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April 02, 2025
 

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CRAFTS

Johan Leutwiler checks a sword he made at his workshop studio in the Kui district of Mihara, Hiroshima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Mar 24, 2025
Japan's first foreign swordsmith opens workshop in Hiroshima Prefecture
Johan Leutwiler hopes to promote the charm of Japanese swords following the completion of his five-year apprenticeship.
An expanded multilevel pond and devices spraying cold mist have been installed at the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum to protect against the dangers of warming summers on the institution's trees.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 24, 2025
World’s first public bonsai museum reopens after renovations
After a five-month refurbishment, the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum believes it’s better suited to care for its trees during intensifying summers.
According to the Nippon Bonsai Growers Cooperative, there were about 30 cases of bonsai theft last year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 14, 2025
Bonsai thefts sweep Japan as miniature trees grow more popular
About 30 cases of such theft occurred last year, according to the Nippon Bonsai Growers Cooperative.
According to the Cultural Affairs Agency, shodō is defined as the act of writing kanji and kana characters using traditional brushstrokes and techniques.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2025
Japan to again propose calligraphy for UNESCO heritage list
The government is expected to submit the fresh proposal to UNESCO by the end of the month.
The "Ishinomaki Kokeshi" created by craftsman Takatoshi Hayashi to promote his hometown are not confined to the traditional designs of the simple Japanese wooden dolls.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 3, 2025
Ishinomaki craftsman promotes hometown with unique wooden dolls after 3/11
Starting out as a complete amateur, Takatoshi Hayashi now receives orders from abroad for his “Ishinomaki Kokeshi” as his renown spreads online.
A set of miniature "hina" dolls from the late Edo Period (1603-1868), collected by hina furnishings researcher Yumiko Kawauchi
CULTURE
Feb 10, 2025
Miniatures bring hidden worlds to life at Tokyo cultural site
A set of dolls from the late Edo Period is among the items on display on the premises of Hotel Gajoen Tokyo.
Lacquerware maker Takaho Shoji is trying to bring life back to his remote community in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, after a devastating earthquake and subsequent floods on New Year's Day of 2024.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 29, 2024
Japan's Wajima craftmakers see hope in disaster-hit region
Lacquerware makers are determined to bring life back to the remote community after a devastating New Year's Day earthquake, followed by severe floods.
The hands of dyeing craftsman Yoshiharu Okamoto are stained a deep blue by his work with indigo.
LIFE / Style & Design
Dec 26, 2024
True blue tradition: How Japan's coveted jeans are made
Craftspeople in Okayama Prefecture are carrying on a centuries-old tradition of indigo dyeing that contrasts with contemporary fast fashion.
"Ukiyoe Immersive Art Exhibition" includes an installation of Katsushika Hokusai’s “The Great Wave off Kanagawa.”
CULTURE / Art
Dec 25, 2024
Step into ukiyo-e: A digital journey through Japan’s traditional art form
"Ukiyoe Immersive Art Exhibition" uses 3D animation and projection mapping to reimagine Edo-era woodblock prints for modern audiences.
Shiho Hanadate is part of a small yet growing number of young tappers pivotal in securing the future of domestic sap collection used in Japanese lacquerware.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 30, 2024
The young sap collectors underpinning Japanese lacquerware
“You can’t cut into the core, so you have to judge the thickness of the bark,” says tapper Shiho Hanadate. “You have to develop a sense for it.”
Oitomi's decision to send superstar Shohei Ohtani one of the company's traditional ironware tea kettles has paid off with a surge of interest from general consumers.
LIFE / Style & Design
Nov 23, 2024
After Shohei Ohtani bump, Iwate ironware maker sees brighter future
Thanks to the Dodgers superstar, the waitlist for Oitomi’s Miyabi Tetsubin kettle now stretches to more than a year.
Food replicas displayed on a table in the shape of the Japanese archipelago in an exhibition in London
JAPAN / Society
Oct 9, 2024
Japan House London introduces food replica culture
Food replicas, which were first made in Japan and are displayed at restaurants across the country, have recently become popular among foreign tourists as souvenirs.
Inside a gallery influenced by famed architect Kengo Kuma, Nakamura Ningyo's Hakata dolls represent a little-seen side of Japanese crafts.
LIFE / Style & Design
Sep 7, 2024
From Godzilla to martyrs, Hakata doll-making knows no bounds
Since its establishment in Fukuoka in 1917, Nakamura Ningyo has been a cornerstone of the Hakata doll tradition.
Hisako Tokuda left her office job to follow a passion for working with “bekko” (tortoiseshell) and says that even though it has been hard, she doesn’t regret it. 
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Aug 23, 2024
Hisako Tokuda: ‘I believe making things is what makes us human’
After taking an interest in tortoiseshell works, Hisako Tokuda left her office job and pursued her passion as an artisan.
Hedwig Schreck is a third-generation Tokyoite whose grandfather first arrived in Japan from Germany in 1920 as a submarine engineer.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jul 24, 2024
Hedwig Schreck: ‘Art has always been part of my life’
A third-generation Tokyoite, the former TV producer has pivoted to teaching others about Japanese culture in her retirement.
The Torchin series of table lamps, made by Yame 'chōchin' (paper lantern) artisans Shiraki Kougei and produced in collaboration with Nakagawa Masashichi Shoten and design unit Tent, combine contemporary design with traditional lantern-making techniques.
LIFE / Style & Design
Jul 20, 2024
Celebrate o-Bon in style with these elegant crafts
As o-Bon approaches, On: Design looks at industry mainstay Nakagawa Masashichi Shoten’s latest initiatives to honor the dearly departed.
Sanuki Kagari Temari sold at a store in Haneda Airport
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2024
Traditional Japanese crafts catching on among tourists at Haneda Airport
Their delicate craftsmanship and colors are attracting many foreign visitors to a specialty store at an airport in Tokyo.
The Oku knife "hooks or wraps elegantly along the edge of a plate or board," designer Kathleen Reilly says.
LIFE / Style & Design
Jun 22, 2024
A playfully subversive knife from a rising Scottish design star
The Scottish artist fuses East and West in a new knife design crafted in and inspired by Niigata Prefecture’s Tsubame-Sanjo.
Isamitsu Knives makes their blades in large batches to optimize the use of both the resources at its disposal and its small team of three smiths.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 16, 2024
‘A good knife is not only about the steel’
Founded in 2022, the knife-making process at Isamitsu Knives differs from industrial manufacturers in small but significant ways.
The colored patterns of Tsuguru "nuri," made in Aomori Prefecture, are achieved by applying multiple coatings of lacquer, which are later polished down to reveal layers of colors beneath.
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
May 18, 2024
A new initiative rethinks old Tohoku crafts
Described as “collector's items,” the works are being kept under wraps until their debut at a May 24-25 exhibition at Kudan House in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward.
As ‘Buy Canadian’ grows, more U.S. firms say retailers turning away products
Empty shelves with "Buy Canadian Instead" signs are seen in the American Whiskey section of the BC Liquor in Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 10.
Japan, South Korea and China vow to strengthen trade ties amid looming U.S. tariffs
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoji Muto (left), South Korean Trade Industry and Energy Minister Ahn Duk-geun (center) and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao during a trilateral meeting in Seoul on Sunday
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
Nankai Trough earthquake could kill 298,000 people, government says
Residents participate in an evacuation drill held with West Japan Railway in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, in January 2024 to prepare for a Nankai Trough earthquake and a possible tsunami following the quake.
The U.S. says Japan has a 700% tariff on American rice. Is that the case?
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds up a piece of paper with information about tariff rates at the White House on Tuesday.
On defense, Japan may avoid Trump's worst impulses — for now
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth chat after reviewing an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sunday.
Nankai Trough earthquake could kill 298,000 people, government says
Residents participate in an evacuation drill held with West Japan Railway in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, in January 2024 to prepare for a Nankai Trough earthquake and a possible tsunami following the quake.
NFL comeback star Damar Hamlin shares life-saving message in Tokyo
Damar Hamlin poses with students at The American School in Japan in Chofu, western Tokyo, on Thursday.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
Tokyo tech failures lean into misfortune, mistakes and missteps
Tsuyoshi Domoto in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on March 28. As an entrepreneur, Domoto experienced plenty of setbacks but maintains a positive attitude and continues to pursue his dreams.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan
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