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About me

Founder of Kintsugi Oxford, Nishikawa Iku was born and raised in Kochi, Japan. She first became attracted to the art of kintsugi while assisting Kyoto lacquerware craftsmen Shimode Muneaki and Sato Takahiko with the delivery of kintsugi workshops at the Ashmolean Museum and the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. Although kintsugi has often been considered as a professional craft technique achievable only in Japan, through practice and training Nishikawa found that the craft could be accessible outside of Japan by using recently developed new materials.

As Kintsugi Oxford, she has given kintsugi workshops in Japan, Italy and the UK using new materials. She hosts individual and group lessons from her studio in Oxford from where she carries out kintsugi repairs for private clients. She has worked with artists including Lisa Hammond, Bouke de Vries, Kat Wheeler and Claudia Clare.

by Miguel Mocho

What is kintsugi

Kintsugi is the craft in which chipped, cracked or broken ceramic pieces are repaired using a combination of urushi (lacquer) and rice glue. This process inadvertently results in a decoration, the form of which is dictated by the breakage the piece has suffered. Powdered gold is usually applied to the repaired patch or seam before the urushi has set, although less embellished repairs can be made by using urushi alone, less precious metals are also used. Larger repairs are sometimes enhanced by the later application of decorative patterns or illustrations painted with urushi or a fine grade of powdered metal, in a technique known as maki-e. Kintsugi can also be applied to glass.

The craft dates back to at least the 16th century, and there are various engaging historical anecdotes which emphasise the value placed on items pieced back together, particularly tea-ware. The famous tea master Sen no Rikyu was renowned for his appreciation of the Unzan Katatsuki, an exquisite tea bowl, precisely because of the roughness of its repair.

The moment in time when something has been shattered is permanently captured by the painstaking labours of a craftsman in building up the layers of lacquer to repair a piece. It is this reference to the now that recalls mushin, a lack of attachment to anything, but rather being present in the moment, something constantly available to all, but particularly so when we drop a piece of china.

Traditional kintsugi in Kyoto

Sato Kiyomatsu Shoten Co., Ltd.  was established in 1921 as an Urushi lacquer producer and whole sale in the central Kyoto. They are proud of their stable quality of Urushi and teaching the art of Urushi above their small company. 

Kintsugi is a part of the Urushi lacquer crafts, and whilst attending their 12 months lacquerware course, you will learn of the traditional materials and techniques, but if you are just a tourist in Kyoto and still want to learn basic traditional Kintsugi lessons, tailored lesson of Kintsugi are available. 

​Enquiry

To discuss schedule of your lesson, please email to info@urusi.co.jp, and send when and how long you are going to stay in Kyoto or which day you are available to attend lessons. Whether you have taken the lesson from Kintsugi Oxford. They will quote your lesson fee.

​Sato Kiyomatsu School of Urushi Lacquer 

Sato Kiyomatsu Shoten Co., Ltd.
105 Hirano Miyanishichō, Kita-ku, Kyōto-shi, Kyōto-fu,

603-8357 Japan (10 min. walk from Kinkaku-ji temple)

http://www.urusi.co.jp/school/

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