DESIGN

Kokontozai: KASHIYUKA’s Shop of Japanese Arts and Crafts — Maki-e Hair Accessories

『カーサブルータス』2023年10月号より

October 5, 2023 | 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 took her to Kazura Sei Rōho, founded 1865 in Kyoto, where she toured the studio in which they make kanzashi, hair ornaments decorated using maki-e lacquering techniques as well as raden, a decorative method incorporating mother of pearl.

Kazura Sei Rōho opened in Kyoto in 1865. For this visit, KASHIYUKA dropped by their Kaga studio in Ishikawa prefecture to see the process of applying maki-e and raden to hair ornaments and decorative combs. "The wooden forms, which feel as though they’re influenced by art deco and art nouveau, are marvelous!" says KASHIYUKA.

"About 50 years ago, the fourth-generation head of the family, who had a deep knowledge of wood crafting and carved Buddhist religious statuary, opened this Kaga studio as a center for making kanzashi with maki-e and raden, mother of pearl inlay. Kaga is a well-known lacquerware production region,” says the sixth-generation family head and director of the studio, Mr. Daisuke Shimofuri, who guided us through the finished pieces. They were so adorable and delicate my heart raced at the sight of them. There are the traditional good-fortune and floral motifs, along with more playful rabbits and frogs from the well-known caricatures known as Chōjū-giga.