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Pause. | Japanese Objects & Craft

@pause.japan

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Objects and makers from Japan.
Things worth pausing for.
日本の手仕事、作り手、その背景を知る。
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Stars scattered across hand-built ceramics: a box, mugs, and footed goblets. The box is for keeping things in: a favourite piece of jewellery, something small held as a treasure. She made it to be a box of one's own. The mugs are glazed in a blue with small crystals held in it, and she made them so that the crystals and the stars could be seen together. The goblets stand on a foot. That is what sets them apart, she says, and it lets an everyday drink be taken a little differently. Star pieces, hand-built ceramics, Kobe Made by @yoko_ceramic_ Pause. — Handmade objects, found across Japan. #japanesecraft #japanesehandmade #ceramics #handbuilt #kobe Star mug Star goblet Star treasure box A small round blue ceramic box standing on a pale surface, covered in white stars of different sizes, with a six-pointed star as the knob on its lid. by @pause.japan
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4 days ago
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Handled wooden vessels and serving tools, each carved with its handle from a single block of wood. The maker began making them from a wish to create vessels that could be hooked to a backpack and enjoyed outdoors, bringing together his love of mountains and cooking. Based on woodturning, he combines different techniques and finishes, working with woods such as maple, sakura, oak and chestnut to explore each form. The natural-toned pieces are finished with a glass coating, while the black pieces are finished with black urushi lacquer. He carves the handle and body from one piece to preserve the beauty of the material and a sense of unity, aiming for vessels that are useful in daily life and settle naturally into the home. Wooden vessels and serving tools, woodwork, Toyama Made by @foot_of_the_mountain Pause. — Handmade objects, found across Japan. #japanesecraft #japanesehandmade #woodwork #woodturning #toyama A group of wooden serving boards, a handled cup, a lidded canister, a cake server and upright utensils arranged on a wooden table, with natural wood and black finishes. by @pause.japan
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11 days ago
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Two bears carved from shina wood: one sitting with a fishing rod, the other shaped through a series of angular planes. She became interested in the culture of kibori-kuma associated with Yakumo, Hokkaido, and taught herself to carve. She works with carving tools and a saw on shina grown in Hokkaido, making bears in different forms: abstract ones, ones cut into flat planes, and ones with the fur carved in. These are the bears as she sees them. They can be displayed or carried along on a day out, and she hopes they stay close to everyday life, something like a charm. Bear carvings, woodwork, Aichi Made by @maki_kuma2021 Pause. — Handmade objects, found across Japan. #japanesecraft #japanesehandmade #woodcarving #bearcarving #aichi Sharp Bear Sharp Bear Bear fishing, taking its time A carved wooden bear sitting upright and seen from above, holding a thin rod with a white string, with a small carved fish at the end of the string lying on a grey surface. by @pause.japan
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14 days ago
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Straw work: a pouch for carrying eggs, a shimekazari, and a form called megane, meaning glasses. Most straw for craft now is cut green in summer, before the rice forms, and kept for its colour. She uses mochi-wara grown in Isa, Kagoshima, left standing until the rice is harvested and then hung to dry. People once grew rice to eat and made things from what was left over. She follows that, and says the material is not always a fine one — but working with what is close at hand is where plainness comes from. Straw was part of daily life in Japan, she says, and everyone could make these. It is not part of life now, and the craft is going. She hopes that through the making, more people come to know what straw work can be. Tamago-tsuto, shimekazari and megane, rice straw work, Isa, Kagoshima Made by @noriko_fukuda0811 Pause. — Handmade objects, found across Japan. #japanesecraft #japanesehandmade #strawcraft #shimekazari #kagoshima Shimekazari Plaited straw, tied at the middle and turned back on itself. Shimekazari are usually hung at the new year in Japan. The ears of rice are left on, still attached to the straw they grew from. Megane Megane means glasses. Two plaited loops, side by side, over a skirt of straw. All of it done with scissors, a mist sprayer, and her hands. Tamago-tsuto (egg pouch) The same straw, plaited into a pouch that eggs can be carried in. Five wooden eggs, each held in its own band. A bundle of pale straw hanging against a grey wall, with five smooth wooden eggs held inside it in a row, each bound by a band of straw. by @pause.japan
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19 days ago
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Wooden trays and plates carved from katsura, oak, cherry and walnut. Each piece is made using kurimono, a method of shaping a board or block of wood with chisels, small planes and only a minimum of power tools. After a urethane finish, conditioning oil is applied. This provides water resistance and some protection from stains, while leaving room for the wood to change and develop with use over time. He often takes inspiration for his forms from nature and from old objects. Rather than reproducing them as they are, he interprets them through his own way of seeing and making. He hopes that those who use his work will enjoy the harmony between the form, the grain of the wood and the texture created by carving. Wooden trays and plates, Nagasaki, Japan Made by @kotahamabata Pause. — Handmade objects, found across Japan. #japanesecraft #japanesehandmade #woodcarving #woodentray #nagasaki Oval Tray / Round Tray / Ichimonji Tray Carved from katsura. Three different forms, each showing the grain of the wood and the marks left by carving. Rinka Tray Carved from oak. Rinka refers to a form in which the rim undulates like flower petals. Flower Plates / Irizumi Tray Flower plates carved from cherry, placed on an Irizumi tray made from walnut. Three carved wooden trays arranged on a pale surface: an oval tray at the top, a round tray at the lower right, and a long narrow tray at the lower left. Fine carving marks and natural wood grain are visible across the surfaces. by @pause.japan
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24 days ago
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Round mugs and cups, teapots and more, thrown on the wheel from semi-porcelain clay. The white is matte and contains tin, and the surface is rubbed with sandpaper to make it smoother. Each form is worked out by weighing how circles, squares and other shapes come together, and how they balance. She leaves traces of her hands and a slight wavering in every piece, aiming for tableware that rests quietly in daily life. Because they are picked up day after day, she takes care that they are easy to handle and have a warmth to them. She makes them picturing the people who will use them, hoping they feel at ease and find pleasure and joy in eating. Semi-porcelain tableware, ceramics, Oita Made by @masagomasako Pause. — Handmade objects, found across Japan. #japanesecraft #japanesehandmade #japanesepottery #oita #wheelthrownceramics Dessert cup Tableware Pieces for tea and for the table, side by side in the same matte white. Maru mug Three matte white round mugs stacked on top of one another, their thick ring handles alternating right, left and right. by @pause.japan
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25 days ago
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KIKI Canister is a canister for coffee and tea, combining clear glass with a wooden lid inspired by the koma, the Japanese spinning top. Storage containers are not usually something we stop to look at. They are often simply picked up when needed. Kengo Yoshida wanted KIKI Canister to be something that catches the eye and becomes part of the time spent enjoying coffee or tea. The series began in 2018 and has since grown through different shapes, sizes and woods, including walnut, white oak and maple. In 2022, an all-wood version of the 'KIKI Canister Tree' was added to the range. KIKI Canister, wood and glass canister, Amakusa, Kumamoto Made by @drama_studio Pause. — Handmade objects, found across Japan. #japanesecraft #japanesehandmade #woodwork #canister #kumamoto KIKI Canister KIKI Canister KIKI Canister Tree Three clear glass jars with cone-shaped walnut lids and pointed knobs, standing on a dark wooden table in front of a paper screen. by @pause.japan
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a month ago
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A table mat where two horses cross their necks, a small tote with a flower growing out of it, and candles sewn from cloth. There is embroidery all over the world, she says, 'each kind holding its own sweetness, brightness, or solemnity'. She wants to make embroidery that belongs fully to none of them. Before it is embroidery, in her view, it should be humorous and it should be lyrical — and still she wants to do the act of embroidering. Mat, tote bag and ornaments, hand embroidery, Tokyo Made by @sasuhibi Pause. — Handmade objects, found across Japan. #japanesecraft #japanesehandmade #handembroidery #textileart #tokyo Nakayoshi (Table mat) Made for an exhibition themed around tea and horses. When she thought about using a horse as a motif, the first thing that came to mind was this gesture they make to each other. She wanted to avoid embroidering their coats realistically. She wanted only a sense of their presence to remain — as though something were there, but not quite there. Kaya cloth, edged with a Lunéville hook, with French knots, outline stitch and vintage beads. Vase and a Single Flower (mini tote bag) The idea started with the thought that a flower growing out of a bag would be funny, and she put it with the vase motif she loves. Instead of a delicate flower, she chose a thick stem that does not immediately read as a flower. For her, that choice comes from a wish for her embroidery to be something that does not quite belong. Appliqué and outline stitch, with cotton, linen, tulle, a wooden bead and embroidery thread. Candle ornaments The series began from the thought that it would be interesting to put different ways of embroidering into a single candle motif, and to explore what embroidery could do. Rather than reproducing a real candle, she picks up only the candle-like qualities held in memory, and enjoys combining materials. Cotton, linen, curly pile fabric, tulle and glass beads. A close view of a sheer open-weave cloth held in one hand, with two pale horse shapes facing each other, their heads crossed and their manes formed by rows of small white beads. by @pause.japan
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a month ago
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orb is a series of blown glass objects. For the maker, an orb is the sphere of light that can appear in a photograph. In his view, each piece is a vessel for light: it stores the light it receives in everyday life, and that light gives it a presence like a living thing. The glass is blown with his own breath, its form shaped through decisions made in the moment. He sees orb as bringing to the surface the root of the thinking that lies beneath all of his work. orb, blown glass object, Toyama Made by @daigo_glass Pause. — Handmade objects, found across Japan. #japanesecraft #japanesehandmade #blownglass #toyama #japaneseglass A single clear glass object on a dark wooden surface, with three stacked spheres above a tapered body and the window grid appearing bent through the glass. by @pause.japan
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a month ago
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A spoon made only for 2025, a plate coloured to set off castella, and two bowls finished with wiped urushi. He works with the colour, grain and texture each wood already has, carving every piece by hand with how it feels in the hand in mind. At the same time, he does not begin with a fixed idea of what wooden tableware should look like. The form and finish change with the person using it, the place, and what it is made to hold. Wooden tableware and cutlery, woodwork, Yamato, Kanagawa Made by @hiroyukiwatanabewoodwork Castella photo by @nichiyobi_asakawa Pause. — Handmade objects, found across Japan. #japanesecraft #japanesehandmade #woodwork #urushi #kanagawa Castella fork, knife and plate Made to hold castella. On bare wood, the cake would have blended into the colour of the wood, so he went the other way and chose colours not usually associated with wooden tableware. A chestnut plate, with a maple fork and knife, all colour-coated. Watanabe describes the result as slightly toy-like. Lidded bowl and medium bowl Mizume-zakura, finished with white urushi lacquer applied and wiped back repeatedly. The lacquer stays thin, allowing the grain of the wood to remain visible beneath its soft sheen. The lidded bowl was made for Chinese tea; the medium bowl was developed for a museum café in Karuizawa by making an existing smaller bowl slightly larger. 2025 year spoon Carved one by one from yamazakura and padauk, in a shape created only for 2025. The deep red is padauk’s natural colour; nothing was added. Watanabe says the red reminds him of African soil and the land where the tree grew. Six hand-carved wooden spoons arranged in a row, four in pale yamazakura wood and two in deep red padauk, each with a round bowl and faceted handle. by @pause.japan
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a month ago
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An Edo fūrin — a mouth-blown glass wind bell — with a clapper made from quartz gathered by hand in the mountains of Japan. The glass is blown one by one in Tokyo, using a method passed down since the Edo period. The rim is left jagged rather than smoothed, an idea developed by early craftsmen to create a rounder, cooler sound. No two bells are exactly alike, and neither are their sounds. The quartz was gathered by the maker and her husband. The cord is made from kuzu and ramie, with a vintage textile below. Edo fūrin, glass wind bell, Nagano Made by @setsu_hiromi Pause. — Handmade objects, found across Japan. #japanesecraft #japanesehandmade #edofurin #windchime #nagano Three handmade Japanese Edo glass wind chimes hanging in front of a shoji window, each with a natural quartz crystal clapper and old Japanese fabric strip. by @pause.japan
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a month ago
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Three carved wooden sweets, each holding a landscape — a night sky inside a doughnut, a snowy mountain in a soft serve, and a cup of coffee where steam rises like a mountain. Each piece is carved one by one from local hardwoods such as walnut, chestnut, cherry and katsura, using chisels and carving knives. The surface is finished mostly by blade, with sandpaper used only where needed. They all come from one idea: bringing landscapes into everyday life. In one piece, steam rising from a cup of coffee takes the shape of a mountain — a small moment that might bring a familiar landscape back to mind. Carved sweets, wood sculpture, Hokkaido Made by @natsuki_funayama Pause. — Handmade objects, found across Japan. #japanesecraft #japanesehandmade #woodcarving #woodsculpture #madeinjapan Night Through a Doughnut Hole A full moon beyond the snowy mountains. A small nightscape seen through a doughnut hole. Winter on Soft-Serve Mountain A soft serve that looks like a snow-covered mountain. A small winter landscape. Winter on Soft-Serve Mountain A soft serve that looks like a snow-covered mountain. A small winter landscape. Mountains of Steam, Stars of Sugar, Moon Cookie Steam rises like mountains. The sugar looks like stars, and the cookie like the moon. by @pause.japan
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a month ago
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