Japanese handcraft exhibition, Sfera, Kyoto
![Design events spoons on table](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/XdtiK8D5YT26cf8JdfkrKN-415-80.jpg)
Ryuji Mitani is a bit of a local handcraft hero in Japan. He set up his own workshop in Matsumoto in 1981 called Persona Studio, specialising in wooden tableware, working with local craftsmen to try and keep traditional handcraft skills alive.
Soon after, he set up the Matsumoto craft fair, with a similar goal in mind to spread and promote handcraft – a small stone against the flood of mass manufacturing increasingly dominating Japanese design.
See more of Mitani's handcrafted designs
His latest venture is a book, ‘Handcraft in Distant Towns’ celebrating all that’s handmade in three Japanese cities (Fukui, Kyoto and Matsumoto) and Sfera in celebration of the book’s release are hosting an exhibition of the things featured.
Mitani scoured the three cities to source the finest ateliers he could find, settling on ten different craftsmen each working with traditional Japanese techniques, including paper, ceramics, wood, metal and lacquer.
With Japanese mass manufacturing being one of the most fast-developing and successful territories around, it’s all too easy to forget about traditional design heritages and move on to what’s happening in the future. It’s against this backdrop that Mitani’s work is so important, not only for keeping traditional craft alive and in the public eye, but for showing where it all began and how it has its own place in the contemporary design world too.
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Rosa Bertoli was born in Udine, Italy, and now lives in London. Since 2014, she has been the Design Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees design content for the print and online editions, as well as special editorial projects. Through her role at Wallpaper*, she has written extensively about all areas of design. Rosa has been speaker and moderator for various design talks and conferences including London Craft Week, Maison & Objet, The Italian Cultural Institute (London), Clippings, Zaha Hadid Design, Kartell and Frieze Art Fair. Rosa has been on judging panels for the Chart Architecture Award, the Dutch Design Awards and the DesignGuild Marks. She has written for numerous English and Italian language publications, and worked as a content and communication consultant for fashion and design brands.
-
Take off: Mathieu Lehanneur's Olympic Cauldron rises into the Parisian night sky
The Paris 2024 Olympics’ opening ceremony was closed with a soaring cauldron spectacle that will go down in history
By Hugo Macdonald Published
-
Phaidon’s new Graphic Classics is a lavish greatest hits of graphic design
Graphic Classics is a compendium of seven centuries of visual culture, from the everyday and ephemeral to visionary works that reshaped our world
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Birley Chocolate hits the sweet ’n’ chic spot in London’s Chelsea
The new Birley Chocolate shop, a sibling to Birley Bakery, is a confection of colour as delicious as its finely crafted goods
By Melina Keays Published
-
Designart Tokyo transforms the city into a museum of creativity
Designart Tokyo presents global design highlights through a series of exhibitions involving global creative talent and traditional Japanese craft
By Danielle Demetriou Last updated
-
Celebrating the beauty of Japanese carpentry tools
Now on show at New York's Japan Society, ‘When Practice Becomes Form: Carpentry Tools from Japan' presents an overview of the techniques at the heart of Japanese wooden craftsmanship
By Pei-Ru Keh Last updated
-
Designart Tokyo transforms the city into a living, multi-sensory museum
The third edition of the fair (18-27 October) showcases over 100 exhibitions across the Japanese capital
By Danielle Demetriou Last updated
-
London designer Max Lamb takes a shine to the Japanese art of lacquerware
By Jens H Jensen Last updated
-
How Tokyo’s creative universe is evolving at Designart’s second edition
By Danielle Demetriou Last updated
-
In the frame: standout designs from around the globe
By Rosa Bertoli Last updated
-
Nendo’s minimalist homeware hacks connect human and object at Salone del Mobile
By Elly Parsons Last updated
-
Isamu Noguchi and Robert Stadler share a fascinating kinship, despite having never met
By Julie Baumgardner Last updated