Kanazawa FORUS SDGs WEEK, including workshops where you can try your hand at kintsugi【Kanazawa Event】

NHK’s 『Neru Nagahama’s SDGs Diary』 challenged the technique, and it seems that celebrity Jun Tamura and actor Ryo Narita are also into it in their private lives. Why don’t you try Kintsugi?

Free Kintsugi experience, workshops during SDGsWEEK

Kanazawa Institute of Technology and LODU Corporation, which handles SDGs learning contents, plan to hold various events at 「FORUS FOR EARTH~SDGsWEEK~」 to be held at Kanazawa FORUS shopping center from September 17 (Sat) to 25 (Sun).

The first-ever 「Beyond SDGs Life Game」 for the general public and SDGs quiz competition will be held, and there will also be a workshop where visitors can experience kintsugi, a simple process of repairing broken dishes using rusty lacquer and gold powder, so it will be a good opportunity for those interested in the process.

Why Kanazawa is famous for Kintsugi

From the Muromachi period (1333-1573), with the popularity of chanoyu (the tea ceremony), the kintsugi technique of repairing cracks in tea bowls to make them presentable came to be valued, and kintsugi is said to have taken root further when Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who were taught the tea ceremony by Sen no Rikyu, loved expensive tea utensils.

「Tsutsui-tsutsu」, a well tea bowl presented by Junkei Tsutsui to Hideyoshi Toyotomi, has been kintsugi (joined with gold) and is now in the possession of a resident of Ishikawa Prefecture as an important cultural property. The southern part of Ishikawa Prefecture, including the historic cities of Kanazawa and Kaga, is known as the production center of Kutani ware, and when expensive plates and other items are broken in stores, they are often in demand for use after kintsugi (gold-plated porcelain).

Sustainable kintsugi is booming again

It was in December 2018 that Jun Tamura revealed on Instagram that he was attending a kintsugi class. The United Nations adopted the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) in 2015, and people in Japan began to become generally aware of sustainability around 2017, and kintsugi seems to have gained renewed attention.

In April this year, Ryo Narita talked about his sustainable behavior at the presentation of a new commercial for mouthwash, saying, “I kintsugi broken dishes using a set I can do at home, and it feels good for both the environment and myself.

In addition, the fourth film of the original drama series 『Hokuo, Kurashi no Tool Store』, 「Two Feathers in the Garden」, was released on YouTube in April, and the character Toriumi Tsubame (Morimoto Hana) plays a mender who revives broken dishes by kintsugi (metal-joining). We are reminded of the kintsugi (metal-joining) boom again in various places.

Upcoming Events

☆Kanazawa Information

・Lower fares on buses and trains!　Weekday shopping with a 「return ticket」

・「Gashapon Bandai Official Shop」 at Kanazawa Forus, where you can play Gashapon!