Hiiro: A Modern Bizen-Yaki Water Carafe
Hiiro is a modern, ceramic water carafe made from traditional bizen-yaki. It’s the result of a joint-effort between product designer Shizuka Tatsuno and Daikura, a pottery studio specializing in bizen-yaki....
Crafts
The only Yukata you will ever need
It is summer festival season in Japan. While a traditional Kimono is only worn on special occasions, Yukata are worn by all generations during this time. Recently one particular brand has caught my eye. Chikusen has been making traditional Japanese clothing since 1842 and while many of their designs are...
The last collotype printer
“The people who built those machines are not here anymore,” says Osamu Yamamoto, who speaks deferentially of the cast-iron collotype printers at Benrido Atelier in Kyoto. Yamamoto is the manager of Benrido, a printing establishment that uses some of the last, traditional collotype machines in the world to create richly...
Craftmanship for babies: tradition for the next generation
When Rika Yajima was only 19 years old, she began to get curious about Japanese craftsmanship. She wanted to get to know the traditions of the preindustrial past, when the handmade goods were central to Japanese culture. The adults in her life – the generation above her own – were...
Combining Japanese woodworking & global design
Karimoku New Standard has harnessed the pure energy and expertise of woodworking to produce experimental new designs that are interesting without being excessive. Launched in 2009, KNS is the daughter company of Karimoku Furniture, a manufacturer with origins in Aichi prefecture. From modest beginnings in 1940 Karimoku expanded into a...
Bending what is unbending: the bamboo artisan weaving Japan’s future
At this year’s Milan Design Week, the Spanish fashion label Loewe’s annual showcase of global craftsmanship veered into a world as yet unexplored by most luxury brands, that is, the world of woven baskets. Loewe issued a challenge to master weavers around the globe: use leather, and create something new....
Tory Burch x Buaisou
One of our previous posts featured a group of craftsmen that specializes in traditional indigo dyeing called Buaisou. They’ve recently collaborated with major fashion brand Tory Burch for an exclusive line for the Ginza flagship opening last week. I wish I were in Japan right now to purchase some of...
Architecture at sea: Japan’s floating ryokan
Guntu is a 38-passenger cruise ship that takes guests on a journey along the coastlines of Japan’s Seto Inland Sea. Part yacht, part ryokan, part high-end hotel, Guntu is not only a true achievement in nautical design, but it also represents something exceptional in the world of contemporary hospitality as...
Modern Master of Tea
Maruwaka Hirotoshi is an award-winning designer and one of the founders of GEN GEN AN by EN TEA, a Tokyo-based tea house that’s actively broadening notions of what Japanese tea can and should look like. Even before becoming a tea master for the new millennium, Maruwaka straddled the worlds of...
Exploring the ultimate balance between lacquer and wood
Genten kaiki (原点回帰) means something like, “returning to the original starting point,” or “going back to the origin.” It’s an idea lacquerware company Gato Mikio adopted as their guiding approach, a philosophy that goes into each and every bowl, plate, tea canister, vase, or sake cup they design and produce....
When Kimono artisans start making denim
Kyoto Denim started as a Kimono manufacturer dating back to the Edo period, specifically 1688. While many of their competitors have gone out of business in the the past few decades, Kyoto denim is going strong. Toyoaki Kuwayama, the successor of this family business took the company in an unexpected...
Kawara roof tiles reinvented
Kawara are the roof tiles that define the historical cityscapes of places such as Kyoto. Yasuhiro Ichinose, the successor of a family business specializing in traditional roof tiles that has recently celebrated it’s 100th anniversary, is looking to expand the scope of kawara products beyond roofs. Yasuhiro has been involved...