Kumiko Smartphone Stand DIY Set (limited stock!)

It’s time for Takamori’s 2nd Kumiko online workshop! (out of 3)

This time, you’ll make your own smartphone stand with Shiozawa-sensei, who created this design especially for you! The smaller Kumiko pieces were also made for this workshop, with wood sourced in Nagano prefecture. The « white » wood is Hiba and is around 300 years old, and the « grey » wood is Hounoki and around 80 years old.

For those of you who don’t know what Kumiko is:

• it is a centuries old art-form that initially developed in Japan by creating intricate designs for temples and shrines
• in some traditional Japanese houses, some sliding doors will have a Kumiko pattern as well as the shoji paper
• the patterns are made by using extremely precisely cut tiny pieces of wood, without the use of glue. It takes decades of practice to be able to make these pieces with enough precision
• it takes months, or even years to make a big order
• nowadays, there are less that 100 people in the whole country still working as Kumiko makers

Shiozawa-san works with his entire family, and even though his children aren’t able to make the most precise pieces of wood yet, they are actively learning the (secret) process and will become masters in a few more years.

Because of all the very, very hard work needed to make these objects, the Kumiko workshops will be more expensive than the Mizuhiki workshops. Rest assured that 100% of the revenue will go to Kumiko Shiozawa! (Those who took part in the previous coaster workshop might have noticed that the price went up a bit. This is in part because the smartphone holder uses more wood, and to be completely honest, the coaster was underpriced..! Now we know!)

The online workshop will take place on Sunday, 10/10 at 5pm (JP time), live on Instagram. The live will be saved in the IGtv tab, so that you can watch it later even if you can’t join us! (the previous Kumiko workshop video is there)

/!\ Because it takes Shiozawa-san some time to make, stocks are limited to 100 PIECES! Orders are open for two weeks, until September 9th, or while stocks last /!\

See you during the workshop!