Author Introduction
About the creator
Natsuka Akanuma
Born and still active in Hirakata City in Osaka prefecture she grew up surrounded by art and music. This is partly due to her mother's influence as she was involved in a variety of handicrafts such as jeweled eggs, wax flowers, sewing and glass etching in addition to teach piano.
At the age of 18, she went to Hawaii to study abroad for two years to discover more of the world. There she learned about environmental issues and started pondering on how she could help the cause. After graduating from university she began her career at Kansai International Airport, working with people from various nationalities, and started making handmade goods in 2012. First with exhibits of wax and resin flower accessories at handmade fairs and events across the country and eventually opening an online shop in 2015.
In 2019, she learned the art of Kintsugi Kintsugi in Kyoto. Kintsugi is a traditional Japanese technique where you use lacquer mixed with golden dust to repair broken pottery. Its literal translation means golden joinery and requires advanced techniques from an experienced artisan. knowledge, she started making accessories using Kintsugi. That same year in December she traveled to Taipei in her first ever overseas exhibition. Even with the language barrier her booth was a success, recording some of the highest sales ever within a span of only three days .ays.
From 2020, the focus changed to traditional Japanese pottery and how to reuse discarded pieces. Firing pottery in the kiln is always an unpredictable process, things can crack or chip and ultimately become unusable. be reused and turned into accessories. The pottery is broken into small pieces, polished and combined with natural stones using the Kintsugi technique. The scraps are successfully transformed into a new piece of wearable art.
In the beginning only Karatsu-yaki, pottery from Saga Prefecture, was used. Gradually more styles of pottery such as Arita-yaki (also known as Imari ware), Oribe-yaki (Gifu Prefecture), Bizen-yaki Bizen ware (Okayama Prefecture) and Hasami-yaki Hasami ware (Nagasaki Prefecture) joined the lineup. I am happy for these pieces to be reborn. It is wonderful to participate in the initiative of the SDG's, Sustainable Development Goals". Many customers are repeaters, praising the accessories as one of a kind with different colors joined with elegant Kintsugi..
After 16 years of working at Kansai International Airport and after that at an inbound travel agency, she decided to focus more actively on making accessories. In addition to the online shop, her accessories are now sold in 14 permanent stores nationwide and frequently appear at popup events and department stores. Kintsugi accessory workshops are part of her schedule as well while increasing the brand's presence overseas such as in Australia, New Zealand and China.
The main concept is a wearable piece of art with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in mind.To create new value and possibilities by making Japanese traditional techniques more accessible by reusing and remaking pottery with natural stones and materials.Even broken or cracked objects change in value when you change your perspective.
“We tend to think there is no other choice than to throw something away when it breaks but it is interesting to use Kintsugi to revive an object or to break it further and repurpose it into something completely new. I would be happy if we could change our way of thinking and see everything as a new opportunity instead of giving into what we now consider common sense. I want to continue making sustainable accessories that are appreciated by the environment and the people."