Interviews

MokuNeji: Where Wood Turning Meets Precision Engineering

We visited Taniteru Kogei in Yamanaka, Ishikawa, the wood turners behind MokuNeji, who brought machine precision to a traditional craft to cut perfect wooden screw threads.

Shitsurindo: Echizen Lacquer and a New Generation of Craftspeople

We returned to Shitsurindo in Sabae, Fukui, to see how this Echizen lacquerware maker has grown, and to meet one of the young craftspeople carrying the craft forward.

Wajima Kirimoto: Bringing Lacquer Back into Everyday Life

We visited Wajima Kirimoto on the Noto Peninsula, a family of woodworkers turned lacquerware maker, to learn how it is making lacquer part of everyday life again.

TADAFUSA: Blacksmith Knives from Sanjo, Niigata

We visited TADAFUSA in Sanjo, Niigata, to learn how a struggling blacksmith workshop reinvented itself with three essential knives, and helped open up its whole craft town.

syouryu: Suzugami, Tin Shaped by a Bell-Maker's Hammer

syouryu, from a Takaoka workshop that has made Buddhist temple bells since 1909, uses the hammering skills of its bell craftsmen to create suzugami, bendable sheets of tin.

Momentum Factory Orii: The Art of Coloring Copper in Takaoka

Momentum Factory Orii in Takaoka, Toyama, spent years developing new ways to color copper, turning a specialist finishing workshop into a maker of vivid interior pieces.

soil: Diatomaceous Earth, Made the Muddy Way

We visited the Kanazawa workshop behind soil, where plasterers turn diatomaceous earth into stylish bath mats and homewares, entirely by hand.

Nousaku: Four Centuries of Casting, Reimagined in Takaoka

We visited Nousaku in Takaoka, Toyama, a foundry founded in 1916 that turns more than 400 years of local casting tradition into modern tin and brass pieces for everyday life.