An exhibition celebrates the diverse techniques that elevate paper to an art form, from origami to sculpture and ‘kirie’. In an era of increasing digitalisation, paper remains an essential part of daily life. The exhibition Micro and Macro Universe of Paper Art at the Ichihara Lakeside Museum in Chiba Prefecture pays tribute to this timeless…

I am writing this to you just after New Year’s Day from my home in Kyoto. Exactly one year ago today, I felt tremors in my living room, so I turned on Japanese television to the shocking news that a massive earthquake had hit the Noto Peninsula, less than 200 miles away. The damage was…

Zoom-Zoom sent Japanophile Steve Beimel to meet some of the craftsmen and craftswomen in Mazda’s home city, Hiroshima. Words Steve Beimel / Images Eric Micotto Though fine craft traditions exist around the world, there may be no country that exceeds Japan in the sheer number and depth of master-level disciplines, truly rarefied expressions of the human…

She is Mazda Colour and Trim Designer Mai Utagawa. He is ikebana artist Mario Hirama. In a perfectly proportioned, uncluttered corner room in a post-and-beam house built with wood joinery in the hills of Kobe, Japan, the two have come together to explore the concept of space as they create an ikebana flower arrangement. Soft…

@Untitled, from the series « Pretty Woman », 2017 © Daido Moriyama Photo Foundation. Courtesy of Akio Nagasawa Gallery Two outstanding 20th century Japanese photographers featured in an exhibition in Paris, entitled Moriyama–Tōmatsu: Tokyo. Venue: Maison Européenne de la Photographie Daido Moriyama and Shomei Tōmatsu had envisaged this project together, but the death of the…

 The Victoria and Albert Museum introduces one of the world’s greatest textile treasures, Japanese Hikihaku, an age-old weaving process that combines silk, handmade paper, gold leaf and such things as lapis lazuli or mother-of-pearl. Follow the process from concept to completion as overseen by 10th generation textile producer Kondaya Genbei, in Kyoto.

World-renowned master textile dyer Sachio Yoshioka is featured in this 18-minute video  about the Art of Natural Dyeing.

by Steve Beimel                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Japan continues to delight, surprise and fulfill me after nearly 50 years.  About two years ago, a group of about a dozen American and British friends joined together to support me in my efforts to identify needs and give strategic support to small, key projects that encourage traditional Japanese crafts to flourish…