Yō no-bi 用の美: The Beauty of Everyday Things: 7 - 12 November 2025
Yō no-bi 用の美 is the Japanese aesthetic of seeing beauty in everyday things made for daily use, by the unknown artisan. ARTISANS' celebrates five Japanese artisans, whose work exhibits honesty, simplicity, and restraint over showy ornamentation. In a world hurtling towards commercialism Yō no-bi is a reminder of the inherent value of handmade forms that follows function.
ARTISANS' brings five contemporary crafts from Japan under one roof, including lacquer ware by Gaku and Ayako Hirai, Yukiko Yagi; the pottery of Toshiko Nakajima; Ainu embroidery by Aimi Yotsuji; metal ware by Kasuo Kashima; and others. Events include workshops and immersive experiences by visiting master artisans. We explore how each one of us can consciously curate beauty in our everyday life.
Gaku and Ayako Hirai: JAPANESE LACQUER “Urushi”
Urushi, or Japanese lacquer from Gaku and Ayako Hirai’s studio, begins with ‘urushi’ sap that that they collect and refine themselves. Above all this husband-and-wife artist duo from Fukushima, value the harmony between wood and lacquer, to create lacquerware to complement contemporary living.
Kazuo Kashima: METAL WORK ‘Kinkou’ | SILVER SWEETS KNIFE ‘Nanryo Kashikiri’
Kasuo Kashima has mastered the Nunome-zogan metal inlay technique, where delicate patterns are engraved into the metal surface and filled in with gold or silver foil. As the fifth-generation successor of the Kashima Nunome lineage from the Edo period, he has earned high acclaim for his creative freedom, rooted in tradition, and was awarded the Tokyo Governor’s Award at the 70th Japan Traditional Crafts, 2023.
Toshiko Nakajima: POTTERY ‘Kaki’
Toshiko Nakajima, based in Ishikawa Prefecture, began creating ceramics at a high school specializing in fine art ceramics. After graduating, she studied in the Department of Crafts at Joshibi University of Art and Design, and later honed her skills at the Kanazawa Utatsuyama Craft Workshop. She thinks “The earth embraces every sense within itself. Silence, memory, breath, and wind. Tremor, water, flame, life, and death. Once transformed into pottery, the earth comes to rest—time stands still, revealing landscapes even I had never known within myself.”
Aimi Yotsuji: EMBROIDERY WITH AINU MOTIFS
Born in Otaru, Hokkaido and raised in Kunitachi, Tokyo, Aimi Yotsuji now lives in Uchibō, Chiba Prefecture. She is influenced by her father, Ichirō Yotsuji, an Ainu researcher and author of Ainu folktales, and chose to become an Ainu embroidery artist. She shares the beauty of Ainu embroidery and the deep cultural world that lies behind it, through exhibitions and workshops,
TSOMORIRI × AAVARAN: RYUKYU KIMONO ‘Dujin’
Kimono made of Chanderi silk, naturally dyed in India and embellished with embroidery. A unique relaxed kimono style adapted to warmer Okinawa’s climate, with breathable fabric and a soft touch against the skin.