Curves softly illuminated by light. Their texture evokes the moment a flower blooms or fabric layered with supple grace, making you want to reach out and touch them. Lacquer artist Fumie Sasai explores “shapes you can’t help but want to touch,” creating unseen forms while conversing daily with lacquer.

Shapes Made of Lacquer That Invite Touch

In her home and studio in Mukō City, Kyoto Prefecture, the lacquer drying cabinet, the “lacquer room,” holds pieces with a mysterious presence. Soft, airy swells, or forms as plump and juicy as ripe fruit. Their surfaces catch the light with a moist luster, tempting you to bring your fingertips closer.

Sasai’s three-dimensional lacquer works are not completed with a single coat. By layering lacquer and polishing after each application, she refines subtle irregularities to create an even, uniform surface. Furthermore, lacquer only hardens in spaces with controlled temperature and humidity, requiring time for drying. Only through this repeated process, layered many times over, do these smooth textures and soft forms emerge.

“I decide the coating and form while imagining the sensation when touched,” explains Sasai’s creative approach. As he coats, polishes, and coats again, the lacquer’s thickness builds into volume, and the precision of the polishing creates smoothness. The forms nurtured bit by bit carry the layered time Sasai spent engaging with the lacquer, confirming its state with his fingertips.

He chose “works that won’t lose their form”

Sasai was born and raised in Yao City, Osaka Prefecture. Growing up in a working-class neighborhood with a father who was a company employee and a mother who was a homemaker, his family had no particular connection to the arts. He became drawn to the path of art in high school and went on to study at an art university in Kyoto.

“I painted in high school, but as I continued, I started thinking maybe I was better suited to creating forms within my hands rather than working on a flat surface. What about becoming a ceramicist? I jumped into an art university with the mindset of ‘Let’s just try it first.'”

Upon entering university, he first experienced dyeing, ceramics, and lacquerware. Among these, lacquer captured Sasai’s heart. “With ceramics, the pieces shrink when fired, which I found a bit sad,” he explains. Conversely, lacquer gains fullness and substance with each layer applied. He was drawn to how its expression changes with each application, allowing him to slowly decide the form while observing these transformations.

Forging a path no one has walked before, with my own hands

Having chosen lacquerware, Sasai initially envisioned a future crafting vessels in a workshop. Yet as she worked, she transcended the boundaries of vessel-making, pursuing forms that were true to her own sensibilities. Following her heart led her to lacquer objects—a medium where she could freely explore the shapes she loved.

At that time, the world of lacquer art was still dominated by practitioners working as “craftsmen” making vessels and Buddhist altarware. Precisely because of this, he reasoned that by deliberately pivoting into the realm of art, he could forge a new path where no one had ventured before. This realization became the major catalyst for steering his course toward becoming an artist and beginning to explore his own unique form of expression.

Dialogue with nature and people close at hand became the source of creation

Since encountering lacquer, Sasai has consistently engaged with “form.” This journey has also been one of continually seeking how to entrust the sensations arising in his heart to lacquer. His work reveals a core strength that enjoys time-consuming processes and steadfastly upholds his aesthetic sensibility.

Plump forms of life born from everyday observations

One of Sasai’s representative series is “Bilabdo.” Its rounded, soft forms evoke the appearance of infants and children—the period when humans receive the most affection—and inevitably bring a smile to the viewer’s face. These plump contours succinctly express Sasai’s theme of “forms you want to touch.”

Another representative series, “Sky Fish,” beautifully harmonizes the characteristic plump curves and overlapping ridges found in Sasai’s work.

These works share a common thread: they convey Sasai’s curiosity, focused on small, everyday observations and the nature close at hand. The freshness of a child’s skin, the suppleness of a fish swimming on the water’s surface. The charm of Sasai’s work lies in how these forms of life are expressed through the unique, deep texture of lacquer.

Time spent with students fuels creative energy

Alongside his own artistic practice, Sasai has served as a professor at Kyoto City University of Arts, teaching students the creation of three-dimensional lacquer works. He finds the time spent interacting with the younger generation at the university to be a significant stimulus for himself. “If I had devoted myself solely to creating, I might have hit a wall. Interacting with the students provides balance and gives me energy.”

Dialogue with the younger generation broadens his perspective, enriching Sasai’s creative process.

A new world opened through collaboration

“Collaborations” with artists from different fields have also been a major catalyst for expanding Sasai’s expressive range. Encountering materials and approaches entirely different from lacquer has given birth to new possibilities.

A prime example is the collaborative work “Boat of the Sun” with bamboo craftsman Tanabe Chikunsa IV.While Sasai used blue lacquer to express the sun floating on the sea surface with a sharp, circular form, Tanabe wove bundles of bamboo into the blue ring, capturing the moment sunlight spreads across the ocean. The fusion of lacquer’s sharp lines and bamboo’s softness creates a new charm in craftsmanship.

The collaborative work “Glass Fish” with kirikane glass artist Akane Yamamoto is another piece where the two artists’ individualities merge.”Kirikane glass” is a technique original to Yamamoto Akane, where patterns are drawn using thin, thread-like strips of gold leaf, which are then sealed within molten glass. Inspired by the glass eyes Yamamoto creates, Sasai gave birth to a vivid blue fish that seems to leap across the water’s surface.

“Through collaborations with various craftspeople, I’ve seen worlds I never could have reached working alone. Of course, it benefits me personally, and I can pass it on to my students, so I believe it’s creating double or triple the positive impact.” These collaborations with diverse artists also became an opportunity for Sasai to unravel the unconscious assumptions she had unknowingly formed about “how lacquer should be.”

Freer, farther. Believing in the potential of lacquer.

Sasai’s works have been exhibited in museums, solo shows, and various themed exhibitions. Additionally, her pieces are permanently displayed as part of the artwork collection at The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto. It’s a special space where visitors can encounter her creations during their stay or dining experience.

In recent years, his new challenges showcased in the 2024 solo exhibition “Gentle Breeze, Sudden Thunder” were recognized, earning him the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology New Artist Award in the Fine Arts category at the 75th Arts Selection Awards. Furthermore, he will realize his first solo exhibition in the United States in the summer of 2025, significantly expanding his creative horizons.

“I truly believe Japanese crafts possess exceptional quality. That’s precisely why increasing opportunities for more people to see them should spark greater interest overseas. In fact, international visitors do come to see my work, and I believe the potential is immense.”

In 2026, an exhibition introducing Japanese lacquer art is scheduled at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, UK, and Sasai’s work has been selected for display. As an individual artist, she stands at the gateway to introducing Japanese craft to the world. Her determination and hope for the future were palpable in her words.

What new encounters will come next, and what new expressions will emerge? The works born from these encounters will surely stir our hearts once again.

The post What I seek is “a form that invites touch.” Lacquer artist Fumie Sasai, who shapes the tactile essence of life / Mukō City, Kyoto Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

Kyoto not only preserves tradition, but also has the ability to sublimate it and create new values,” said Masashi Takahashi, a distiller at Kyoto Distillery Co. I am moved by this spirit,” said Masashi Takahashi, a distillation engineer at Kyoto Distillery, which is responsible for the production of the craft gin “Kinobi. How was KINOBI, which has won awards at international sake competitions and attracted attention both in Japan and abroad, born? The birth of Ki-no-Mi and its unique manufacturing process are based on a deep respect for Kyoto.

A new experiment at Japan’s first distillery specializing in craft gin

The Kyoto distillery’s beginnings date back to 2015. The founder had been involved in importing and selling sake for many years, but he founded Kyoto Distillery in 2015 out of a desire to deliver sake made by his own hands, rather than just buying and selling.

For the founder, who hails from England, gin was a familiar presence. Whenever he enjoyed conversation with friends or went to watch rugby, he always had a bottle of gin in his hand, and it was a part of his life. This, combined with my love of Japan, led me to the decision to create a gin that would fit in with the Japanese climate and be loved around the world,” says Takahashi.

Incidentally, gin is an alcoholic beverage made from agricultural alcohol and flavored with juniper berries, with the juniper berry aroma being the predominant flavor. The bottled alcohol content must be 37.5% or higher, and only ingredients derived from nature or chemically compatible with it are used for flavoring.

After much research and preparation, the company obtained Kyoto’s first gin production license; the factory was completed in 2016, and Ki no Bi Kyoto Dry Gin went on sale in October of the same year.

Why and how we chose Kyoto as the location for Ki no Bi

One of the appeals of Ki no Bi is the ingredients and culture rooted in Kyoto. While most gins are made from wheat or barley, Ki no Bi is made from rice, which is distilled into a spirit. Kyoto botanicals are added to add aroma and flavor, resulting in a delicate, mellow taste that is familiar to the Japanese palate.

The botanicals include gyokuro, yuzu, red pine, and sansho, which are rarely produced overseas. The subtle astringency of gyokuro complements the sweetness of the base rice,” says Takahashi. It is evident that Takahashi places great importance on the compatibility and balance of the ingredients. For water, which is essential for gin-making, Takahashi uses water from Fushimi, one of the most famous sake breweries in Japan. Local ingredients are carefully selected one by one to fit in with the Japanese lifestyle.

The founder also believed that Kyoto is a place where craftsmanship is deeply rooted, with many traditional crafts being passed down from generation to generation. One of the reasons he chose Kyoto was to express this world view.

Kyoto botanicals weave together to create a distinctly Japanese flavor

Most of the gins distributed around the world are characterized by their crisp, dry taste. In contrast, Ki no Bi has a mild and gentle flavor. This seemingly contradictory originality is made possible by the Kyoto distillery’s unique manufacturing process.

In general, gin is distilled with all alcohol and botanicals in one batch. Ki no Bi, however, uses a time-consuming method in which 11 botanicals are classified into 6 groups according to their characteristics, distilled separately, and then blended together.

The six groups are: Base (Cornerstone), Citrus (Citrus), Tea (Tea), Spice (Spicy), Fruity & Floral (Aromatic), and Herbal (Rin). The distillation process is optimally timed to maximize the aroma and flavor of each ingredient.

Our commitment is to use Kyoto botanicals in their freshest state. We want to bring out the best in each ingredient. With this in mind, we change the order of distillation and the temperature of each distillation. Mr. Takahashi’s words, spoken with a serious look in his eyes, reveal his deep love for gin making.

A Japanese Worldview in a Western Sake

Ki-no-Bi” is designed to evoke a sense of “Japan” not only in taste, but also in sight and touch. The ink-colored bottle is decorated with a design by KIRA KARACHO, a karakami (Japanese paper) shop that has been in business since the Edo period (1603-1868), and has a chic look that conveys the traditional beauty of Japan to the modern age.

The label is designed to evoke a sense of Japan’s four seasons and culture when you see it or hold it in your hand. The “experience” begins even before you drink it.

After gaining global recognition, the next goal is to “spread Japanese culture to the world.

In just a few years since establishing Japan’s first distillery specializing in gin, Kyoto Distillery has gained worldwide acclaim.

In 2021, the distillery was awarded the top prize “Trophy” at the IWSC (International Wine & Spirits Competition), and won four awards at the World Gin Awards 2022.

The “Trophy” was the highest award at the IWSC (International Wine & Spirits Competition) and won four awards at the World Gin Awards 2022. Our unique distillation method of distilling 11 botanicals in 6 groups also seemed to be fresh.

Ki-no-Mi” is a craft gin that skillfully expresses Japan’s uniqueness and has a strong presence around the world. The Japanese culture is reflected in the ingredients, manufacturing process, design, and other details.

Currently exported to approximately 70 countries, it has grown to become a gin that attracts overseas fans as well. We want more people to know about Ki no Bi, and we want people all over the world to feel the beauty of Japan,” says Takahashi enthusiastically. This challenge, which began in Kyoto, will continue to attract attention in the future.

The post From Kyoto to the World. Kyoto Distillery, the home of Japan’s first craft gin “Ki-no-Mi” (Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture) first appeared on NIHONMONO.

Jihei Ogawa was a samurai turned gardener during the Horeki era (1751-1763) of the Edo period. His work in gardens has been passed down from generation to generation as his family business, and he has created many famous gardens, including Murinan Garden and Heian Shrine Garden, both of which are designated national scenic spots. The company’s vision has been passed down for more than 260 years in the form of succession of names, and today Ogawa is the 12th generation of the family to inherit this vision. Even in 2025, Jihei Ogawa continues to create gardens that “bring people and nature together.

The shape of the garden changes with the times, but what remains the same

The color of the sky, plants swaying in the wind, and mountains in the distance. The presence of nature enriches our lives. In Japan, we have lived in harmony with nature since ancient times. The Asuka Period saw the creation of the oldest Japanese garden, followed by the Heian Period (794-1185) with the pond-centered “Chisen-teien (pond garden),” the Muromachi Period (1333-1573) with the “Karesansui (dry landscape garden),” which expresses mountains and flowing water without using water, and the Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1573-1584) with the “Chanen (tea ceremony garden)” for the tea ceremony room. In every age, people have nurtured their relationship with nature through gardens.

In recent years, the role required of gardens has changed with the westernization of buildings and the diversification of lifestyles. Nevertheless, the garden remains a bridge between people and nature. The Japanese people have a deep-seated respect and faith in nature. Katsusho Ogawa, the twelfth generation of the Ueji family, is rethinking this relationship between people and gardens and creating a better form. Under the motto of “listening to the voice of nature and building a bridge with the people who live there,” he aims to create a place where people can spend their time in peace and tranquility.

The “Jihei Ogawa” spirit passed down from generation to generation

Jihei Ogawa, the founder, was a samurai turned gardener in the middle of the Edo period (1603-1868), and he worked on his garden with a sword at his side. The trade name “Ueji” is a fusion of the “植” of “plant” and the “治” of “Jihei Ogawa,” and is an expression of his pride as a craftsman as well as his name. The trade name “Ueji” has been passed down to his descendants, and the name “Jihei Ogawa” has been passed down from generation to generation by the head of the family. The seventh generation of the family has been active in the garden up to the present day. Unlike conventional gardens, he created a naturalistic garden that made the most of nature itself, attracting many people. By incorporating the Biwako Canal, which had just opened at that time, he created a pond garden as a living landscape. He was commissioned to create gardens for the residence of Aritomo Yamagata (Murinan), who served as the third Prime Minister of Japan, and for the Sumitomo and Mitsui families, as well as for the restoration of historical buildings such as the Kyoto Imperial Garden, Shugakuin Imperial Villa, and Katsura Imperial Villa. Due in part to his influence, Jihei Ogawa has created numerous pond gardens to the present day.

A garden is not finished when it is created; rather, it begins when it is created. In particular, a Japanese garden cannot be described only in terms of the scenery in front of it. They live on a gentle time axis, show a variety of expressions as the seasons change, and speak to us quietly over time.

Ogawa says, “I want to create a garden that will be cherished and nurtured for decades and centuries to come. His straightforward attitude toward his garden, akin to the samurai spirit of “loyalty to one’s lord,” is still alive today.

Cherishing the Roots of the Garden and Leading the Next Generation

The name “Jihei Ogawa” has been passed down for about 250 years. He not only creates new gardens, but is also asked to restore gardens that have been in existence for a long time.
In doing so, Mr. Ogawa places importance on knowing “how he was born and how he has lived his life. Based on that trajectory, he determines how to nurture the garden to make it happy in the future.

Sometimes we nurture a 100-year-old garden into a 101-year-old garden, and sometimes we find a new direction. The gardener’s role is to guide the garden to a form appropriate to the times while preserving its roots.
A garden lives long only when it is loved. Even if it is only one person, if there is someone who cares about it, the garden will surely respond.

The renewed “Fugetsu no Niwa” at Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, inheriting the wishes of the seventh generation, Jihei Ogawa

The “Fugetsu no Niwa” garden at Kitano Tenmangu Shrine was created by Jihei Ogawa VII in 1902, in time for the “Thousand Year Grand Mantō Festival. About 120 years later, Mr. Ogawa breathed life into the garden once again.

The Fugetsu-no-niwa (Fugetsu Garden) extends around Fugetsuden in an L-shape. In front of the hall, a waterfall cascades down from a hill and curves around to form a pond. Carp swim in the pond, and as you walk around the garden, you will see various views of the garden as a circular garden. At the end of the waterfall stone arrangement is a “cow statue” associated with Sugawara Michizane, the god of learning, and a row of garden stones that resemble the shape of a cow. The stones are arranged “as if to protect the cow,” and the faith of the people is alive and well in this stone arrangement. While utilizing existing garden stones such as Moriyamaishi (Moriyama stone), which was favored by the seventh generation, and Kibuneishi and Kuramaishi, famous stones in Kyoto, giant stones gathered from various places are used for the new garden, from the waterfall masonry to the revetment. While preserving the foundation laid by the predecessors, the twelfth generation has evolved the garden into a “Fugetsu no Niwa” (garden of the wind and the moon) suited to the modern age.

A garden is a “quiet dialogue” between people and nature, a garden that makes you want to visit again and again.

The charm of a garden lies in the fact that when you step into the garden, you see a different view from the one you saw yesterday.

The appearance of the garden changes day by day, as buds sprout and mosses grow. This change is also a time to face nature and oneself. A Japanese garden that makes use of the shape of the land and the plants has not only instantaneous beauty, but also “ephemeral beauty” that oozes out as time passes. It is not something that is completed overnight, but a series of small changes.

I would be happy if, in the course of our daily life, people remember how we talked in the garden, or how beautiful the scenery was that day. Not only in the season of fresh greenery and blooming flowers, but also in its rugged appearance after a harsh winter. The feeling that can only be experienced at that moment is richness.

Facing oneself and spending time more richly

Thinking about nature through the garden is also a way of confronting oneself. Sometimes we feel our own growth, and sometimes we realize our decline, when we see landscapes that are different from those of yesterday. For Japanese people, who have lived their lives in the midst of nature, this is a very natural activity. The future that lies ahead will be gently answered by the “place of dialogue with nature” called a garden.

Positive about the future with a sense of responsibility as a creator

The process of creating a garden involves digging up stones and trees from the mountains, selecting them, and rooting their life into a new place. Where to place them and how to make the best use of them are the moments when the gardener’s skill and sensitivity are tested. Adjustments are made over and over again to ensure that the garden owner can spend a peaceful time in the garden.

When a tree grows, some people are happy about its growth, while others are sad that it covers up the surrounding stones. There is no one right answer, so I try to understand the unspoken feelings of the owner and always search for the best for the garden,” he said.

Sometimes a garden lives on even after the owner has passed away. That is why we have a responsibility to ensure that the stones and trees we install live long and healthy lives. Today, Mr. Ogawa continues his efforts to create a place that will be loved and cherished, so that the garden can continue to be a place where people and nature can coexist in harmony.

The post Designing a Good Relationship between People and Nature. The future as seen by Katsusho Ogawa, the twelfth generation of the Ueharu family/Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

The pure white moso bamboo shoots, which are dug out before their heads come out of the ground, are called “shiroko bamboo shoots. Because they have no bitterness and are surprisingly sweet, they are often called the best in Japan, but because they are rarely sold in the market, shiroko bamboo shoots have long been considered a “phantom. The “Kyoto Tsuji Noen” has been growing these brand-name bamboo shoots, prized by high-end restaurants and first-class establishments, in the southern part of Kyoto Prefecture, where they are grown, for many generations. The farm still stubbornly maintains its time-consuming traditional farming methods. What exactly is this method of cultivation that produces such exquisite bamboo shoots?

The “Shirako Bamboo Shoots,” a fantastic brand of bamboo shoots.

The Nishiyama district, located in the southern part of Kyoto Prefecture, is known as a production center of albacore bamboo shoots. On the other side of the Yodo River is the city of Yawata, home to the national treasure Ishimizu Hachiman Shrine. The Kyoto Tsuji Farm’s bamboo grove is located in the neighborhood of the shrine.

In fact, the area around Ishimizu Hachimangu Shrine, where the farm is located, is in the same geological formation as the Nishiyama area, which is blessed with good soil quality and water sources.

Thanks to the clay soil suitable for growing bamboo shoots and the abundant water source, the farm grows superb bamboo shoots that rival those on the other side of the river.

Bamboo shoots are in the ground, and bamboo shoots are on the surface.

The underground stem of a bamboo shoot repeatedly “rises to the surface, dives underground, rises again, and dives again,” swimming around on the ground like a butterfly. Bamboo shoots are the shoots that grow from this underground stem, and those that store nutrients and swell up underground are called “bamboo shoots,” while those that emerge from the ground are called “bamboo shoots” because they grow into bamboo all at once. The difference is obvious not only in the notation, but also in the taste and texture. They are like different foods.

Bamboo shoots that have emerged from the soil defend themselves against being eaten by wild animals by spreading oxalic acid throughout their bodies. The parts of the shoots that turn black in the sun are where the less tasty ingredients gather. The moment their heads emerge from the ground, their bodies become hard and stringy in order to support their rapidly growing bodies, as well as their taste.

On the other hand, the bamboo shoots in the ground have plenty of nutrients stored in preparation for the coming growth period. Because they have not been exposed to sunlight, they do not have a harsh taste, and their flesh is still tender. Therefore, the secret to enjoying the sweet and delicious true flavor of bamboo shoots is to dig them up while they are still in the “bamboo shoot” state.

Some people may think that the smaller the better, but that is only true of bamboo shoots. In the case of albino bamboo shoots, the longer it takes to come to the surface, the more energy (sugar) is put into it from the parent bamboo, which makes it more delicious.

The size of a bamboo shoot is a barometer of its deliciousness. The large albacore bamboo shoots grown by Mr. Tsuji can be eaten raw because they have no bitterness, and their sugar content is so high that they can be mistaken for pears.

The season is from mid-March to mid-May.

Each parent bamboo shoot produces about six bamboo shoots per season, the first of which grows slowly in the ground over a period of about eight months, while the next bamboo shoot grows to the surface in about 10 days. The next bamboo shoot grows another 10 days later, and the next 10 days after that ……. In this way, the season of albacore bamboo shoots lasts for 60 days.

This is the origin of the character for “bamboo shoot. There are words like ‘early season,’ ‘mid-season,’ and ‘late season,’ and the character for ‘season’ has the meaning of ’10 days. Thus, the kanji for “bamboo shoots” was created by combining the character for “season” with the character for “bamboo canker.

The first “choko,” or long shoots, take a long time to grow, so they are packed tightly with meat. The texture of the bamboo shoots makes them suitable for dishes such as kinome-age, but they also have a strong flavor, so it is good to cut them into thin slices and use them in a soup. The best season is from mid-April to the end of April, when the flesh swells up and is soft and fresh even when bitten into. If you quickly blanch the fish and serve it as sashimi, you will be filled with the aroma of spring.

The albacore bamboo shoots have a unique crispy texture and sweetness, and are best served in a simple way.

It is not the bamboo shoots but the “environment” in which the bamboo shoots grow that makes the product.

The garden mass-produces bamboo shoots weighing more than 3 kg each and measuring more than 50 cm in length. Sometimes 1-meter class bamboo shoots are harvested, but “oversized bamboo shoots” do not exist in the natural world. This is because the underground stem of moso bamboo never dives deeper than 20 cm into the ground, so it quickly pops its head out and turns into a bamboo shoot. Therefore, the ones that appear on the market are generally of that size or smaller. So, how do they grow such large bamboo shoots?

We want to produce large bamboo shoots in the soil, so we build up the strata little by little by putting fill on top of the subterranean stems near the ground surface. This is done slowly over a period of decades.

This is the special process of traditional bamboo shoot cultivation in Kyoto. However, it is considered illegal to heap too much soil at once. This is because the ground in the bamboo grove becomes hard and compacted, and the underground bamboo shoots cannot grow well. The first time to fill the ground is after spreading fallen leaves and chips from the parent bamboos that have been cut down. A thin coating of clay soil is applied on top of the fluffy rug to keep the soil loose and soft. This makes it easier for the roots to absorb nutrients from the soil and grow into thicker and longer bamboo shoots.

When cracks appear on the hardened surface, it is time to harvest. Underneath the cracks, plump bamboo shoots are waiting to be awakened.

Bamboo shoots grow on their own, so I don’t feel like I’m “making” them. But whether the bamboo shoots grow well or not depends on the environment of this place. It is not the bamboo shoots that I am making, but the “environment” in which they grow.

Culture that has been established over many years has a meaning

While many bamboo shoot farmers are pushing forward with mechanization, Mr. Tsuji stubbornly continues to follow the teachings of his predecessors. For example, while hauling soil with a cart increases efficiency, the soil in the bamboo grove becomes compacted if heavy machinery is used to move the soil back and forth over and over again. For this reason, Kyoto Tsuji Farm still brings in soil from the neighboring forest by wheelbarrow, one cup at a time. When they work, they never return along the same route. The soil is not hardened by trampling.

The soil in the bamboo grove is tilled by hand to prevent the machine from cutting off the underground stems that crawl around in all directions. Many farmers today intentionally cut off the underground stems because they get in the way when digging bamboo shoots, but Mr. Tsuji does not approve of this either. At Tsuji Farm in Kyoto, where 40-year-old underground stems are still alive, bamboo shoots as large as 1 meter can be grown. Even in Kyoto, which is famous for its bamboo shoots, this is the only place in the world where such large bamboo shoots can be harvested. The extra-large albacore bamboo shoots are the crystallization of nearly half a century of continuous care and effort.

Dedication to the cultivation of albacore bamboo shoots

In Kyoto, where land is limited, we have been able to grow high-quality bamboo shoots by carefully tending a single bamboo grove. Although the amount of production is smaller, I believe it is a craftsman’s job to make the best products by putting in a lot of work.

When digging bamboo shoots and cultivating bamboo groves, the local people use a traditional hoe with a long blade called a “hori,” the edge of which is re-hammered every year by a blacksmith.

A culture that has been established over many years has meaning

We don’t intend to do anything special; we are simply continuing what was commonplace in the past. I want to pass on the traditional farming methods of bamboo shoot cultivation as well as this holi on a hundred-year level. Even the tools are imbued with our culture–“

The magnificent bamboo shoots grown while resisting the wave of efficiency are the result of skilled techniques and the spirit of craftsmanship. Although albacore bamboo shoots are becoming rarer and rarer with each passing year, Mr. Tsuji passionately states, “It is also my mission to continue to communicate the scenery of the production site and its delicacies.

I wish them to grow thick, long, and healthy. And may the culture that has been passed down in this region be connected to the future. With these wishes in mind, Mr. Tsuji continues to plow the bamboo grove and cultivate the soil today. His attitude shows his strong belief that the culture that has been established over the years always has a meaning.

The post Mr. Norihiko Tsuji of “Kyoto Tsuji Farm,” the inheritor of the brand “Shirako Bamboo Shoots,” which are as sweet as pears / Yawata City, Kyoto Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

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A new challenge to bring a breath of fresh air to the sake industry has quietly begun in Kyoto. At the heart of this is Mr. Hideo Matsumoto, the representative of Hibi Brewing Co. Mr. Matsumoto was the toji (master brewer) at his family’s sake brewery, Matsumoto Shuzo, until 2020, but in order to make the sake he envisioned, he retired from this position together with his father, Yasuhiro, who was the head of the brewery, and established a new sake brewery. Retirement, training as a warrior, and a new beginning Hibi-jozo, which was established in 2021, is located in Fushimi, Kyoto. It is a small-scale sake brewery consisting of […]

The post Matsumoto Hizuhiko of Hibi Brewing Co., Ltd. takes on a new challenge: making nihon-shu using a method that goes beyond the traditional koji-moto method, and opens up a new future for nihon-shu. Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

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A new challenge to bring a breath of fresh air to the sake industry has quietly begun in Kyoto. At the heart of this is Mr. Hideo Matsumoto, the representative of Hibi Brewing Co. Mr. Matsumoto was the toji (master brewer) at his family’s sake brewery, Matsumoto Shuzo, until 2020, but in order to make the sake he envisioned, he retired from this position together with his father, Yasuhiro, who was the head of the brewery, and established a new sake brewery.

Retirement, training as a warrior, and a new beginning

Hibi-jozo, which was established in 2021, is located in Fushimi, Kyoto. It is a small-scale sake brewery consisting of a renovated warehouse that used to store coal and a newly built brewery next to it. Despite its small size, it was completed in less than a year after Matsumoto retired from his previous job, so we can’t help but be impressed by the smoothness of the arrangements made to set up the new base, and also by Matsumoto’s strong passion and desire to make sake.

This desire is symbolized by the sake brewing pilgrimage that Mr. Matsumoto calls his “samurai training”. Soon after leaving his previous job, he was invited by five sake breweries that he considers to be his peers and with whom he is working to develop the sake industry, to participate in the brewing at each brewery in succession, and he brewed sake at each brewery while borrowing their facilities. Starting with Tomita Shuzo in Shiga Prefecture, he visited each brewery in turn, including Shiraito Shuzo in Fukuoka Prefecture, Hananoka Shuzo in Kumamoto Prefecture, Senkin in Tochigi Prefecture, and Shinsei Shuzo in Akita Prefecture, and by brewing sake there, he was able to gain a clearer understanding of the details of each brewery that he had not been able to see from the outside, such as the individual methods used to make the most of the local environment and climate, and the way in which the local water and rice are used to bring out the unique characteristics of the area, and he also gained new insights. Each of these five breweries has established its own originality in sake brewing, and the sake they brew is highly regarded throughout the country. This is why there was probably a lot to learn through the experience of working at these breweries.

A fusion of tradition and innovation

After completing his training, he returned to Kyoto and quickly began to realize the rough draft of the ideal brewery he had been imagining in his head. He completed the brewery in just three months.

In this new environment, Mr. Matsumoto is challenging himself to take the traditional Japanese sake brewing method of “kimoto-zukuri” to the next level, and to open up new possibilities for sake by adding the essence of the knowledge, insights and know-how he has cultivated up to this point.

This is linked to the “Shuhari” spirit that he has held since he first started making sake.

“Ultimately, sake making won’t be good unless you have a clear goal or destination in mind. That’s why I started by combining things that I thought made sense,” says Mr. Matsumoto. His words show his sincere attitude towards sake making.

It’s impossible to make sake without using the traditional kimoto method

The “Namamoto” brewing method that Mr. Matsumoto works with is a traditional method that sets itself apart from the mass-production style of sake brewing that developed after the Meiji era. This method uses natural lactic acid bacteria to slowly ferment at low temperatures, creating a unique flavor. Due to the time and effort involved, there are very few sake breweries that use the Namamoto method compared to the quick-fermenting method that allows for mass production.

However, Mr. Matsumoto asserts, “The sake that I want to make is impossible to make without using natural yeast starter. Furthermore, I think that it has to be natural yeast starter that surpasses natural yeast starter.” As he says, in general, natural yeast starter brewing is carried out at a temperature of 5-9℃, but in the daily brewing, fermentation is carried out at an astonishingly low temperature of 0.2℃.

This ultimate low-temperature fermentation has succeeded in producing a sake that has a rich flavor while keeping the alcohol content at around 11% in its original state.

This is much lower than normal sake, which is 17-20% in its original state and 13-16% when diluted.

Not one cup, but one bottle. Making a thin, delicious flavor

At the root of Mr. Matsumoto’s sake brewing is a spirit of inquiry: “What is the taste of good sake that people can continue to drink? The best answer to this question at the moment is ‘usuuma’. By reducing the alcohol content, he has arrived at a taste that combines ease of drinking with deliciousness, expressing a refreshing, watery texture while also allowing the umami of lactic acid fermentation to be felt in the depths of the palate. ”Two or three people can comfortably drink a bottle. When I imagined the scene of drinking sake in a restaurant, I didn’t have that kind of image yet. Sipping a small amount of sake from a beautiful sake cup is the standard for sake drinking nowadays. He says, “I’m not trying to pander to wine drinkers, but after all, it’s hard to drink a whole bottle if it’s too heavy, isn’t it? I want to make sake that people want to order by the bottle, not by the cup, and I want to make it a role model for that.” To achieve this, he is determined to pursue a “thin, delicious taste” that is just on the line of being too thin for some drinkers, by making sure to bring out the umami without relying on alcohol, aroma or sweetness. While it may seem like a niche approach to suppressing the aroma and sweetness that are the hallmarks of sake, he says he has no hesitation in pursuing this policy. He aims to create a taste that is so solid that people who drink it will be able to associate it with the taste of Matsumoto Hizuhiko, just like a wine from a famous wine-producing region.

Making the most of the characteristics of rice

Rice is an important factor in the taste of sake. Mr. Matsumoto believes that in order to pursue the ideal taste, it is also important to delve deeper into the approach to the ingredients. In daily brewing, he mainly uses Yamadanishiki, but he places particular importance on the region of production, and he uses Yamadanishiki from the Akitsu area and from the Yoneda village in Hyogo Prefecture, trying to reflect the individuality of each region in the taste.

In addition, he is also working on making sake using small amounts of sake rice from the region that the sake brewer he trained with uses. He says that he started this because he wanted to make sake from the rice he met during his training, and to express the individuality and excellence of the sake rice from all over Japan from his own perspective.

From this attitude, you can feel his deep respect and inquisitiveness towards rice and human relationships.

Technological innovation in sake brewing has come from the hands of

One thing that is particularly notable about Mr. Matsumoto’s sake brewing is that he avoids using machines as much as possible, and insists on doing everything by hand.

“When I built this brewery, I completely abandoned the idea of relying on machines to make sake. Nowadays, almost all of the processes are done by hand.” This policy has enabled more delicate and careful sake brewing in exchange for productivity and working hours.

Even the rice washing process is done by hand, without using a machine.

He says, “Using a rice washing machine isn’t a bad idea, but it washes the rice at the same power all the time. The condition of the rice changes every year, and it differs depending on the region and the person who makes it. These characteristics can only be felt by hand.”

This commitment to manual labor is not just to preserve tradition, but also a strategic choice to create higher quality sake.

Facing the challenges of the industry

In this way, the sake that encapsulated Matsumoto-san’s ideals was completed. He named it “Nichinichi”. The fact that it bears the name of his store shows Matsumoto-san’s confidence, but the price is in the 2,000 yen range, making it relatively easy to obtain for the time and effort that went into making it. As a reason for this, Mr. Matsumoto gives a specific figure, saying, “If we can make about 300 koku (about 55,000 liters* or about 76,000 bottles of 4-go bottles) of sake at 2,000 yen per bottle, we can feed our staff and pay off our debts.”

However, if we look at the sake industry as a whole, there are still many cases where the old distribution and pricing systems are being followed, and in order to break out of this situation, it is first necessary to reform the mindset of the market as a whole. For example, if sake costing around 3,000 yen per 720ml bottle could be consumed as everyday sake rather than as a gift or luxury item, it would be possible to protect not only the sake breweries, but also the sake rice farmers. For this reason, they believe that it is essential to produce sake that meets the needs of the market.

Perhaps because of this, Matsumoto-san’s quest for “sake that can be enjoyed over and over again” reveals not only his own company’s interests, but also a deep consideration for the sustainability of the sake industry as a whole, and a management philosophy that takes into account the healthy development of the industry as a whole.

Opening up new horizons for sake

Matsumoto’s sake brewing takes into account changes in the infrastructure of consumption that could become the new standard for sake. While following traditional Namamoto brewing methods, his pursuit of a flavor that meets the needs of modern consumers is one path that could open up the future of sake.

In addition, by sticking to manual labor, he pursues a quality and individuality that cannot be achieved through mass production, and this is in line with trends in other alcoholic beverage industries, such as the rise of craft beer and natural wine.

These things are possible thanks to Matsumoto-san’s innate sense. Even just looking at the brewery building, you can see that the old-fashioned image of a sake brewery has been swept away, with the turntable and sound system installed in the atrium on the second floor, and the tasting counter that looks like a coffee stand.

It is precisely because of Mr. Matsumoto’s challenge that we can feel the great potential for sake to evolve in line with modern food culture and lifestyles, rather than just being a traditional drink. It will be interesting to see how Mr. Matsumoto’s every move will affect the sake industry as a whole.

The post Matsumoto Hizuhiko of Hibi Brewing Co., Ltd. takes on a new challenge: making nihon-shu using a method that goes beyond the traditional koji-moto method, and opens up a new future for nihon-shu. Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

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Karakami is often used for interior decorations such as wallpaper and fusuma (sliding door) paper in Kyoto’s prestigious spaces, including historical buildings, long-established ryokans, famous hotels, and ryotei (Japanese-style restaurants). Karakami craftsman Ko Kado brings out new charm by adding a modern essence to the delicate beauty of karakami. The beauty of karakami brought from China and developed in Kyoto Karakami, as the name suggests, is a type of paper introduced from the Tang Dynasty during the Nara period (710-794). After the abolition of the Japanese envoys to the Tang Dynasty, karakami was produced domestically, and the first state-run paper mill in Japan, “Kamiya-in,” was established in Kyoto. During the […]

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Karakami is often used for interior decorations such as wallpaper and fusuma (sliding door) paper in Kyoto’s prestigious spaces, including historical buildings, long-established ryokans, famous hotels, and ryotei (Japanese-style restaurants). Karakami craftsman Ko Kado brings out new charm by adding a modern essence to the delicate beauty of karakami.

The beauty of karakami brought from China and developed in Kyoto

Karakami, as the name suggests, is a type of paper introduced from the Tang Dynasty during the Nara period (710-794). After the abolition of the Japanese envoys to the Tang Dynasty, karakami was produced domestically, and the first state-run paper mill in Japan, “Kamiya-in,” was established in Kyoto. During the Heian period (794-1185), karakami was used by aristocrats as a paper on which to write sentences and waka poems, and eventually monkarakami (patterned karakami) appeared. This type of paper is now referred to as karakami.

In the Medieval and Edo periods, karakami was used for interior decorations such as screens, partitions, shoji screens, and fusuma sliding doors, and its use spread further.

Delicate work to copy the pattern

Karakami is made by copying patterns onto Japanese paper using a printing block.

The woodblocks are wooden boards on which patterns are carved. Karakami is printed by rubbing the paper on the woodblock with the palm of the hand, which requires deep carving for beautiful printing, and the soft wood of the hoki tree was ideal for this purpose.

A sieve, a round wooden frame covered with gauze, is used to apply the colors to the woodblocks. First, the gauze-covered part of the sieve is coated with water using a brush, and then paint is applied. The paint is made by mixing mica or gofun (gofun) to give texture to the pattern and nori (laver) to make it adhere to the paper. The proportion of each mixture depends on the climate and humidity of the day, the habits of the woodblock and engraver, and the nature of the paper used.

A sieve covered with paint is lightly pressed onto the woodblock, and the paper is placed on the sieve, which is then gently pressed by hand to copy the pattern. As with the paint mixture, the degree of printing force needs to be adjusted from time to time. Karakami, which requires such delicate manual work, is soft and fluffy and has a unique beauty.

Deepened my interest in Japan in the U.S., where I studied abroad

Mr. Kado began his career as a karakami craftsman in 2003, when he was in his 20s. Prior to that, he had worked as a graphic designer in Japan and abroad.

Born and raised in Kyoto, Japan, Kado graduated from Kyoto Saga Art College and then moved to San Francisco, California, USA, where he enrolled in the graphic design program at the Academy of Art University. What surprised him at his study abroad destination was that Japanese traditional culture, art, and contemporary art were often discussed in his university classes. My classmates often asked me about Japan, and I took this as an opportunity to start learning more about Japanese culture and art.

Just around this time, when I temporarily returned to Kyoto, an acquaintance invited me to visit a long-established karakami (Chinese paper) workshop. Computers were beginning to spread to the general public, and the majority of creators were moving toward digital technology, but I felt that the world of handcrafted work was unique in its own way. Kado was also attracted to the fact that the work could only be done in Kyoto, and he had a hunch that he would be able to make use of his graphic arts background in the world of karakami.

Starting out as a karakami craftsman in a long-established karakami workshop in Kyoto, Japan, from a career in art

After graduating from an American university, Kado worked as a graphic designer in New York for about a year and a half before returning to Japan in 2003. He did some design work in Japan, but his interest in karakami only grew. With his portfolio in hand, he went to a karakami workshop he had visited in the past and found that they were looking for staff to plan and design products for a new store opening, and he began working there as a designer.

At the workshop, he also learned how to make karakami. Eventually, he was also given the opportunity to work as a craftsman, and was allowed to be involved in karakami making, which had originally been passed down in the family business. Mr. Kado learned voraciously.

Guided by a townhouse in Nishijin, he became independent and opened “ Kamisoe”

Mr. Kado became independent in 2009, five years after he started working at Karacho. It was when he found a property that looked like a good place for a workshop and store.

The location was along Kuramaguchi-dori, an area on the north side of the city of Nishijin, famous for Nishijin textiles, with Daitokuji Temple to the north, the Urasenke Kaikan to the east, and weavers’ workshops and companies to the south. Despite being well away from the center of Kyoto, Nishijin is home to tea masters, priests, and various artisans with a high level of cultural awareness, so it seemed like an interesting place to work. Guided by this premonition, Kado decided to set up his own business.

A world of softly glowing white expressed through the use of gofun and kira stamping

Kado’s workshop and store is named “Kami Soe.

The store on the first floor is neatly lined with cards, letter paper, and pouch bags, all made by hand. Karakami is used for the wallpaper and the fusuma (wooden floorboards), and the shop also serves as a showroom for those who wish to commission interior decorations.

A great souvenir when you stop by Kyoto

The most popular type of paper is white paper with a white pattern printed on it. The pattern is not printed directly on the washi, but first the surface of the washi is dyed with gofun (a powder made from the shells of clams, oysters, etc.), which is called gubiki. The surface of the washi is first dyed with gofun (powdered clam or oyster shells) and then stamped with mica made from crushed granite. The matte texture of the gofun and the diffuse glow of the mica reflect light softly in the natural light that reaches the store. The non-white products are also beautiful with subdued colors that enhance the shading and luster of the printed patterns. Many of these are said to be based on classical color matching.

Karakami patterns also include motifs such as oriental patterns and quarter-sawn wood

Karakami handled at Kamiizoe has many unique patterns that can only be found here.
There seem to be two major types of kara-kami patterns. The first is to print patterns using existing objects as woodblocks. For example, some Oriental patterns are created using woodblocks found in antique stores in India, Turkey, and other countries where they have traveled, or patterns are created using woodblocks made from straight grain wood or architectural woodblocks. The woodblocks are made from woodblocks with a straight grain or architectural burr (a process that leaves distinctive marks on a square piece of wood or a board). The former graphic designer’s aesthetic sense allows him to find interesting motifs in existing objects and incorporate them into his designs.

Another pattern is that Kado himself designs his own original patterns and then gives them to woodblock craftsmen to have them made. In some cases, he collaborates with another artist to create the pattern design.

In this way, Mimizoe’s karakami made with his unique worldview has attracted the attention of many people, and Kamiizoe’s SNS often receives inquiries about orders not only from Japan but also from overseas.

Work as a creator and a craftsman

Currently, Kado is working on hotel interiors and other projects, as well as collaborating with designers. One of his best-known projects is the direction of Ryuichi Sakamoto 2019, an analog vinyl box containing six soundtracks released by the late musician Ryuichi Sakamoto in 2019.

The box was limited to 200 pieces and sold at Sakamoto’s label’s official store for 100,000 yen per piece. Inside the box is a 7-inch single of a new song composed and recorded for the buyer, a portrait by a Korean artist, and an incense stand created by Sakamoto’s longtime favorite incense and craft artist. Also included is a woodblock print made from Sakamoto’s own handwritten score, signed by Sakamoto.

In order to bring his ideas to fruition, Mr. Kado selected a designer to take charge of the overall design work, while at the same time creating the paper for the outside of the box, the artwork for the inner sleeve of each record, and the sheet music to be included in the package. The woodblock prints, which were printed in white on white paper, are of a high quality, and Sakamoto’s handwritten corrections and writings emerge in the shadows, vividly conveying the flow of the composer’s consciousness.

After the completion of the box, Mr. Sakamoto, who held the actual box in his hands, commented, “The presence of the box as an object is even more wonderful than I imagined. In this age of digital music, where music can be easily distributed and downloaded, the value of handmade work that cannot be mass-produced must be conveyed to the world. It seems that this attempt was successful.

Work that digs out and sheds light on the buried past

While active in highly artist-oriented work, Kado is also involved in a number of restoration and other projects that recreate the techniques of karakami craftsmen of the ancient times. One such project is the restoration of Saga-bon utai-bon, one of the research projects conducted by Musashino Art University’s Center for Art Formation Research from 2014 to 2018.

Saga-bon is the general term for books published by Hon’ami Koetsu, a comprehensive artist active in the early Edo period, and Suminokura Soan, who studied calligraphy from Koetsu. These books were printed using wooden type. The luxurious binding is also a distinctive feature, with various colors of paper used for the cover and text, and printed with mica patterns. With these characteristics, the Saga-bon holds an important position as the most artistic printed material in the history of Japanese printing culture.

In the Saga-bon Chanting Book Restoration Project, while unraveling related materials held by the Musashino Art University Library, Kyoto craftsmen meticulously traced the various production processes necessary to restore the Saga-bon, such as wood type engraving, wood type typesetting, and paper making, and by restoring it, tried to explore the unexplored aspects of our predecessors’ production techniques and intentions. Kado’s project was to explore the unexplored aspects of his predecessors’ production techniques and intentions.

Kado was in charge of the mica printing of the cover for this project, and when he saw the original Saga utai book, he felt that it was “different from what he had imagined. The mica print was unevenly applied, with blurring and pooling, and the paper was wrinkled. Frankly speaking, the quality of the mica prints was not high, and the impression was that the modern prints were superior in terms of sophistication.

The researcher leading the project thought that the seemingly rough finish was an expression of the “beauty of imperfection” advocated by the Rimpa school, a comprehensive art school founded by Koetsu, but Kado’s view was different. Karakami at that time had to be made in large quantities by hand, and it was probably not possible to take enough time and effort to produce each piece of karakami. On the other hand, today, karakami is regarded as a “special” traditional craft, and people tend to spend more time and effort to finish it neatly. The researchers reasoned that because karakami was positioned differently in the past than it is today, there may have been a difference in the finished product.

The researchers were interested in Kado’s unique view that he could reproduce the craftsmanship of the time and approach the intentions of the maker through his techniques. As a result, for the Sagahon Chantben Restoration Project, Mr. Kado produced two types of karakami covers: one that faithfully imitated the old style of production, and another that was produced to the highest level of finish that he was comfortable with.

Kado is now strongly attracted to the work of exploring the karakami techniques left behind by his predecessors through such restoration and repair work. He is committed to putting into words and conveying the techniques and aesthetic value of the handcrafts that have been passed down through the generations. This is a new theme that he has taken up over the past 10 years or so.

In the past, I was in the position of being taught “what karakami is,” but now I am expected to play the role of the conveyor, thinking up my own interpretation of what karakami is. In the U.S., when his classmates used to ask him about Japan, Kado studied Japanese culture in order to explain it in his own words, and before he knew it, he was in a position to talk about it from a craftsman’s perspective.

Holding a shiny card in his hand, Kado-san said, “This is a piece of copper-polished karakami paper.

This is karakami with a copper finish. I made it because I found out about this technique when I was researching old materials. I like the process of digging up things that have fallen into disuse and tailoring them to fit the modern age.
Karakami craftsmen with a designer’s eye add something to the ancient techniques while going back and forth between the present and the past.

Kado’s karakami created in this way will continue to convey the core beauty of handwork that makes people around the world want to pick it up.

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Bamboo shoots are said to be the king of spring tastes. Bamboo shoots have been familiar to the Japanese people since ancient times, even appearing in the “Kojiki” written in the Nara period (710-794). Among them, “Shiroko bamboo shoots” harvested in Kyoto Prefecture are a first-class product, called “phantom bamboo shoots” due to their rarity. We caught up with the craftsmanship of “Bamboo Shoot Shunichi,” which pursues the finest albacore bamboo shoots using an original cultivation method. Kyoto’s proud brand of bamboo shoots, “Shiroko Bamboo Shoots” Kyoto is well known for its bamboo shoots, but its production ranks third in Japan, following Fukuoka and Kagoshima prefectures. Although Kyoto’s bamboo shoots […]

The post Milt bamboo shoots are sought after by star chefs. The “Bamboo Shoots in Shunichi” pursues the finest of them. first appeared on NIHONMONO.

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Bamboo shoots are said to be the king of spring tastes. Bamboo shoots have been familiar to the Japanese people since ancient times, even appearing in the “Kojiki” written in the Nara period (710-794). Among them, “Shiroko bamboo shoots” harvested in Kyoto Prefecture are a first-class product, called “phantom bamboo shoots” due to their rarity. We caught up with the craftsmanship of “Bamboo Shoot Shunichi,” which pursues the finest albacore bamboo shoots using an original cultivation method.

Kyoto’s proud brand of bamboo shoots, “Shiroko Bamboo Shoots”

Kyoto is well known for its bamboo shoots, but its production ranks third in Japan, following Fukuoka and Kagoshima prefectures. Although Kyoto’s bamboo shoots account for only about 10% of the total, there are two reasons why Kyoto’s bamboo shoots are so special.

The first is the soil. The fine-grained clay soil allows bamboo shoots to stay in the ground as long as if asphalt had been paved over them, allowing them to grow slowly over a long period of time. Clay soil is ideal for growing sweet and tender bamboo shoots, as they grow quickly and become hard and tough when exposed to air and light. Secondly, Kyoto’s unique cultivation method has been established, which originates from the former location of the capital. Bamboo groves are covered with straw, which is then covered with soil, and so on. Throughout the long history of bamboo cultivation, our predecessors have been engaged in a trial-and-error process to find out how to produce more delicious and beautiful bamboo shoots. The result is Kyoto’s proud brand of bamboo shoots, the Shiroko bamboo shoot. Because they are grown in the soil and not exposed to sunlight, albacore bamboo shoots are pure white, soft, and have an appealing crunchy texture. They are also called “phantom bamboo shoots” because they are extremely rare and require a lot of time and effort to cultivate.

The Tsukahara bamboo shoots produced in the Tsukahara area of Rakusai district are the highest grade of Shiroko bamboo shoots. They are characterized by their tender flesh and elegant flavor with no acrid taste, and are so highly valued as a brand that they are rarely distributed to the general public.

From questioning fertilizers and herbicides to the original path

Shiroko bamboo shoots are very soft compared to common bamboo shoots, and if not carefully dug, they will collapse quickly. It is extremely difficult to find albino bamboo shoots that stay in the ground and grow. The harvesting of bamboo shoots alone is a labor-intensive process, and Mr. Kazuki Tahara of “Bamboo Shoot Shunichi” puts his heart and soul into it, saying, “If I am going to do something, I have to do it to the last drop of blood.

I started working in bamboo groves when I was in the fifth grade of elementary school, helping my grandfather, who was a farmer and bamboo grove grower. In the beginning, it was all new to me and everything was fun. Then, when I was in high school, I started asking myself, ‘Why do we use this fertilizer? Why do we use herbicides? I asked my grandfather, but he said, ‘I’ve been doing this for a long time. When I asked my grandfather about it, he just said, “We’ve been doing it this way for a long time, so there’s no doubt about it. My questions remained unanswered, but I wanted to try things on my own, and when I was 20 years old, I decided to start my own business.

He had no money to buy fertilizer and started with a light truck that he inherited from his grandfather. At the same time, he realized that it would be difficult to make a living only from bamboo shoots, so he studied Oriental medicine to obtain a license as an acupuncture and moxibustion massage therapist, which would allow him to work while he was farming. His studies led him to realize how much what we put in our mouths affects our bodies, and he began to rethink fertilizers and soil from the ground up.

Bamboo shoot cultivation is soil cultivation

Couldn’t we use something around us instead of relying on chemical fertilizers? While eating at a soba (buckwheat noodle) restaurant in the market, he wondered if he could feed bamboo shoots with this delicious dashi broth. He immediately asked what kind of ingredients they used, and was given some kelp and shavings after making the dashi broth. He also tried sprinkling okara (bean curd) from tofu stores and making fertilizer from discarded parts of tuna from tuna specialty stores at the market. Whenever he came across something he thought was “really tasty,” he began to think about how he could apply it to bamboo shoot production.

Other bamboo farmers have always said to me, ‘You are doing something strange,’ or ‘What’s the point of putting such things in? The mountains lack things from the sea, so by mixing fish, kelp, and shells, which are high in minerals and amino acids, into the soil, the soil becomes rich in nutrients. We don’t use herbicides, so grass grows normally and it’s hard to mow.”

Despite occasional failures, he has continued to take on new challenges with the single-minded determination to produce something he is satisfied with. Wanting first-rate bamboo shoots to be used by first-rate chefs, he opened the Michelin Guide and kept making phone calls. Most of the time, the sudden sales pitch from an unknown young man was not taken seriously, but once the product was purchased, even on a whim, the response was positive, and he was often told, “It was delicious,” or “When can I buy it again? When can I buy it next time? As a result, word of mouth among chefs led to an increase in inquiries, and now Tahara’s bamboo shoots are served at Michelin-starred restaurants all over Japan.

収穫後のたけのこは鮮度が命

Another of Shunichi’s specialties is the freshness of its bamboo shoots. Bamboo shoots grow fast and deteriorate quickly. The longer it takes to grow, the more bitter the taste becomes, and if left at room temperature, it quickly becomes hard. Mr. Tahara introduced refrigerated trucks that can transport freshly dug bamboo shoots in the morning. Drying and sunlight are the biggest enemies of bamboo shoots,” he says. Selling freshly dug bamboo shoots at the storefront is like selling fresh fish under the sun at room temperature,” says Tahara. He says it is his responsibility as a producer to thoroughly control the quality of bamboo shoots after they are picked.

Currently, fresh bamboo shoots are only sold directly to restaurants. The bamboo shoots are shipped fresh and delivered by cool delivery, and are highly praised for their “sweetness with little bitterness” and “like fruit when bitten raw.

Delicious bamboo shoots to be delivered to as many people as possible

For the general public, bamboo shoots are a troublesome foodstuff that requires peeling many layers of skin, boiling in water, and removing the scum. The company started mail-order sales of “mizuni” (boiled bamboo shoots in water) in the hope of bringing the best seasonal taste of bamboo shoots to as many people as possible. The product has become a popular item that sells out quickly as soon as it is in stock, as fresh bamboo shoots are delivered boiled in water.

It is said that it usually takes about two hours to remove the acrid taste from bamboo shoots, but Mr. Tahara’s bamboo shoots are ready in 40 minutes. The secret to their delicious taste is that they are soft and have little bitterness even in their raw state, shortening the boiling time, and thus retaining the crunchy texture that is typical of bamboo shoots.

From 2024, the company began selling “Bamboo Shoot Ajillo,” a dish with three different flavors. The product was completed by carefully selecting the oil and ingredients that go well with bamboo shoots through numerous prototypes, and using ingredients such as seafood landed in Kyotango, garlic from Aomori, and Japanese hawk’s claw. The bamboo shoots, of which the company takes pride, are cut into large pieces and used in abundance so that customers can enjoy their texture. The bamboo shoots, which have a strong image in Japanese cuisine, are arranged in a Western style so that young people can enjoy them, and they are marinated in oil to extend their shelf life and make them more readily available.

With hard work, agriculture can turn into a world of dreams.

Bamboo shoots have been around us since ancient times, but due to high summer temperatures and lack of rain, the harvest has been reduced to half of what it used to be. However, Mr. Tahara, who has spent a great deal of time and effort to cultivate bamboo shoots, says, “I don’t want to make excuses for the changes in the environment. Not wanting to make excuses for the changing environment,” he began watering his bamboo groves with sprinklers several years ago and has been able to maintain a constant yield even in the face of continuing bad harvests. Watering vast bamboo thickets is unheard of in the bamboo shoot industry. But he says he continues to take on these challenges because he has a dream.

I work as an acupuncture and moxibustion massage therapist in parallel with bamboo shoots, so I can make a living even outside of the period from late March to early May, when bamboo shoots are harvested,” he says. But really, my goal is to create a future where I can eat from bamboo shoots alone. In fact, if you look outside, there are many abandoned bamboo groves, and the number of bamboo growers is decreasing due to the heavy labor involved. The yield is also decreasing year by year, and there is a possibility that in a few years, bamboo shoots may no longer be available on the market. That is why I would like to create a system that allows us to receive proper compensation for our persistence and efforts, rather than letting the market price dictate the price. For this reason, I am raising the value of bamboo shoots by setting a firm price, and I am also making efforts to meet that price. I want to show the next generation that, depending on their own efforts, agriculture can change into a world of dreams.

Mr. Tahara says there are still many things he would like to learn more about and try in order to achieve this goal. What kind of news will we hear from the world of bamboo shoots in the future? I am looking forward to hearing more news from the world of bamboo shoots, and I can’t wait to find your name on it.

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Founded in 1848, Ueya Kato Landscaping Co., Ltd., headquartered in Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City, has a history spanning over 170 years. Throughout its long history, the company has been responsible for the design and maintenance of many famous gardens, including the Hojo Garden of Nanzen-ji, which is designated as a National Scenic Site, the Shosei-en Garden, a detached garden of Higashi Hongan-ji, the Chishaku-in Garden in Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, often referred to as the “first of the Eastern Mountains,” and more recently, the garden of Hoshinoya Kyoto, a top brand of Hoshino Resorts. The eighth-generation head of the company, Tomonori Kato, also serves as a professor at Kyoto University of […]

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Founded in 1848, Ueya Kato Landscaping Co., Ltd., headquartered in Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City, has a history spanning over 170 years. Throughout its long history, the company has been responsible for the design and maintenance of many famous gardens, including the Hojo Garden of Nanzen-ji, which is designated as a National Scenic Site, the Shosei-en Garden, a detached garden of Higashi Hongan-ji, the Chishaku-in Garden in Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, often referred to as the “first of the Eastern Mountains,” and more recently, the garden of Hoshinoya Kyoto, a top brand of Hoshino Resorts. The eighth-generation head of the company, Tomonori Kato, also serves as a professor at Kyoto University of the Arts and is involved in designing Japanese gardens.

Landscape architects designing for ageing

Mr. Kato was born and raised in Kyoto City in a family of landscapers who create and maintain Japanese gardens, mainly for shrines and temples. Founded by Kichibee Kato I and serving as the official gardener for Nanzenji Temple, the company has been in the landscaping business for eight generations. Kato’s relationship with the aforementioned Nanzenji Temple is particularly deep. When Jiro was the fifth generation, he worked with his sons, Yasuoshi and Sueo, to create the western garden (Jyoshin-tei) and the northern garden (Rikudo-tei) facing the small hōjō, a designated national treasure at Nanzenji Temple, and when Yajusui became the sixth generation, he created the Kegon garden at the temple. It was only natural that Mr. Kato, who grew up watching the backs of his great grandfather and father, would pursue a career in landscaping.

After studying at Chiba University’s Faculty of Horticulture, he joined the family business and has been involved in landscaping ever since his 20s. Today, in addition to teaching garden research at Kyoto University of Arts, he gives numerous lectures in Japan and abroad and has received numerous awards, including the “Award of the Landscape Architecture Society of Japan,” which is considered the most prestigious award in the field of landscape architecture. He is truly an expert in his field who goes beyond the scope of his work and contributes to the development of landscape architecture in Japan.

Mr. Kato always keeps one thing in mind when engaging in landscaping. This is to maximize the individuality of the garden and design it to change over time. In addition to the traditional techniques of garden design and management that he has cultivated over generations as a landscaper in Kyoto, a city with many shrines and temples, he also actively uses CAD (computer-aided drafting) to design paving stone unit construction methods, which he uses not only in Japanese gardens but also in modern architecture.

Creating and nurturing. How the landscaping industry should be

Mr. Kato’s concept of “designing even the changes over time” mainly refers to the care of plants.
Mr. Kato defines this as “designing a garden from scratch,” and he believes that in the landscaping business, the importance of nurturing and managing the landscape over a long period of time, taking into account the importance of designing the garden space from scratch, is even more significant.

Incidentally, at Ueyakato Landscaping Co., we call the cultivation and management of gardens ”fostering”. The company calls it “fostering,” which is derived from the word “foster.” The company believes that “fostering the landscape is the true management,” rather than simply maintaining the appearance of the trees.

Rooted in the region where Important Cultural Landscapes are located

The gardens of Nanzenji Temple, which Ueyakato Landscaping Co. has been involved with since he was the first owner of the temple, are indispensable in the cultivation and management of Ueyakato Landscaping Co.. The garden at “Daneiken,” one of the non-public cultural properties that are not open to the public except for special openings, is a kaiyushiki style garden with a pond at the center, and is a unique example of a karesansui (dry landscape garden), in which stones and rocks are used to express the flow of water, and a simple garden with a pathway for entering a tea ceremony room, which is called a “kare-sansui” garden. Unlike open-air gardens, these gardens are rich in natural scenery with beautiful flowing water and plants. The garden has been cultivated and managed by Ueyaya Kato Landscaping Co.
Of course, Mr. Kato himself has been involved with Daneiken since he was an apprentice craftsman, and he has learned about plants and the nurturing of the natural landscape through the example of his predecessors.

The area surrounding Nanzenji Temple is home to many traditional architectural structures and beautiful gardens, so much so that the entire area has been selected as an important cultural landscape as part of the “Cultural Landscape of Okazaki, Kyoto.

One of the major reasons for this is the Kamichicho Ordinance, which was promulgated in 1871 to take away the fiefdoms of feudal lords and Hatamoto (feudal warlords) to bolster the strapped finances of the shogunate.
The vast estates of shrines and temples were taken away, and the grounds of Nanzenji Temple, which were approximately 200,000 tsubo in area, were likewise converted to public property. Aritomo Yamagata, who served as the third Prime Minister of Japan, built a villa called Murin’an, and in 1890 (Meiji 23), using the Lake Biwa Soso (Canal) that was drawn to the Kyoto side, he created a Japanese garden with a rich natural setting, adding a dynamic flow of water.
The people of the time were strongly attracted by the natural landscape, which looked as if it had been cut out of nature. This was the beginning of a growing demand in the area for what is now called “luxury subdivisions with modern Japanese gardens. The number of villas of wealthy people, including former zaibatsu families and presidents of major corporations, increased rapidly, and many gardens that would later be called famous gardens were created.

Mr. Kato has trained and studied in these places. He has gained a great deal of knowledge from his many years of experience, which is unique to the landscaping business rooted in this area.

Facing and leaning toward the individuality of the garden

That being said, there are many gardens in Kyoto that stand out for their individuality. Many of them were created by cultural figures from long ago as Kamigata, and there are as many originalities as there are combinations of cultures, topography, seasons, etc., according to the history of the area.
In some cases, the garden was created hundreds of years ago and the creator has already passed away, so he is often entrusted with only the cultivation and management of the garden.

In such cases, Mr. Kato tries to find the most beautiful time in the garden’s history from the time of its creation to the present, in other words, its “golden age. He considers what kind of golden age this garden had and how best to express and cultivate it.
Although there is no school of gardening like tea ceremony or ikebana, the lifestyle of each period is often reflected in the garden, and if one can read the intention of the garden, it will be easier to reproduce.
For example, in the Zen period, people favored a stoic, unadorned garden that reflected the philosophy of the time, while in the Azuchi-Momoyama period, people favored a grand, ornate garden to show the majesty of the powerful of the time. Of course, styles varied according to the sects of shrines and temples.
Taking these elements into consideration, I hear that inspiration comes from respectfully leaning on the work of our predecessors.

The mindset of “Anjojo Yoroshiku” passed down from generation to generation

How were these knowledge and skills handed down?
Mr. Kato has read and studied all the literature on landscaping, including “Sakuteiki,” the oldest gardening book in Japan, but the basic knowledge he has learned in the course of his work has remained unchanged since his predecessors and predecessors, and is mostly passed down orally.

For example, he learned from his predecessors, either orally or through gestures, how to prune a pine tree leaf in such and such a way that the leaf will open up during the growth process, and he put this knowledge into practice. During his apprenticeship, he was conscious of “learning from tradition and learning from fellow workers” as his keywords, and sensed by feeling what could not be written down.
In today’s society, one might say that it is outdated to work without clear standards, but he understands that this is true not only for the landscaping industry, but for Japanese manufacturing in general.
I have worked hard in my daily work, analyzing in my own way the “anjo yoroshu = finish the work in a good way” from my seniors.

Incorporating High Technology into Traditional Techniques, Japanese Gardens Go to the Future and Abroad

In recent years, the number of foreign clients has also increased. Nevertheless, this is not the first time that foreigners have become interested in Japanese gardens.
In the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568-1600), João Rodrigues, a Portuguese missionary who was engaged in missionary work in Japan, wrote in his literature that he heard a phrase he heard when he visited a Japanese garden in Sakai, which he called “a yama-i in the city. He praised the Japanese concept of beauty, which was to create a garden in the middle of a large, prosperous city in the middle of a mountainous landscape that would give the impression of being in the middle of a mountain.
Even today, his sense of beauty is highly appreciated around the world, which is why he follows the teachings of his predecessors, reads the topography and direction of the land, uses local plants and trees in foreign lands where native Japanese species do not grow, incorporates the direction of the rising sun and climate, and creates Japanese gardens in pursuit of Japanese quality.

Although Mr. Kato values tradition in this way, he is not averse to modern technology.
In fact, the latest technology has brought some benefits to the landscaping industry.
For example, heavy machinery has made it possible to create gardens with a much smaller number of people and in a shorter time than before, and surveying equipment has made it possible to restore old gardens that were excavated with a high degree of accuracy, with less than 10 mm of misalignment after the removal and reinstallation of landscape stones. In the past, if even a single garden stone could not be perfectly restored to its original location, it would be considered “destruction of a cultural asset,” but by combining modern technology with traditional techniques, this problem can be solved.

Since it is now possible to do things that were not possible even for the famous garden masters of the past, such as Muso Soseki and Kobori Enshu, whom Mr. Kato admires and respects, I feel that even the most advanced technology is wonderful.

However, relying on state-of-the-art technology may lead to the loss of traditional techniques, and as long as I am involved in Japanese gardens, I would like to value the old techniques that were used before the era of rapid economic growth.

Passing Tradition and Know-How to the Future. Passing the baton to future generations.

Mr. Kato has always believed that “while respecting tradition, I also want to take on innovative challenges as much as possible. Mr. Kato always thinks, “While respecting tradition, I also want to take on innovative challenges as much as possible.

He believes that even if something is an innovative challenge today, if it is called a traditional technique 100 years from now, he will have left something behind for future generations.
It is important to completely burn oneself out as a craftsman, but it would be even better if one could pass on to future generations what one has spent a lifetime accumulating. Fortunately, an increasing number of young people are interested in the traditional industry and want to work in the landscaping industry.

While valuing the spirit of these 2021 craftsmen, we also believe that we need to update the system to make it easier for young people to understand in order to pass it on to the next generation, and the entire company is working on implementing the SECI model (a framework for sharing the knowledge and experience of individuals throughout the organization).

He is also working on implementing the SECI model (a framework for sharing the knowledge and experience of individuals with the entire organization) throughout the company. While saying, “Please take care of it nicely”, he is also conveying the traditional techniques, knowledge, and thoughts he has learned to young people today in a way that is friendly to them. He is committed to preserving the beauty of Kyoto’s unique natural landscape and historical culture for future generations.

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The grayish color is reminiscent of antiques, and the sophisticated appearance fits in with modern life. Glass artist Kenichi Sasagawa’s vessels have attracted attention in Japan and abroad for their style, but he says that his original work was art. How did he arrive at his current style? Guided by “intuition,” he went from art school to becoming a glass artist. A native of Kanagawa Prefecture, Mr. Sasagawa first began making glass while a student at Tama Art University’s Department of Crafts. At the time when she applied for the entrance exam, she had to choose between glass and metal as her major when submitting her application, and she recalls […]

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The grayish color is reminiscent of antiques, and the sophisticated appearance fits in with modern life. Glass artist Kenichi Sasagawa’s vessels have attracted attention in Japan and abroad for their style, but he says that his original work was art. How did he arrive at his current style?

Guided by “intuition,” he went from art school to becoming a glass artist.

A native of Kanagawa Prefecture, Mr. Sasagawa first began making glass while a student at Tama Art University’s Department of Crafts. At the time when she applied for the entrance exam, she had to choose between glass and metal as her major when submitting her application, and she recalls that she chose glass on a hunch. Glass is beautiful, and he had a hunch that the certain “inconvenience” of working with tools would suit his taste.

The works he produced at art school were different from his current style, Sasagawa recalls. At that time, I was making colorless and transparent glass works, not colored glass, and I was creating objects and installations. He also used materials commonly used as raw materials for glass, such as silica sand, which is made by grinding quartz, a highly transparent mineral, into a sand-like consistency, and lime, which is added to glass to prevent it from dissolving in water.

Many of his seniors and advisors in the laboratory where he was enrolled at the time were active as artists, holding solo exhibitions, and Mr. Sasakawa entered graduate school with the aim of becoming an artist himself. While in graduate school, he won the Encouragement Prize at the “International Exhibition of Glass Kanazawa 2004,” was selected for the “New Glass Review26” organized by the Corning Museum of Art in the U.S. in 2005, and was selected for the “2nd Contemporary Glass Grand Prize Exhibition in Toyama 2005,” among many other domestic and international competitions. He has been selected in numerous domestic and international competitions.

After completing his master’s program, Mr. Sasakawa relocated to Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, in search of an environment where he could have more contact with glass. He spent two years as a trainee at the Utatsuyama Craft Workshop in Kanazawa, which fosters leaders in a wide range of crafts, including ceramics, lacquerware, dyeing, metalwork, and glass.

The days of Utatsuyama Craft Workshop taught me the “beauty of use

At art school, Sasakawa mainly made objects, keeping in mind “how to showcase the material of glass,” but the demands of art school, which emphasized high artistic quality, were different from those of Utatsuyama, which emphasized everyday and practical use. Mr. Sasagawa recalls that his previous style, which was highly artistic, often failed to communicate with the specialists who provided guidance at Utatsuyama and with his fellow trainees. This situation of “not being able to communicate through his artwork” led Mr. Sasakawa to seek a different method of expression.

In his search for a form of expression that would reach a wide audience, Mr. Sasagawa noticed the beauty of the city of Kanazawa. In this city, where traditional crafts and the aesthetics of the tea ceremony culture existed on a daily basis, Mr. Sasagawa opened his eyes to the charms of Japanese culture, and subsequently deepened his interest in the world of crafts and the “beauty of use. In Kanazawa, there were many opportunities to participate in various art events and exhibitions and sales, and he had several opportunities to make practical vessels in response to requests to exhibit his work. Through these experiences, his interest shifted from the sharp expression he had aimed for while in college to the casual beauty of daily life, and he gradually shifted his focus from making objects to making vessels.

The work “Utsuwa no koto” (2007), created while Mr. Sasagawa was working at Utatsuyama Kogei Kobo (Utatsuyama Craft Studio), is a work that examines the difference between looking at vessels and looking at art, and won the Excellence Award at the 3rd Contemporary Glass Grand Prize Exhibition in Toyama 2008. This group of works, consisting of objects reminiscent of earthenware from ancient civilizations, is an important work that symbolizes a turning point for Mr. Sasakawa.

The inspiration for his works came from his visits to various museums and art galleries in Kanazawa, both large and small. Born and raised in a new town in Kanagawa Prefecture, Sasakawa was interested in contemporary art at university, but he eventually came to incorporate the essence of “history and tradition” into his works, something he had regarded as somewhat negative at the time.

Own your own kiln in a small town located in the middle of Kyoto and Nara

In 2008, after completing his two years at Utatsuyama Craft Workshop, Mr. Sasagawa returned to Kanagawa Prefecture to spend four years from 2010 when he was offered a post as an assistant at Tama Art University, his alma mater, after working as an artist in Hokuriku.
During that period, Sasakawa worked hard at creating works while borrowing a kiln from his senior’s studio, a kiln at his workplace at Tama Art University, and a kiln at a rental studio, but gradually his desire to own his own kiln grew stronger.
However, he gradually became more and more interested in “owning my own kiln.” When he rented a kiln, the glass he could use was limited to common glass, which was mainly colorless, transparent glass. Sasagawa felt that such “clean” glass was unsatisfactory. He wanted to make his own fabrics to match his own style, as his fellow ceramic artists at Utatsuyama Kogei Kobo had done. At that time, an acquaintance introduced him to a property in Ide-cho, Kyoto Prefecture, far from his hometown, and he moved there in 2016. Located between the two ancient capitals of Kyoto and Nara, the town has a population of about 7,000 in the southern part of Kyoto Prefecture. For Mr. Sasagawa, who grew up in the city, the quiet environment surrounded by the nature of a mountain village is refreshing and he likes it very much.

Having his own kiln here, Mr. Sasagawa has been able to complete his one-of-a-kind pottery, which has been well received both in Japan and abroad.

Wine glasses and sake cups. Vessels made of recycled glass with delicate bubbles.

At his studio in Ide-machi, Mr. Sasakawa has completed a variety of everyday vessels, such as glasses and sake cups, made from “recycled glass.

Reclaimed glass is made by melting glass cullet, which is a crushed piece of waste glass, at high temperature. Mr. Sasagawa uses used fluorescent tube cullet as the material for his works. Incidentally, the reason why he paid attention to recycled glass is because he had many opportunities to recycle glass when he was working as an assistant. Recycled glass has a light blue color because the tips of the iron rods used in the production process stick to the raw glass material. He wanted to make use of this color in his work. Another reason was that he felt the antique-like texture of recycled glass had a “modern” feel.

The color of Sasagawa’s vessels is an exquisite nuanced grayish-blue, created by adding oxidized metals such as cobalt and copper to the original color of recycled glass in a unique blend. At the same time, he is also particular about the “lightness of color. Since Mr. Sasakawa himself is an alcoholic beverage lover, he made repeated adjustments to achieve a color that would make drinks look delicious.
In addition, the process of making recycled glass tends to produce air bubbles, which are trapped inside the glass. The glass is made in accordance with the artist’s own sensibility: “Glass without bubbles is beautiful, but I feel that it is a little lacking.

Thinness of the fabric that enhances the exquisite colors

Another appealing feature of Sasagawa’s vessels is their thin texture. He says that he arrived at this thinness because he has always preferred sharp forms to thick ones, and the combination of the thin fabric and the grayish-blue color of the recycled glass creates an exquisite effect.

The light-colored glass gives a sense of depth when you look into a vessel because the color accumulates around the edges, but the thin fabric gives a crisp, sharpened impression. It also goes without saying that a thin fabric glass or cup enhances the delicate flavor of the beverage because it is less uncomfortable when it touches the lips.
The thinness requires considerable skill and temperature control, and the most important thing is to make sure that the utensils are hot enough. These efforts have resulted in the creation of exquisitely textured vessels that are highly regarded as one-of-a-kind.

Popular both at home and abroad. The “scenery” interwoven with the food and beverages is also an attraction.

After spending his days at Utatsuyama in Kanazawa, Sasagawa’s gray-blue vessels were completed at his studio in Ide-machi. He says that he arrived at the present style with the intention of “creating vessels that glow beautifully even in the weak light of Kanazawa in winter.” The color of the vessels looks like the color of the sky of the Sea of Japan region in winter, which is filled with rain and snow grains.
The great appeal of permeable glass is that it changes its expression depending on the light. In addition, glass vessels create a view inside the vessel while echoing the food and beverages served in them. Sasakawa’s vessels, which are favored both domestically and internationally, are sure to bring happiness to the daily lives of those who use them, creating various landscapes that resonate with the light and the delicacies of different climates.

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Compared to teacups and teacups, it is surprisingly difficult to find a kyusu that one likes. Among them, the kyusu of Jyoji Nakamura, a Kyoto-yaki and Kiyomizu-yaki artist who has won many prizes at pottery exhibitions and also produces art works, is secretly gaining popularity. Nakamura’s vessels are all designed to fit in with modern homes. Nakamura moved from Osaka to Kyoto when he entered university. While still in school, he was selected for a ceramic art exhibition After graduating from an art high school, Osaka native Joji Nakamura came to Kyoto at the age of 18 to study ceramics at Kyoto Seika University’s Faculty of Art and Design. After […]

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Compared to teacups and teacups, it is surprisingly difficult to find a kyusu that one likes. Among them, the kyusu of Jyoji Nakamura, a Kyoto-yaki and Kiyomizu-yaki artist who has won many prizes at pottery exhibitions and also produces art works, is secretly gaining popularity. Nakamura’s vessels are all designed to fit in with modern homes.

Nakamura moved from Osaka to Kyoto when he entered university. While still in school, he was selected for a ceramic art exhibition

After graduating from an art high school, Osaka native Joji Nakamura came to Kyoto at the age of 18 to study ceramics at Kyoto Seika University’s Faculty of Art and Design. After graduating from the university, he apprenticed himself to potters Kozo and Yoshinobu Kawashima in Sumiyama, Uji City, Kyoto Prefecture, where he lived and worked for three years. He recalls that this period, during which he learned the know-how of practical ceramic arts such as pottery, was an important starting point for him.

While still in college, Nakamura was selected for the Asahi Ceramic Art Exhibition, which is regarded as a gateway to success for ceramic artists, and during his apprenticeship, he was selected and won prizes at several public exhibitions. Although he was originally prohibited from participating in exhibitions during his apprenticeship, his teachers gave their tacit approval when they saw how dedicated Nakamura was to his work and how he continued to create artwork whenever he had free time.

In 2012, after a period of time during which he worked mainly on artwork in parallel with his work at the Kiyomizuyaki ware complex in Yamashina-ku, Kyoto and as a part-time lecturer at his alma mater, Seika University, Nakamura established G-studio, a studio that operates as a production line for practical products separate from art production, on Gojozaka, which is also known as the birthplace of Kiyomizuyaki. G-studio” was established on Gojozaka, known as the birthplace of Kiyomizuyaki. She decided to start producing practical products when she got married, and as a result, the range of Nakamura’s style has expanded even further.

Studio in the Center of Kyoto and Kiyomizuyaki Ware

The area around Gojozaka in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, where Nakamura’s studio is located, has flourished since the mid-Edo period as the area in front of Kiyomizu-dera Temple, where pottery was produced and sold as souvenirs to visitors to the temple. Gojozaka was also the base of the potter Kawai Kanjiro, who was active as a folk art activist along with Yanagi Muneyoshi and others.

If I were to set up my own studio, it would be in the Gojozaka area. Nakamura says that he had decided to set up his own studio in the Gojozaka area even before he started his own business. Because he is a newcomer from another prefecture and is not the heir to a kiln, he decided to work in the center of Kyoto and Kiyomizu-yaki pottery. The choice of Gojozaka was a sign of his determination to live as an artist in Kyoto.

In fact, he says that he learned a lot from using this location as his base.

Not only did he make connections with many ceramic artists in the surrounding area, but he also had many opportunities to interact with tourists from Japan and abroad in this area where hotels and guesthouses are located. The stimulation and insight gained there sometimes led to the creation of new works of art. The tea ceremony utensils that are now Nakamura’s masterpieces were created as a result of such opportunities.

Chinese tourists were the catalyst for Nakamura’s tea ceremony utensils.

At a time when inbound tourism was booming, Chinese tourists from all over the world were particularly conspicuous among the visitors. He decided to make tea utensils for brewing Chinese tea, and they were well received by Chinese tourists and Japanese alike. Since then, the kyusu has become one of Nakamura’s masterpieces.

What is most distinctive about this kyusu is its size. The size of the kyusu, which is almost one size smaller than a regular kyusu and reminiscent of a Chinese tea kyusu, was born out of a desire to have a kyusu that is just right for brewing a single cup of tea during a break on a cold day. The kyusu is very useful because it is difficult to brew a single cup of tea in a large kyusu, and tea leaves are wasted.

He often names his pieces after colors, such as ” Haksusui kyusu ” ( white crystal kyusu ) and ” Fukoku ginsai kyusu” (black and silver colored kyusu ). The somewhat Asian feel to the designs reflects Nakamura’s preference for items from the Joseon Yi Dynasty, which he collects himself. At the same time, Nakamura also pays close attention to the fine handwork, such as the tight closing of the lid, so that the charm of Japanese craftsmanship and the essence of Kyo-yaki can be felt.

Not many people make kyusu. That is why it is so meaningful to make them.

Among potters, there are not so many who make kyusu compared to teacups and teacups. Nakamura says that because kyusu has many parts and requires a lot of time and effort to make, not many people want to make kyusu.

That is why Nakamura has been focusing on kyusu. Recently, he is often asked to make kyusu at private exhibitions and shows.

The concept behind his pottery making is to “make it to fit the building. The design is in line with modern life.

Nakamura’s kyusu, which would look at home on a Western table, and his other vessels, which would not look out of place in a modern living space, are made based on the concept of ” making to fit the building. This concept was cultivated in Kyoto, where he has lived since his student days.

There are many machiya residences in Kyoto, but when you enter one, you find that the inside has been completely remodeled, often in Western-style rooms. This is not limited to Kyoto; the same may be true of houses that have been remodeled from the old Showa period. Besides, more and more people are living in condominiums. As lifestyles change, the design of homes also changes, and the interior design changes along with it. Since tableware is also a part of interior design, I would like to propose a “modern dining experience” by creating tableware that fits the changing Japanese lifestyle.

Nakamura says that when he was in high school, he was torn between ceramics and architecture when choosing a career path, but after he began to study ceramics in college, he felt that the two genres were closely connected. He felt that the two genres were closely connected after he began working in ceramics at university. This is because most practical ceramics are used in buildings, and objects in the city often form a landscape together with buildings.

Matcha bowls for a parfait at a resort hotel, which was designed to resemble a garden in Kyoto.

Aman Kyoto The Living Pavilion by Aman] “Garden Parfait Zen Garden” (early summer, 2021)

In addition to residential spaces, Mr. Nakamura also demonstrates his skills in the production of tableware for use in resort facilities.

In 2021, Nakamura made tea bowls for desserts that will be available for a limited time only during the season of fresh greenery at the Aman Kyoto resort hotel in Takagamine, an area rich in nature in the northern part of Kyoto City. The dessert is a parfait that was made to look like a Zen garden, and is served at “The Living Pavilion by Aman,” a restaurant overlooking the hotel’s beautiful moss garden. To serve the parfait, Nakamura created a ” kokujaku yugen ” matcha bowl.

The color of the bowl is black, which is also linked to the design of the hotel. The jet-black glaze, which is often used in Nakamura’s works, gives the bowl an unwavering strength and depth that firmly captures the vivid green color.

His identity as a Kyotoite has grown.

In 2013, his objet d’art “Gogu – Wind God and Thunder God” won the Kyo-ten Prize at the Kyo-ten, a public exhibition sponsored by Kyoto City that has produced many leading Japanese artists, including the Japanese-style painter Uemura Shoen, and in 2018, ” Fukuro Ginsai Chaki-asore ” was selected for the ” Ceramic Society of Japan Encouragement Award Kansai Exhibition ” held to discover local artists. Ginsai Chaki-asore ” won the Encouragement Prize. Mr. Nakamura has won awards at publicly solicited exhibitions for both his artwork and practical products, and is now one of the artists leading a new era in the world of pottery in Kyoto.

After more than 20 years in Kyoto, Nakamura says he finally feels comfortable calling himself a “Kyotoite. Nakamura’s pottery and tea ceremony utensils are often described as “Kyoto-like in their delicate style,” but when he first started out as an independent potter, he says he was never strongly aware that he was a Kyoto or Kiyomizu-yaki artist.

This is because, unlike Shigaraki-yaki and Arita-yaki, there are no rules regarding techniques or raw materials for Kyo-yaki and Kiyomizu-yaki. Because of this, it was difficult for him to have an identity that his work was Kyo-yaki, and his own perception was that he was just making what he wanted to make.

However, after establishing his own business on Gojozaka and interacting with many artists, Nakamura gradually became aware of the “Kyoto-ness” of his work.

Living in Kyoto, I sometimes meet people who make me think, ‘This person is a Kyoto artist. I believe that Kyoto-yaki and Kiyomizu-yaki are born from the “spirit of Kyoto” that comes from living in Kyoto, experiencing its scenery, air, and people, and learning about its history. I would be happy if people feel that something like that comes out in what I make.”

Some of his works are in the collections of ceramic museums in Japan and abroad.

The approximately 20 years Nakamura spent in Kyoto, and especially what he absorbed in Gojozaka, made him a Kyoto artist.

The delicate yet unwaveringly strong works produced by his hands are in the collections of the World Tile Museum (Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture), the Ichinokura Sakazuki Museum (Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture), the International Museum of Ceramic Art inFaenza (Italy), and the Honenin Temple in Sakyo-ku, Kyoto City . The museum is also housed at the Honenin Temple in Sakyo-ku, Kyoto.

Nakamura’s tea utensils, created in response to contemporary lifestyles, are sure to provide fresh impressions to visitors and easily cross borders in Kyoto, a city that has been reopened as one of the world’s leading tourist destinations and where the movement of people has become more active.

The post Creating a kyusu suited to the modern home. Kiyomizu-yaki artist Joji Nakamura/Kyoto City, Kyoto, Japan first appeared on NIHONMONO.

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