DESIGN

Kokontozai: KASHIYUKA’s Shop of Japanese Arts and Crafts / [Glass]

August 8, 2018 | Design, Travel | photo_Keisuke Fukamizu hair & make_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 time she visits the studio of a glassblower, Ms. Yuko Sakou, in the city of Seki, Gifu prefecture. In Japan, summertime is characterized by the “summer sound” that floats upon the breeze.

“May I see this in the light of the work space?” our shopkeeper, Kashiyuka, asks as she gazes at the glass wind chimes in the front window. “This is the first time I’ve seen clear glass wind chimes without any patterning. It really brings out the innate beauty of the glass.” She’s also curious about the structure, for which wood and original windows from an old, local building were repurposed.

As summer approaches, KASHIYUKA searches for handcrafted glass objects that convey a sense of coolness, something she’s been considering since taking on her role as KASHIYUKA Shop proprietor. Ultimately, she came upon these clear glass wind chimes. Her car headed steadily mountainward to visit the studio of Yuko Sakou in the town of Seki, Gifu prefecture. Amid the lush greenery and glimmering streams, the vista is dazzling!

Purchase No. 5 [Glass] A hand-blown wind chime softly announces the breeze.

In the gentle atmosphere of her thoughtfully laid out studio, Ms. Sakou makes chubuki – hand-blown – glass objects. The method involves molten glass, heated to 1180 degrees Celsius, that is slathered on the end of a long metal rod. The traditional Japanese wind chime bears various characteristic patterns, but these are simply transparent and unadorned. The window’s bright light is refracted in subtle, variable waves in the thickness of the glass, and a total feeling of coolness emerges.

Molten chubuki glass reaches temperatures as high as 1200° C before it can be formed. The tools are mostly iron.

“You can actually grow hydroponic succulents!” says KASHIYUKA, a longtime lover of plants, excitedly. “It’s great fun to set them out in different patterns.”