PingMag MAKE - The Japan-based interview magazine about "Making things"

Important Notice

admin — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:00:50 +0000

Dear PingMagMAKE readers,

It’s the last day of 2008, and we have a sad announcement to make.

From today, PingMagMAKE will be taking an extended hiatus, and will not be updated for the forseeable future.

PingMagMAKE has been running for 1 year now, and over that time literally millions of you, from every single corner of the planet, have visited, read our articles, left comments, linked to us on your blogs, sent us letters of support - some of you have even flown to Tokyo to join us!

We are eternally grateful for your fantastic support over the years.

It is only because of you all that we have managed to keep PingMagMAKE going this long, and with every article we have made new friends, and found new, exciting people and places here in Japan and all over the world.

Thank you! Thank you for all your love and good will. We can only offer our sincerest apologies that we are unable to continue returning your fantastic generosity.

The world is facing tough times right now, and many of you may have uncertain months ahead. Wherever you are and whatever your circumstances, we wish you all the very best of luck, and look forward to being able to meet again, we hope, at some point in the future.

All the very best wishes from Tokyo,

Tom, and the entire PingMagMAKE team.

Looking at Tradition with a Scientific Heart: Ootsuji Asahi-do

admin — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:00:48 +0000

Tin is a material made from tin ore. The bright, silvery, delicate metal has been used for years in making tinware sake cups and tea-related goods, flower vases, and religious paraphernalia. Satsuma tinware is a traditional craft of Kagoshima prefecture. This week, PingMag MAKE visited a shop in Kagoshima City called Ootsuji Asahi-do. The shop was founded in 1912. This old, historic shop is run by a man with a heart full of love for modern science, and the combination is a surprisingly good one.

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The Adventures of the Japan-made T-shirts: Kume

admin — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 10:00:15 +0000

These days, “traditional manufacturing” and “t-shirts” don’t seem to be related at all. But Kume is a little company in Tokyo that has built its business on the simple yet versatile staple of modern fashion that is the t-shirt. The company continues to boldly take on new challenges while maintaining a tight focus on their product: domestically-produced t-shirts of the highest quality.

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Tying the Knot: Kikuyu

admin — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:00:00 +0000

Mizuhiki is the name for tightly twisted cords made of Japanese paper which are tied into elegant and complex knots and used to decorate money envelopes and traditional wedding engagement gifts. The traditional red and white cords express a life-affirming and celebratory message. The complex knots, while decorative, also symbolize the ties binding people together. This week we visited Kikuyu, a shop which was founded in 1888, and talked to the president, Mr.Yoshinobu Watanabe about his experiences and challenges trying to bring this traditional art to a wider audience while preserving the deeper message.

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The Stone Merchant: Sato Teiseki ten

admin — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:00:00 +0000

If you go for a drive in rural Japan you’ll occasionally come across billboards for stone dealers. Stone dealers do just what you’d think: they sell rocks. You might imagine that these people sell gravestones or maybe natural gemstones with mystical powers. Well this week we went to visit a stone dealer in Yamanashi’s Koshu City where they sell the kind of stones that are used in Japanese traditional garden landscaping and took a deeper look at the business.

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Preserving the Essence of the Kiri Tansu: Ogura Tansu Ten

admin — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:00:56 +0000

Traditional kiri tansu (paulownia wood chests) were originally a part of a woman’s dowry that she got from her parents and brought to establish a new household with. They were passed down from generation to generation, being repaired along the way. However modern Japanese lifestyles have left little room for old traditional furniture. Kamo City, in Niigata is a production center for kiri tansu, where they’ve begun to make products for modern lifestyles while maintaining traditional techniques. This week we paid a visit to Ogura Tansu Ten, a shop which was established in 1793.

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Natural Materials and Design: Tsuruya Shoten

admin — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:27:11 +0000

Bending, tying, and weaving; some of the oldest manufacturing techniques around are used in producing rattan goods. These rattan goods are made by a Yamagata company called Tsuruya Shoten. While being a small local company, it has been awarded a Good Design Award, and its traditional techniques have successfully been blended with modern design sensibilities. Plus, they did it without any assistance from government or industry. We spoke to the company president about the thought process behind his company’s success.

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Learning From a Young Master: Ceramic Artist Ryota Aoki

admin — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:00:40 +0000

Ryota Aoki is a ceramic artist. He’s just thirty years old. He wears a turban on his head and his slight body is swathed in fashionable clothes. At first glance, he looks nothing like your typical idea of what a ceramicist should be. The gap between his person and his beautiful works has left many people scratching their heads. How is he able to make such wonderful things at such a young age? The answer may be little more than lots of hard work - and a little bit of fairy dust.

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Tiny Works of Shogi Art: Tendo Satoh Takashi Shouten

admin — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:00:28 +0000

Tendo City in Yamagata prefecture is known as a production center for shogi pieces (Shogi is Japanese chess. The pieces are known as “koma” in Japanese). Most people probably don’t have a clear image in mind when they think of the art of crafting shogi pieces. It is, in fact, a fascinating world full of characters and stories. This week we visited Tendo Satoh Takashi Shouten where they produce the shogi koma used in the annual NHK Cup televised shogi tournament, and spoke to the shop’s proprietor Minoru Satoh.

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Tada Mokko: A Woodcrafter’s Tale

admin — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 10:00:24 +0000

Tendo City in Yamagata Prefecture is known as a wooden furniture manufacturing town surrounded by a vast green forest — which supplies the wood for this local industry. Tada Mokko is a local furniture company with close ties to the community and, this time, we spoke to craftsmen Shigeo Itoh and got a first-hand account of one man’s experiences with traditional manufacturing and the art of bending wood.

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