Glass
Japanese glass runs from the razor-cut facets of Edo Kiriko to the soft, sea-coloured bubbles of Tsugaru Bidoro. Meet the workshops keeping Japan's cut-glass and hand-blown traditions alive.
Tsugaru Bidoro
Hand-blown glass born from a fishing-float factory in Japan's snowy north. Its colours are drawn straight from Aomori's seasons — autumn leaves, summer sea, winter snow.
Edo Kiriko
Cut glass from old Edo, its sharp geometric facets hand-ground since 1834. Hold one to the light and the patterns scatter it like the surface of water.
Satsuma Kiriko
Thick coloured glass cut so the colour fades softly into clear — the famous 'bokashi' gradient. Nearly lost to history, it was revived as one of Japan's most luxurious glassworks.
Otaru Glass
A northern port town that once blew glass floats and oil lamps for the herring fleet, now a whole canal district of glass studios and lamp-lit workshops.