This web magazine proposes new ways to enjoy kogei.
Through interviews with creators, artists and people who live in Hokuriku,
discover the allure of Kogei from various angles.
At the behest of Go for Kogei, I’m visiting the 16 workshops throughout 3 prefectures in the Hokuriku area during Japan’s four-day holiday from Saturday, September 19th to Tuesday, September 22nd, 2020, where folks can meet artists and crafters for workshop tours and hands-on experience programs.
In addition to the tours and experience programs, online projects have been created to accommodate would-be attendees during the pandemic. This special four-day event allowed visitors to have an up-close and personal view of production sites, places one normally would not be able to enter.
Founded in 1875. Along with machine manufactured paper, this is the only Echizen washi factory in all of Japan that produces “danshi” paper, a high-quality, wrinkled paper with a crepe texture; fusumagami [decorative paper for solid sliding doors; and sousaku washi [decorative paper for art and scroll work]; all by hand. Machine manufactured paper includes torinoko [high quality printing paper often used for stationary], patterned paper that incorporates hand-making techniques and coloring, and bijutsu komagami [for hobbies, labels, and coverings].
During the tour of the workshop, observe the range of color and feel the texture of various Japanese paper samples. Enhance your own understanding and appreciation of the traditional techniques for washi paper production by seeing firsthand how water can be used to create patterns and how large sheets of traditional Japanese paper are made by hand.
To make washi, one needs water, fiber and neri. Neri is the starch derived from soaking in water the roots of the aibika, a flowering plant in the same family as okra. Participants maybe especially curious about how neri went from field to factory.
The process is explained along the tour, including at the kiln workshop, where the raw materials for the paper are boiled; at the “river,” a section of the workshop where the fibers of the boiled bark are exposed and rigid bits are removed; at the machine that works the raw materials with liquid force; at the “paper-maker” for producing fusuma and large-sheet Japanese paper; and the “spreader,” where pulp is spread onto a board and dried.
At the gallery and shop at the workshop entrance, check out items on sale, like the cards and business card holders made from kneaded fusuma paper. Don’t forget to look up at the handmade washi lamps, imitating sunlight through trees.
Do you know how this pattern is made? Raw materials for Japanese paper, fibers from the mulberry and Oriental paperbrush plants, are attached to a metal plate. The process has the image of “hooking” the fibers onto a mold and then transferring them, giving the technique its name.
The result is softly blended contours with lustrous effect. The technique is typically used for sliding doors, and craftsmen now are making larger, more complex patterns. The various mold patterns that have been passed down generations in the workshop are still maintained.
When you visit Otaki-cho, the production center of Echizen Japanese paper, you will discover a unique scent. I was shown a tank of liquid where it was strongest, and when I asked what it was, the reply came,“It’s neri from the aibika plant. It’s used to make Japanese paper.”
Yamatsugi Paper Mill specializes in sake labels made from washi. We were able to see the tools for making the Japanese paper labels, as well as a special mold for a “hooking” technique that’s used to make a calendar each year.
On this day, I was able to learn the history of Echizen Japanese paper and see the traditional drying technique carried out, as well as the process of making washi from plants like mulberry, Oriental paperbrush, and aibika. The gallery shop was also worth the visit, full of colorful tea canisters and small boxes.
At Shinyosha’s workshop, I was able to create my own letterpressed message on a colorful washi card with an old coin. I was able to choose a favorite card from a selection of colors and patterns, and set them in a letterpress.
Even if it comes out a little imperfect, it’s always tasteful. The fact that it’s handmade makes an already charming Japanese paper craft all the more so. Now to decide who should receive the “Thank you” message that put my heart into?
The tradition of creating urushi lacquerware is so representative of Japan that it is even called “japanning” in English. Both familiar and deep, it’s present in everything from the bowl that holds our miso soup at breakfast to the finest works of maki-e art.
Shitsurindo was founded in 1793 as a urushi painter’s workshop. I learned about their fine handiwork that has been passed down for eight generations. In hearing about the process, history, and production area of lacquerware, all while observing the workshop, I found myself drawn into the talk of vermilion and black coloring, the tools that the painter values most, and how the state of raw lacquer changes when exposed to the air. It was a discovery I could only grasp by speaking directly with the crafters in their creative environment.
Said one participant, “When I started living on my own during my college years, my mother in Fukui gave me an Echizen-made knife. Thanks to this class on resharpening, it’s regained its former edge. I’ve learned how to care for it now, and I want to continue to do so.”
Knife Shop Hideo Yamada has a 700-year history of crafting traditionally-hammered Echizen knives. The entire process and sales are done in-shop, from the blades with their distinctive patterns, to attaching the finely crafted handles and inscribing the metal. The shop also sells many other types of knives and scissors. They also perform personalized services for customers looking for affordable and useful cutlery or are in need of lifelong service.
Kisso is an original accessory brand launched in 2010 by a company that deals in materials and machines for glasses. The company manufactures and sells fashionable originally designed rings, bracelets, and earrings made by layering beautifully colored acetate materials.
In this workshop, participants recycle eyeglass frames into a bangle. First, select your favorite shape and color from among the glass frames. Then, gently heat and bend it into a bangle that fits your wrist perfectly. With so many to choose from, the material may take more time to select than to shape! It was a fun experience.
The “Kiln Festival” held at Choemon Kamide Kiln every May has been rescheduled to September due to the pandemic. This time, Go for Kogei will hold a public talking session from the festival’s venue, and will follow Keigo Kamide’s small group tours, which used reservation systems on September 20th and 21st. Both were streamed live on YouTube.
The “Kogei Talking Session” with Keigo Kamide and Hideaki Taki was arranged by the Go for Kogei project. Both were born and raised with a family business in Kutani pottery and Echizen washi paper, respectively. As a writer who witnessed this first talk between two up-and-coming artists, I can say this is a must watch!
Kogei Talking Session: Keigo Kamide and Hideaki Taki
Members: Keigo Kamide (Kutani pottery, Choemon Kamide Kiln); Hideaki Taki (Echizen washi, Taki Paper Mill); Kentaro Takayama (interviewer, Noetica)
* Filmed at Choemon Kamide Kiln.
Choemon Kamide Kiln: Online Kiln Festival and Studio Tour
Guide: Keigo Kamide
* Filmed at Choemon Kamide Kiln (Nomi City, Ishikawa Prefecture)
Founded in 1914, this kiln has been producing figurines every day for over a hundred years. They currently specialize in lucky cats and owl figurines, but they also produce seasonal items, like hina dolls and Chinese zodiac animals.
The figurines are created with a slurry casting technique. This studio tour includes hands-on experience with the entire process of creating such a figurine from the assembly of the mold and pouring of the slurry into the cast to the application of the final glaze. The tour also includes a look at past molds that are not normally viewable by the public.
This kiln in Komatsu, Ishikawa Prefecture, specializes in painting Kutani-ware porcelain. Since its founding in 1906 with the first generation craftsman, Shosaku Yoshida, Kinzan Kiln has passed down the techniques of creating Kutani-ware for about 110 years, with a particular strength in gold application.
The gallery’s name, Mutan, means a beginning without sound, and the creation of selflessness. The gallery not only serves as a space to exhibit art but is itself also a space of art. The experience of kindrade in such a space will no doubt inspire your own creativity.
This kiln is a workshop specializing in various techniques for both the base ceramics and the decoration. In the early Taisho era, Isokichi Asakura became the first generation by founding a workshop for creating base ceramics in Komatsu. Of the next generation, Yosaku Asakura established a particular color expression that would be called “Asakura Coloring” and created a unique interpretation of the subject matter through engraved patterns on the base material. Today, Tomonari Asakura, a third generation craftsman of the kiln, is working to create memorable works for modern lifestyles by expanding further on the range of expressions inherited from his predecessors.
The tour of the gallery, kiln and atelier was an invaluable experience. The workshop experience let each participant freely paint designs on a white dish to suit their personality.
This was an exclusive tour inside the clay factory, usually closed to the public, and a workshop to throw clay produced at the factory on an electric-powered potter’s wheel.
While we watched the process of Kutani-ware from pottery stone to the production of clay, we learned how Kutani ceramics are connected to this location. Under the gentle guidance of a dedicated artisan, workshop participants threw clay onto a potter’s wheel to make their own large pieces, including plates and bowls. After the finished piece is baked, the white dish is delivered to the participant who made it.
We made ourselves a cotton broach with thread we spun from an old fashioned spindle. All materials and tools were delivered in advance. Participants met online for the workshop, an experience born of necessity, and one that most participants were new to.
Workshop participants made glass with Toyama Glass Studio’s original colors Koshi no Ao [“beyond blue”] and Koshi no Hisui [“beyond jade”], along with gold and silver foil. With the consultation of the workshop’s glass artists, participants blew their own uniquely designed glasses, vases, small bowls and more.
On September 20th, 2020, the “Nosaku Workshop Tour” was streamed on YouTube. Cast mold maker Nosaku has developed its own stylish brand in Takaoka City. Its new office building, which was relocated in 2017 and is over 13,000 square meters, has attracted attention as a place of “industrial tourism.” We spoke with managing director Chiharu Nosaku about the studio’s innovative efforts and the thoughts behind them.
Sunday, September 20 (Sun), 2020 12:30-12:50
Nosaku Online Factory Tour
Guide: Chiharu Nosaku
Live from Nosaku (Takaoka City, Toyama Prefecture) via zoom
＊Interview and filming are done by GO FOR KOGEI student supporters.
Yuki Sakashita (author of the original Japanese article)（Tsukitoito/ Communication director）
Born in Himi, Toyama Prefecture. Editor, writer and planner based in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. After working as an editor of a town magazine, a winery and a sake brewery, she became a freelancer. She has been living in Kanazawa since 2008. A qualified curator and sake taster, she loves travel, history and alcohol. Also a crafty person who likes to create crafts by herself such as pottery, glass blowing, lacquerware, woodwork, metalwork, and Japanese paper.
