Japanese Crafts

張り子 Paper Mache from Kanazawa 金沢

The first generation Kiyosuke Nakajima started "Nakajima Menya", a store that made masks for village theatricals in Kanazawa city in 1862.  
​Now they  are making masks, paper mache animals and dolls.

南部鉄瓶 Nanbu Tetsubin (Iron kettle) by 高橋大益 Daieki Takahashi

Daieki Takahashi was born in Ishinomaki, Iwate.  He started studying and working at Nanbu Tetsubin studio when he was 19.  After he worked at some studios in Morioka for 14 years, he started his own studio in 2010 in Shizukuishi-cho, Iwate.

岩手県花巻市生まれ、矢巾町育ち19歳で南部鉄瓶製作の工房に入るも２年で挫折・・・。まったく別の仕事を経て5年後改めて鉄瓶作りの道へ。トータル14年盛岡の工房で鉄瓶作りに従事し2010年独立。岩手県雫石町に工房を構える。
​How to start to use an iron  kettle
 
*Fill water 80% and boil 20 minutes(a lid should be open little)
  Drink hot water after repeat 3 times above
( because to remove dust and Urushi lacquer odor)
* Please boil water at small to medium heat
* Please boil water every day in 3 months
* After use, discard unused hot water immediately and take a lid out and dry      completely with remaining heat
* If you get a red spot, don’t worry and keep using
* After 3 month use, it gets whiten inside of kettle, this makes hot water better taste
*After 1  year use, you could leave water one day but it’s better to discard water after use and dry
*When water get cloudy because of rusted, put a green tea bag in a kettle and boil several hours( don’t boil with no water in it)
*Never use detergent or scrubbing brush and no apply oil
干支 ＆ 鳥 ぬいぐるみ Stuffed Birds & Eto (Japanese Zodiac) Animals  
$20 / $25

赤ベコ / グレベコ (Aka-beko / Gre-beko) Red Ox / Grey Ox

Akabeko (赤べこ Akabeko, red cow) is a legendary cowfrom the Aizu region of Japan, who inspired a traditional toy. Aizu legend claims that the toys are based on a real cow used to build the Enzō-ji temple in the ninth century.

The toy is made from two pieces of paper-mache covered wood, shaped and painted to look like a red cow or ox. One piece represents the cow's head and neck and the other its body. The head and neck hangs from a string and fits into the hollow body. When the toy is moved, the head thus bobs up and down and side to side. The earliest akabeko toys were created in the late 16th or early 17th century.

Over time, people came to believe that the toys could ward off illnesses. Akabeko has become one of Fukushima Prefecture's most famous crafts and a symbol of the Aizu region. It has also been recognized as a symbol of the larger Tohoku region of which Fukushima Prefecture is a part.

忍び駒 (Shinobigoma) Straw Horse (Good Luck Charm: Hand Craft Folk Art)

手ぬぐい Tenugui by 小倉充子 Mitsuko Ogura
Tenugui, Woodblock print on 100% cotton, $25~

Mitsuko Ogura is a third-generation Edokko, Tokyo native, whose family operates the shoe store Yamato-ya, known to locals simply as the “corner geta shop,” established in Meiji 17(1884).

After completing the Graduate Program of Art Research and Design at the Tokyo University of the Arts in 1994, she studied Edo-style katazome, stencil resist- dyeing, under renowned traditional dye artist Kozaburo Nishi.

In 1997, she established the Ogura Design & Dye Studio where she performs virtually every step of the production process from creating the original design to cutting the stencils and dyeing the fabric for kimono, yukata, tenugui hand towels, hanao straps for geta, and noren curtains.  View the process of her art of Tenugui HERE

南部鉄 / 真鍮 Iron work / Brass work
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