Japan House London

 

• Japan House London partners with the London Design Festival to celebrate ordinary working people with extraordinary skills: the heroes of Tsubame-Sanjo’s metalworking factories and workshops who make beautiful, functional objects using metalworking techniques passed down for generations
• Throughout September and October over 20 craftspeople from Tsubame-Sanjo will visit London to lead 13 new metal-inspired events and workshops, including make your own metal spoon, how to sharpen your kitchen knives and how to engrave metal
• Events and workshops for everyone to enjoy and learn an ancient and exquisite trade 
• For more information go to www.japanhouselondon.ukor email events@japanhouselondon.uk(for event bookings and enquiries) 
• Images are available on the Kallaway media centre here https://mediacentre.kallaway.com/japan-house-london/image-library/tsubame-sanjo-workshops--events

 

WORKSHOP: MAKING TSUIKI COPPERWARE WITH GYOKUSENDŌ

The Hall, Japan House

Wednesday 12 September: 14:00-15:00

Booking essential; £10 per person (cash only on the day)

Please email events@japanhouselondon.ukto book your place (Please note that there are only 8 places per workshop, so booking will be on a first-come first-served basis). Participants must be over 10 years old and children must be accompanied by an adult.

This workshop gives participants the rare opportunity to try their hand at tsuikicopper hammering, under direct instruction from expert craftspeople from Gyokusendō. Each participant will create and shape their own unique piece of copperware through the hammering and beating of a single sheet of copper. The centuries-old tsuikicopper-hammering technique of the Gyokusendōworkshop in Tsubame in Niigata Prefecture has been designated an Intangible Cultural Property by Japan’s Agency of Cultural Affairs. 

  

WORKSHOP: CARVING METAIL CHOPSTICK RESTS WORKSHOP WITH OIWA CHOKIN

The Hall, Japan House 

Wednesday 12 September, 14:00-15:00

Booking essential; £10 per person (cash only on the day)

Email events@japanhouselondon.ukto book your place (Please note that there are only 8 places per workshop, so booking will be on a first-come, first-served basis.)

Participants must be over 10 years old and children must be accompanied by an adult.

In this workshop led by OIWA Nobuo, a master craftsman from Oiwa Chokin, each participant will have the opportunity to create their own leaf-shaped chopstick rest using a professional engraving chisel.

Established in 1975 as a producer of metal casts for manufacturing cutlery, Oiwa Chokin are renowned for their metal processing and chasing expertise. Their original product, a leaf-shaped chopstick rest, was awarded the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award in the Craft Division by the National Souvenir Selection Committee.

 

TALK: LANDSCAPE GARDENING AND TEA

The Hall, Japan House 

Friday 14 September, 14:00-15:00 

Booking essential; Admission Free. Please email events@japanhouselondon.ukto book your place. 

Landscape gardeners at Honai, a leading horticultural centre in Japan, are skilled in a variety of styles, and one of their specialties is the Japanese tea house or chashitu. In this talk, HATO Yamato from Honai Gardens will give an introduction to Japanese landscape gardening through its historical relationship with the art of chanoyu,the Japanese way of tea. 

The talk will be followed by a short demonstration of chanoyu. 

Honai Gardens in Sanjo City is a vast plant and flower park and landscape gardening centre which had its roots in the Edo period (1603-1868). It is one of the three most important horticultural centres in Japan.  In addition to plants and flowers, Honai also sell local vegetables, tools and gardening materials.

 

WORKSHOP: MAKING KADOMATSU WITH HONAI

The Hall, Japan House 

Friday 14 September 18:00-19:30

Sunday 16 September, 14:00-15:30, 16:00-17:30

Booking essential; £15 per person (cash only on the day)

Please email events@japanhouselondon.ukto book your place (Please note that there are only 10 places for each workshop, so booking will be on a first-come, first-served basis). 

Participants must be over 13 years old and children must be accompanied by an adult.

A kadomatsu(門松, ‘gate pine’) is a New Year decoration which is used to adorn the entrances to homes in Japan. Typically made from cut pieces of bamboo and pine bound together with straw, in fact many techniques of landscape gardening are essential for its construction.

In this workshop, led by a landscape gardener from Honai, one of Japan’s leading garden centres, each participant will make their own mini kadomatsudecoration. Of course, all tools used in the workshop are those made by metalworkers in Tsubame-Sanjo.

 

DEMONSTRATION: SHARPENING JAPANESE RAZORS 

WITH SANJO SEISAKUSHO

The Shop, Ground Floor, Japan House 

Friday 21 September 14:00-15:30

Saturday 22 September 13:00-14:30, 15:00-16:30

Sunday 23 September 13:00-14:30, 15:00-16:30 

Drop in; Admission Free 

The Japanese razor (wagamisori) is a tool unique to Japan which was originally used by samurai to shave the top of their heads. Composed of a bar of iron with steel forged onto the blade portion, the razor is sharpened to an extremely thin edge, capable of cutting hair on contact. 

This demonstration of the extreme precision and attention to detail required for the final steps of finishing and sharpening a Japanese razor is led by the last Japanese razor craftsman in Japan, MIZUOCHI Ryoichi from the workshop Sanjo Seisakusho.

 

LATE NIGHT OPENING: TALK ON JAPANESE BLADES, INFORMAL GALLERY TOURS AND A SAKE RECEPTION

The Hall and Gallery, Japan House 

Friday 21 September, 18:30-19:30

Booking Essential; Admission Free

During the Late Night Opening of Japan House, a talk about Japanese blades by three leading craftsmen from Tsubame-Sanjo, who specialize in making Japanese razors, knives, hatchets, hoes and gardening tools, will take place. It is a rare opportunity to hear from MIZUOCHI Ryoichi of Sanjo Seisakusho, who is the last Japanese razor craftsman in Japan; HINOURA Tsukasa of Hinoura Hamono, who is recognized as a Master of Japanese Traditional Crafts by the Japanese government; and KONDO Kazutoshi of Kondo Seisakusho, whose specialist skill in manufacturing a vast variety of hoes contributes to supporting the diversity of Japanese farming culture.

The talk will be followed by informal gallery tours and a sake reception. The Gallery and The Shop will remain open until 21:00.

Please email events@japanhouselondon.uk to request your place.

The Sanjo Seisakusho company was founded in 1947 by IWASAKI Kosuke, a respected authority on metallurgy who had conducted scientific research on Japanese blades, especially swords. In addition to western-style razors, their Japanese razors and small knives are renowned in various parts of the world for their sharpness. In 2014, Mizuochi Ryoichi was acknowledged as a Master of Traditional Crafts by the Japanese government.

Founded in 1905, Hinoura Hamono produce knives using age-old Japanese techniques, overseeing the entire manufacturing process themselves. As a factory that can forge any type of knife, they receive large numbers of orders from around the world for unusually shaped designs. In 2012, the third-generation Hinoura Tsukasa was recognized as a Master of Japanese Traditional Crafts by the Japanese government. He currently runs the workshop with his son Hinoura Mutsumi.

Founded more than a century ago, Kondo Seisakusho originally operated as 'Gorokichi', a metalsmith supplying local farmers. The workshop went on to inherit the art of forging and improved its collective skills. In addition to taking special orders from various regions and individuals, they continue to create high-quality hoes that offer a refreshing experience each time they are used. Their motto is "the virtue of products lies in efficiency". In recent years, Kondo Seisakusho has begun producing gardening tools.