BEHIND the window of a hotel room in Nagoya, Japan, early last January, Komarudin Kudiya's eyes continuously watched the snowflakes that were falling. With enthrallment, Komar—as the batik artist from Cirebon, West Java, is usually called—burst outside and scooped up the snow that piled up in the hotel's yard.

Komar was not only enchanted. The 36-year-old from the batik-producing village of Trusmi, Cirebon, also made an effort