Kai family's straw ornament
Driving 3+ hours and going across the Aso mountain from my parents house, I visited the Kai family in Miyazaki prefecture to learn how they make the straw ornaments. I knew about this family since...
Clay dolls from Mr. Miyawaki
Mr. Miyawaki lives in Beppu in Oita prefecture, which is known for its hot spring village in Kyushu Japan. When I saw Mr. Miyawakis’ dolls years ago, I fell in love with his funny and...
Kakishibu fan
Kakishibu Uchiwa is a persimmon tannin dyed paper fan. There are actually a few well known paper fan manufacturers in my hometown but I decided to pick the one made by the Miyamoto family, and visited...
Nakadera Kiln
Visiting Nishikawa family's kiln. Nakadera kiln was started in 1991 by Kousei Nishikawa who was born in 1951. Before he started his own kiln he trained himself as a craftsman at Fumoto kiln (one of...
Shimoura clay doll
Memory of the studio visit to buy the clay dolls in Amakusa, Kumamoto. Driving more than three hours from my parents home, I went to see the craftsman of the clay dolls. (I also went...