http://make.pingmag.jp Just another WordPress weblog Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:05:24 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 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 ... http://make.pingmag.jp/2008/12/31/pingmagmakeletter/ 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 ... http://make.pingmag.jp/2008/12/16/suzuki/ 31.5867708 130.5399505 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 ... http://make.pingmag.jp/2008/12/09/kume/ 35.7009613 139.8143543 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 ... http://make.pingmag.jp/2008/12/02/kikuyu/ 35.5220269 137.8244209 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 ... http://make.pingmag.jp/2008/11/25/satoishi/ 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 ... http://make.pingmag.jp/2008/11/18/kamotansu/ 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 ... http://make.pingmag.jp/2008/11/11/tsuruya/ 38.26013 140.3390599 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 ... http://make.pingmag.jp/2008/11/04/aokiryota/ 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, ... http://make.pingmag.jp/2008/10/28/satoshougi/ 38.35521 140.369259 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 ... http://make.pingmag.jp/2008/10/21/tada/ 38.346808 140.368117