Showcasing The People And Principles Behind Traditional Japanese Carpentry And Woodwork
On Sunday 3 May we held our first Japanese woodwork masterclass, live-streaming direct from Japan. As far as we know – it’s a world first too!
30 participants from over 14 countries from as far a field as Mexico, India and Brazil tuned in live to see JWA Featured Maker, Masahiro Kudo, start his journey making a traditional wooden sake cup or ‘masu’.
Introducing the first in a series of features on makers who’ve emigrated from Japan and set up a new life abroad with traditional Japanese woodwork values at their heart.
In 1985, Hiroshi Sakaguchi and his wife, Ann, established ‘Ki Arts’, a traditional Japanese woodworking business in Sonoma County, Northern California. From the challenges of adapting to Western preferences and ways of doing business to sourcing hardwoods similar to those in Japan, Sakaguchi-san has successfully overcome obstacles to fulfil his California dream.
Continue reading “MAKERS ABROAD | Hiroshi Sakaguchi”
Kicking off the first in our series of ‘Japan Woodcraft Journeys‘, we profile professional makers who’ve travelled to Japan to study and learn from master crafts men and women.
First up is UK-based designer and maker – Hugh Miller, author of ‘Japanese Wood Craftsmanship’.
On our research trip to Japan last year, we were honoured to meet Makoto Fukada – founder and Master Carpenter at Seyseysha.
Specialising in traditional Japanese style houses, he takes projects from design right through to build stage, his mastery of carpentry honed over 30 years. We sat down with Makoto over sweet red bean soup and ice cream in one of Tokyo’s famous tea houses.
With traditional gender roles in Japan slowly evolving, carpentry remains an overwhelmingly male profession. Combine this with a dwindling number of carpenters (down from 1 million in the 1980’s to less than 200k in 2020), the future for traditional Japanese woodcraft is arguably bleak.
Bucking this trend and inspiring a new generation of young, female woodworkers is Lin Horiuchi. At 25 years old, Lin is apprentice to Master Carpenter Makoto Fukada of Seyseysha, a Tokyo-based firm designing and building traditional wooden houses.
Japan Woodcraft Association 