Kokontozai: KASHIYUKA’s Shop of Japanese Arts and Crafts /[INKSTONE]
『カーサ ブルータス』2022年5月号より
May 7, 2022 | Design | KASHIYUKA’s Shop of Japanese Arts and Crafts | photo_Keisuke Fukamizu hair & make-up_Masako Osuga editor_Masae Wako translation_ Mika Yoshida & David G. Imber
Searching all of Japan for handcrafted items that express its heart and soul, our proprietor, KASHIYUKA, presents things that bring a bit of luxury to everyday life. This trip completes her journey through the prefectures of Japan with the 47th, Yamaguchi prefecture. In the town of Shimonoseki she came upon the beautiful, chocolate-colored inkstone known as Akama Suzuri, a writing implement that had its origin during Japan’s Muromachi era, 1336 – 1573.
Akama suzuri is a handcraft originating in the Muromachi era around the towns of Moji and Shimonoseki, along the Kanmon Straits. The material is a stone known as Akamaishi, formed from ash deposited upon a lake from a nearby volcano, some 100 million years ago. The artisan himself is the one who goes into the caves and quarries to identify and mine the stone.