I’ve got Kintsugi on my mind- the art of ceramic and pottery repair using gold seems to be making a comeback in Japan. The artfully crafted gold repair can make even the most damaged pottery more valuable and cherished than it was originally.
In July’s Seeking-Sustainability-Live talkshow, I interviewed a pottery expert and living legend– Kyoto‘s ’Robert Yellin. Robert introduced some pieces in a recent collection with fantastic historical and heritage significance. Some of the pieces, however, had been damaged in transport to his studio.
My heart sank, and I was disappointed that any of these valuable pieces was damaged, but noticed that they were beautifully repaired with gold.
Robert was not at all distraught as he said he collaborates with a talented Kintsugi artist whose work adds more value to the piece. Kintsugi can be as valuable in the pottery world as the colors and bumps in the clay are, or how a piece might change over time.
Extending the life of the piece with this artful repair is an extension of the love for this art and can be a part of the evolution-story of pottery and ceramic art.
I also had in the Seeking Sustainability Live talkshow to talk with founder of the travel experiences company Kamakura Mind, Yukiyo Matsuzaki Smith. Yukiyo talked about the many traditional Japanese experiences she coordinates for visitors with local artisans in one of Japan’s most traditional cities, Kamakura.
One of the experiences she was excited about starting to offer to her clients is the Kintsugi experience. She talked about trying out the class to repair beautiful ceramic art, or even functional everyday ware, using the traditional techniques of Kintsugi– Kin meaning Gold and Tsugi meaning repair.
In recent news shared by newspaper and the talented Japan curators Spoon & Tamago, one of Japan’s major retail chains MUJI has started collaborating with the Tsugutsugu co. to offer ceramic and pottery repair services at its new flagship shop in central Tokyo’s Shinjuku.
The shop has just been rebranded this year to focus on sustainability– supporting customers seeking out more ethical, cultural, environmentally-friendly and socially-impactful products and services.
According to re-how.net,
Since its founding in March 2020, “Tsugutsugu Co., Ltd.” has been developing business activities centered on traditional Japanese Kintsugi using only natural materials. On the other hand, “MUJI Shinjuku” was reborn as a new flagship store of MUJI on September 10, 2021, specializing in products and services that focus on environmental and social issues.
In plastic-centric Japan where sugu-steru consumer culture– where things are bought without much thought and quickly thrown away– it gives me hope to see a major chain stepping up to influence the Japanese public mindset.
The TsuguTsugu company is also selling its Tsugu-Kit repair-kits online (in Japanese) if you can’t make it in person to set up a repair at the Shinjuku store.
This is a great strategy to leverage made-in-Japan traditions and heritage to enhance a company’s brand while promoting stylish ways to use high-quality items for a long time, and extend the life of products even further through repair.
