Mastery

GENSO — Bizen Pottery: Clay, Fire, and the Quiet Power of Tradition

On the shores of the Seto Inland Sea, the small village of Bizen in Okayama Prefecture has spent over a thousand years mastering an art form shaped entirely by earth and flame. Known as one of Japa...

Amano Kouya — The Last Indigo Workshop of Hirose

In the quiet town of Hirose, tucked within Yasugi City, Shimane Prefecture, stands Amano Kouya — the last surviving indigo dye house in the region. Founded in 1870, it began as a specialist worksho...

Shiraki Kogei — Light of Tradition, Handcrafted in Yame

For over 200 years, Yame in Fukuoka has been home to the craft of Yame lanterns — originally made as Bon Chochin to guide ancestors during the summer festival. A bamboo frame wrapped in spirals, co...

Layering Beauty — The Story of Shitsurindo

There’s a quiet town in Fukui Prefecture called Echizen — known as the birthplace of Japanese lacquerware. The air is often cool and misty, the kind of climate where urushi (natural lacquer) dries ...