Home / Tokyo

Tokyo

Edo-period crafts in the older eastern districts, and newer studios across the city.

Crowds crossing the Shibuya scramble intersection at night, with neon signs and tall buildings Photo: Timo Volz / Unsplash

Crafts in Tokyo

A fine brush drawing a gold line along a crack in a speckled gray tea bowl Photo: Wabunka NO. 001 Kintsugi in Tokyo 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 Tokyo Sharpen and finish a ready-made kitchen knife in an hour, or forge a blade from sword steel at a working smithy. 5 workshops compared Five unfinished wooden chopstick blanks in different woods, fanned out on a gray table Photo: Wabunka NO. 003 Chopstick making in Tokyo Plane a square stick of wood down to a tapered pair and oil it, or paint and decorate a ready-made pair. Most classes take about an hour and you leave with the chopsticks. 4 workshops compared A hand lifting cloth from a vat of dark indigo dye Photo: Wabunka NO. 004 Indigo dyeing in Tokyo 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. 5 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 Tokyo Paper made one sheet at a time from mulberry bark. Classes are usually short, and you leave with what you made. 4 workshops compared