Uesugi Yozan was a very young leader with a very big problem. When the ninth daimyo of the Yonezawa Domain (modern-day Yamaguchi Prefecture) assumed leadership in 1767 at the tender age of 16, Uesugi (1751-1822) inherited a fiefdom mired in poverty as the result of extravagant spending and poor management. Fortunately for his subjects, Uesugi…

As part of a larger effort to make Japan’s cultural properties more available for study and enjoyment, the Tokyo National Museum is preparing to unveil a new interactive, technology-based exhibit that will become part of the regular exhibition in the museum’s Gallery of Horyuji Treasures. Initially, from Jan. 31, the new Digital Gallery of Horyuji…

No doubt you’ve seen this iconic image of a huge wave that seems about to crash on Mt. Fuji. You probably also know that it was created by Hokusai, one of the very few Japanese artists to have achieved and maintained worldwide name recognition. But what else do you know about Hokusai, who changed his…

Beginning with Japan’s industrialization in the late 19th century, the paper industry and related companies converged in urban centres across the country. In the eastern Tokyo ward of Kōtō, one such company is Shinohara Shiko, a family-run bookbinding factory that has been cutting, folding, and binding paper to make books and magazines for almost fifty years….

Senna Misawa didn’t originally intend on becoming an Edo Kiriko craftsman. Unlike most artisans in Japan, she didn’t have a background or familial connection with the industry. Her plan was to open a nail salon. But when she came across a unique Edo Kiriko product made by Toru Horiguchi, it changed her life. Now in…

When Yuki Sakamoto joined Horiguchi Kiriko in 2017 at the age of 18, he was at the time Japan’s youngest Edo Kiriko apprentice. Drawn to “jewels, gems and shiny bright things,” as a kid, Sakamoto was inspired to move from Hokkaido to Tokyo straight after high school to study the decorative art of glass cutting. First made…

Tatsuo Morikawa rarely makes the same thing twice. Trained as a traditional Japanese woodworker but embracing new modes of practice, he works together with his clients to bring even the most experimental ideas to life. He has worked independently in Kawagoe, Saitama since 2011. His clients seek him out for his depth of expertise and his…

In a little coastal village in Chiba Prefecture, the ceramicist creates pieces marked by their territory and by time and its effects. Natural clay from Shiga Prefecture, simple, natural materials from the soil, using both ancient and contemporary techniques. Kazunori Hamana’s ceramics are the work of a self-taught artist who draws upon the history of…

Despite being far less visited than the other islands of Okinawa, Kumejima offers natural treasures and invaluable craftsmanship. When travellers think about the island of Okinawa, it’s the eponymous island that comes to mind first, or the traditional Taketomi. Kumejima, however, which covers an area of 59 km2 and has 8000 residents, has its fair share…

Through the initiation story of a young city dweller, this graphic novel pays homage to the community of the ‘women of the sea’. Japan in the late 1960s. Nagisa, a young, chaste Tokyoite, meets her aunt Isoé on Hegura Island to escape from her past and family dramas. Far from the frantic pace of life…