16 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061, Japan

Contact

Email info@amizujapan.com, in English or Japanese. Corrections are especially welcome. If something in a guide is wrong, please say which page and what you found.