Tea and Sake Copperware by Gyokusendō: Combining Tradition and Innovation

Clockwise from top: The Gyokusendō head office building is a national registered tangible cultural property; store shelves lined with outstanding examples of the company’s products; Gyokusendō’s general manager, Yamada Ritsu.

Gyokusendō’s beautiful and tasteful Tsuiki copperware.

The fabrication process proceeds counterclockwise, starting with the copper plate on the left. Usually, several pieces are put through each labor-intensive process at the same time, but if a single piece were done from start to finish it would take more than two weeks to complete.

These two kuchi uchidashi teakettles are the same product, but the one on the right is new and the one on the left has been used for 50 years. “These kettles develop a deeper aesthetic quality with use over many years. People often ask us to sell them the one on the left, but we can hardly do that,” says Yamada.

The high workshop ceiling weakens the echoes of the hammer noise, while large windows help to brighten the space.

Clockwise from upper left: Toriguchi fixed in place in a block; using the block as a platform, the worker strikes the copper with metal hammers to form many different curved surfaces; large and small toriguchi of various shapes.

Chief master craftsman Tamagawa Tatsushi anneals a piece.

Clockwise from upper left: An ōtsuchime (large hammered pattern) sake cup; a teapot adorned with a flower pattern; an oxidized silver coffee pot; a teapot engraved with a streamline pattern.

Artisans work with a type of string they have used for generations. When the specific string preferred by Gyokusendō recently became unavailable, the firm was forced to switch to material from a different production area.

Clockwise from upper left: A wood-grained metal flower vase; a water kettle using the wood-grained technique; the metal layers flow intricately as they are formed by hammering silver and other metals, producing a deeply textured pattern.

Clockwise from upper left: One of the company’s female artisans crafts a piece; a Gyokusendō vase; some of the vases intended for single flowers designed by female artisans.

Gyokusendō Ginza, on the fourth floor of Ginza Six, is a gorgeous space decorated with hammered copper plates.