Interviews

nitorito: Knit and Weave — Stoles Made in Snowy Yonezawa

In snowy Yonezawa, a 140-year-old textile mill turned the limits of circular knitting into soft, felted wool stoles — and a brand to keep its region's craft alive.

Kobo Aizawa: Tools Before Products — Kitchenware from Tsubame Since 1922

In Tsubame, Niigata, Kobo Aizawa has made kitchen tools since 1922 by asking one question first: what is this tool for?

Daiya: A Kanna Plane Maker’s Katsuobushi Shaver

In Sanjo, Niigata, Yamatani Seisakusho — a workshop that has made wooden bodies for Japanese hand planes since 1946 — turned its craft into a compact katsuobushi shaver for the modern table.

Asakura Senpu: NAGARE, the Super Water-Repellent Furoshiki from Kiryu

In the textile city of Kiryu, Asakura Senpu reinvents the traditional furoshiki with a super water-repellent finish that lets it carry water, shrug off rain and stay breathable.

nucca: Warm Colors from a Hasami Ware Kiln

We visited Yamashita Toen in Hasami, Nagasaki, a kiln that makes everything in-house, to hear how its love of making led to nucca, pottery in 12 colors kneaded into the clay.

buntA: Waraji Sandals Born from Medical Insoles in Kobe

We visited Fuji Koatsu Products in Kobe, the rubber maker behind buntA, to see how a material made for medical insoles became a sandal that helps you walk with all five toes.

cobcob: Ballpoint Pens from Fragrant Yoshino Cedar Burls

We visited forester Mr. Morimoto in Sakurai, Nara, who turns rare, fragrant burls of Yoshino cedar into handmade ballpoint pens under the name cobcob.

ABE HOME SHOES: Slippers from Japan's Slipper Capital

We visited Abe Sangyo in Kahoku, Yamagata, Japan's top slipper town, to learn how a 100-year-old subcontractor built its own brand of comfortable home shoes.

MokuNeji: Where Wood Turning Meets Precision Engineering

We visited Taniteru Kogei in Yamanaka, Ishikawa, the wood turners behind MokuNeji, who brought machine precision to a traditional craft to cut perfect wooden screw threads.

Shitsurindo: Echizen Lacquer and a New Generation of Craftspeople

We returned to Shitsurindo in Sabae, Fukui, to see how this Echizen lacquerware maker has grown, and to meet one of the young craftspeople carrying the craft forward.