Journal

The Paper That Outlasts Stone: Washi and Japan's 1,300-Year Craft
The Paper That Outlasts Stone: Washi and Japan's 1,300-Year Craft
A document written on washi -- Japanese handmade paper -- was recovered from the Shosoin repository in Nara in legible condition. It dates to 702 CE, making it over 1,300... Read more...
Inside a Kyoto Dyehouse: The Colors That Take Three Days to Make
Inside a Kyoto Dyehouse: The Colors That Take Three Days to Make
Kyoto's textile dyeing tradition, collectively known as Kyo-zome, encompasses more than 20 distinct techniques and has been practiced continuously in the city for over 1,200 years. In 2024, approximately 350... Read more...
The Gold That Disappears: Kyoto's Kinkaku-ji and the Craft of Gold Leaf
The Gold That Disappears: Kyoto's Kinkaku-ji and the Craft of Gold Leaf
Kinkaku-ji, Kyoto's Golden Pavilion, was last fully re-leafed in 1987 using approximately 200,000 sheets of gold leaf -- each sheet roughly 10.8 centimeters square and 0.0001 millimeters thick, about one-tenth... Read more...
The Art of Japanese Wrapping: Furoshiki and the Philosophy of Less
The Art of Japanese Wrapping: Furoshiki and the Philosophy of Less
Furoshiki -- the Japanese wrapping cloth -- has been in continuous use since at least the Nara period (710-794 CE), making it one of the oldest reusable packaging systems still... Read more...
The Making of a Kyoto Kimono: 20,000 Stitches by Hand
The Making of a Kyoto Kimono: 20,000 Stitches by Hand
A formal Kyoto kimono contains approximately 20,000 hand stitches. The fabric -- typically a bolt of silk 36 centimeters wide and 12 to 13 meters long -- is cut into... Read more...
The Bamboo Craft That Shaped Japanese Culture: Kyoto's Takumi Masters
The Bamboo Craft That Shaped Japanese Culture: Kyoto's Takumi Masters
Japan has approximately 600 species of bamboo growing within its borders, more than any other temperate country. Of these, roughly 20 species are used in craft production, and three dominate:... Read more...
Incense of the Emperors: How Kyoto Perfumers Captured Time in Smoke
Incense of the Emperors: How Kyoto Perfumers Captured Time in Smoke
In 595 CE, according to the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan), a large piece of fragrant wood washed ashore on Awaji Island in the Inland Sea. The islanders, not recognizing... Read more...
The Knife That Lasts a Lifetime: Kyoto's Blade-Making Tradition
The Knife That Lasts a Lifetime: Kyoto's Blade-Making Tradition
Kyoto has been producing edged tools without interruption for over 1,000 years. The city's blade-making tradition -- Kyo-hamono -- traces its origins to the swordsmiths who served the imperial court... Read more...
Kyoto Dyeing: How a Single Bolt of Silk Becomes a Living Painting
Kyoto Dyeing: How a Single Bolt of Silk Becomes a Living Painting
Kyo-yuzen -- Kyoto's signature silk dyeing technique -- was developed in the late 17th century by Miyazaki Yuzensai, a fan painter working in the Chion-in temple district. The technique he... Read more...
The Kyoto Fan That Became a Canvas: Kyo-Sensu and the Art of Folding
The Kyoto Fan That Became a Canvas: Kyo-Sensu and the Art of Folding
The folding fan was invented in Kyoto. This is one of the few craft origin claims that is historically uncontested. While flat, rigid fans (uchiwa) existed in China and Egypt... Read more...
Kiyomizu-yaki: The Pottery Born from Kyoto's Sacred Mountain
Kiyomizu-yaki: The Pottery Born from Kyoto's Sacred Mountain
Kiyomizu-yaki has been produced on the slopes east of Kyoto's Higashiyama district since the early 17th century. The name derives from Kiyomizu-dera, the Buddhist temple founded in 778 CE that... Read more...
The Iron Teapot That Changes Your Water: 800 Years of Nambu Tekki
The Iron Teapot That Changes Your Water: 800 Years of Nambu Tekki
South of Iwate Prefecture, in the cities of Morioka and Oshu, craftsmen have been casting iron since the 11th century. The teapots they produce -- tetsubin -- are still used... Read more...
Why Japanese Lacquerware Gets More Beautiful as It Ages
Why Japanese Lacquerware Gets More Beautiful as It Ages
Urushi -- the sap of the Toxicodendron vernicifluum tree -- has been used as a coating material in Japan for at least 9,000 years. A set of lacquered hair ornaments... Read more...
The Silk That Took 1,000 Years to Perfect: Nishijin Weaving of Kyoto
The Silk That Took 1,000 Years to Perfect: Nishijin Weaving of Kyoto
Nishijin weaving has been practiced in the same district of northwest Kyoto for over 1,200 years. The neighborhood takes its name from the western camp -- "nishi-jin" -- of the... Read more...