Handmade in Japan

This book takes you behind the scenes of working craft studios across Japan, where makers spend decades refining skills passed down through generations. You'll see the actual process of creating objects by hand—the tools, the materials, the movements—documented in workshops from multiple regions, each with distinct traditions.

The photography shows artisans at work on everything from textile dyeing to woodworking, capturing the physical reality of techniques that predate industrial manufacturing. These are not historical demonstrations but active practices, carried on by people who have chosen to preserve methods that require years to master.

Each profile includes insight into what drives these craftspeople: the standards they hold themselves to, the materials they insist on, and the decisions they make to keep rare skills alive. You'll understand why certain processes take the time they do, what sustainability means when working with natural materials, and how regional geography shapes what gets made and how.

The book spans different craft disciplines, giving you a sense of the breadth of traditional making that still exists in Japan. Whether you're interested in textiles, wood, ceramics, or other materials, you'll find documentation of working methods and the people who continue to practice them. It's a record of living traditions, not museum pieces—workshops where the focus remains on creating objects that meet exacting standards, one at a time.