Mr. Koji Yamane is from Kumamoto Prefecture. From a young age, he was fond of arts and crafts and interested in the work of craftspeople. After graduating with an engineering degree, he had worked in various fields but his desire to be a craftsman still remained. Subsequently, he joined Takemata as an artisan of bamboo craft. Having been fascinated by the natural beauty of bamboo and the flexibili...

Mr. Yoshio Sotokawa moved from his hometown, Toyama city to Takaoka city to join YAMAGUCHI KYUJO Co., Ltd. in 1979 when he married one of the daughters of the Yamaguchi family. As he got involved in the family business, he gradually became fascinated by the deep culture of traditional Buddhist objects that the company deals in. Being an experienced sales person, he not only visits his customers bu...

Mr. Nomura was born and raised in Toyama prefecture. When he moved and settled in Takaoka city, he frequently visited Takaoka Art Museum and that is when he discovered traditional craft works of Takaoka. He was especially attracted to lacquerware decorated with “raden” (mother-of-pearl inlay) and that attraction had made him thought about making it himself. Although his earlier career was far from...

Mr. Shozo Yamaguchi was born in Kyoto. In 1998, he joined KUMAGAI Co., Ltd., a company specializing in Kyoto ware as he wished to do work which is related to Kyoto, his hometown. Being a salesperson, he has developed new sales channels for this company. The most memorable event happened during his second year with the company when he was involved with the product development project of chopstick r...

Born in Aichi Prefecture, Mr. Hamono had moved to Mizunami City in Gifu Prefecture, a production area of ceramics in 2015 after his marriage, as it was his wife’s hometown. Soon after, he joined Oda Pottery Co., Ltd. Even though he did not have any experience in ceramic manufacturing, he believed that the work environment where people concentrate on their work silently would suit his personality. ...

Mr. Nobuo Gato, a craftsman of wipe-lacquering (fuki urushi) is the third-generation of a lacquerware merchant, Gato Mikio in the town of Yamanaka in Ishikawa Prefecture. He was encouraged by the words of his father, Mikio “ Lacquerware will never disappear ”, and decided to take over the family business. After graduating from high school, he worked for a wholesaler of lacquerware in Nagoya City i...

Mr. Reo Kosaka and his wife, Mrs. Chie Kosaka met each other as fellow students at the technical school of urushi lacquer arts in Kiso, Shiojiri City. They got married in 2009 and took over the lacquerware shop run by Reo’s family. For their family business, Mr. Kosaka’s work is now focused on the production of wooden furniture while Mrs. Kosaka does hand painting of lacquer. Even though both of t...

Mr. Kanda was born in Tokyo and his interest in manufacturing was naturally developed through the influence of his father who ran a press factory. Even as a high school student he had already decided that he wanted to be involved in the product development of wooden manufacturer. Mr. Kanda says that when he thinks about the future, he wants to connect with society through manufacturing. After grad...

At a workshop in the countryside the sunlight filters through the window casting it with a soft glow. Two men can be seen working intently on the wood in front of them. Both are graduates from the same traditional crafts university in Kyoto. They are planing the wood to ascertain its characteristics to prepare it for kumiko (lattice). In woodwork, besides having knowledge of the tools such as the ...

Mr. Hoshino has been working in Haibara of Nihonbashi area for more than half a century. He joined the company as a part timer at the age of 19 years old. During his apprenticeship, Mr. Hoshino worked under a manager called “Banto” who was very much older than him. Banto was rather stern but he did bring him out to have fun after work, recalled Mr. Hoshino fondly. His first job was as a delivery b...

The Ogawa brothers, Daizou and Kouzou, were born into a long historical lineage of potters. Their great-grandfather is none other than Konishi Toko – the famous first pottery producer in Bizen. As children, their playground was an old kiln site and a shrine made of Bizen ware. Subsequently, they went their separate ways. The older Mr. Daizou Ogawa took up an engineering job in Osaka but the younge...

Kokura-ori brand “KOKURA SHIMA SHIMA” is supported by two women. One is Ms. Hideko Watanabe who is the founder, the other is Ms. Mio Tsuiki who is the daughter of Hideko Watanabe. Ms. Hideko Watanabe loves music and used to be a jazz pianist. She was influenced by her elder sister Ms. Noriko Tsuiki who is a textile artist of Kokura-ori. Ms. Hideko Watanabe established “KOKURA SHIMA SHIMA” in 2007....