Transform a broken bowl with 500-year-old techniques using pure gold dust
1.5 hour private experience (except Thursday, which take place with local Japanese students)
Location: Kamigyo, Kyoto
Offered in Japanese, with a friendly Deeper Japan guide interpreting in your language
Meet the master
What you’ll do
Select which antique piece of pottery you’d like to work on and learn how to repair it with lacquer and 24-carat gold dust. While it dries, learn about the fascinating history of kintsugi while drinking freshly prepared matcha from antique tea bowls repaired with kintsugi by the instructor.
Who can attend
Children must be 7+
What to wear
Clothing that you don’t mind getting dirty
Included
Antique Pottery
What else you should know
All sessions are private except for those on Thursday, which takes place with local Japanese kintsugi students
Availability
Wednesday to Friday
Session 1 (10:30-12:00)
Session 2 (13:30-15:00)
Session 3 (16:30-18:00)
Access
20 minutes from Kyoto Station.
Symbolic beauty
In the practice of kintsugi, which means “golden joinery”, cracked pottery is given a second life through the binding power of gold lacquer. It’s said that this technique may have originated in the late 15th century when the shogun of Japan sent back damaged pottery to China, only to have it returned, unsatisfactorily fixed with metal staples. In response, craftsmen came up with the alternative technique of kintsugi to repair such items. This technique perfectly represents the Japanese aesthetic value of 'wabi-sabi', or the acceptance of imperfection as part of beauty, which has its origins in Buddhist philosophy. Celebrating the beauty of brokenness, Kintsugi not only produces unique pottery but is powerfully symbolic.
Cancellation Policy
Please make your booking at least 7 days in advance. See cancellation policy here.
A detailed itinerary will be emailed to you once your booking has been confirmed.
