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Kyoto

The old capital. Many workshops here have stayed in one family for generations.

The golden Kinkaku-ji pavilion beside a pond in Kyoto Photo: Katiya Rivera / Unsplash

Crafts in Kyoto

A fine brush drawing a gold line along a crack in a speckled gray tea bowl Photo: Wabunka NO. 001 Kintsugi in Kyoto Broken ceramics repaired with lacquer and powdered gold. Short classes use a modern adhesive. Traditional lacquer needs days to cure, which is why those courses run longer and cost more. 5 workshops compared Two pairs of hands holding a kitchen knife against a whetstone on a sharpening bench Photo: Wabunka NO. 002 Knife and sword making in Kyoto Sharpen and finish a ready-made kitchen knife in an hour, or forge a blade from sword steel at a working smithy. 6 workshops compared A hand lifting cloth from a vat of dark indigo dye Photo: Wabunka NO. 004 Indigo dyeing in Kyoto Bind a piece of cloth, dip it in the vat, and watch it turn blue as it meets the air. Sessions run from under an hour to three. You take it home that day. 3 workshops compared A hand with tweezers arranging pressed flowers and leaves on a framed sheet for washi paper Photo: Wabunka NO. 005 Washi paper in Kyoto Paper made one sheet at a time from mulberry bark. Classes are usually short, and you leave with what you made. 3 workshops compared