Japanese-made products make for great presents as artisans put their knowledge of time-honoured craftsmanship traditions to good use. Let’s learn about how 3 everyday products are made!
1) Chopsticks
There are mass-produced chopsticks, and then there are handmade chopsticks that are so beautiful that you want to weep. If you have the chance, try to get hold of Wakasa-nuri-bashi chopsticks that are produced in Fukui. These chopsticks are distinctive because artefacts like pine needles are painstakingly embedded into these lacquered chopsticks before polishing is done to reveal an attention-grabbing spread of colours: green, red, yellow, gold, among others!
2) Cutlery
If you need to buy cutlery that injects a classy and sophisticated look into your dinner parties, look no further than Tsubame cutlery. Tsubame is a city located in Niigata, and flourished as a hub for nail production during the Edo Period. As time passed, the craftsmen in Tsubame decided to harness their nail-making techniques on the production of forks, spoons and knives. Lucky us.
These craftsmen carry out press work, grinding and polishing meticulously, thus ensuring that the cutlery they produce is of high quality. No wonder the cutlery is used for Nobel Prize award ceremonies!
3) Glassware
Okinawa is famed for Shuri Castle and the Churaumi Aquarium, but the Ryukyu Class Village is worth checking out. Using a technique called free blowing, the craftsmen first gather melted glass on the tip of a blowpipe and then blow from the other end so as to inflate the glass. This helps the glass to have a shape that is like no other.
What’s more, the glasses come in vivid, bright colours, so it is like bringing home a piece of picturesque Okinawa with you!Isn’t it amazing how dedicated craftsmen hold on to time-honoured techniques to make fascinating products such as these? Please show them your support by buying some chopsticks, cutlery and glasses home!