Breathe New Life into Broken Dishes
Through Kintsugi
at a Historic Kyoto Establishment
Our 2-Hour Kintsugi Experience
A fuss-free Kyoto kintsugi experience
with a coffee break
- Just bring yourself
- Our friendly teachers are happy to support you
- Bring a broken dish back to life and use it at home
About the Art of Kintsugi
Kintsugi is a traditional Japanese technique that uses a material called urushi to repair breaks, chips, and other damage in dishes. Finishing the work with gold, silver, and more gives it a beautiful decorative touch different to the original piece and breathes new life into it. In recent years, kintsugi has gone beyond a mere repair technique and is now also highly recognized as an art form.
Established in 1867, Shikata Urushi is a historic store specializing in urushi. While our retail store is located in bustling Shijo-Kawaramachi, our experiences are held in a calm workshop tucked away in a classically Kyoto alleyway. Immerse yourself in our kintsugi - which incorporates genuine urushi - to your heart's content through this special experience.
We provide everything, so there's no need to bring your own dish. However, you may also bring one if you wish (after letting us check it first).
This 2-hour experience will give you the chance to fix two dishes - a broken dish and a cracked dish - and learn all about the process of kintsugi.
During the experience, we'll also serve drinks in urushi-coated cups and teach you about the beauty of urushi ware, as well as how it differs from glass and ceramics.
After the experience, you'll be able to take your kintsugi pieces home with you. Even if you're a beginner or not confident with detailed work, rest assured that you'll be in good hands with our experienced teachers!
Explore our store
Go behind the scenes of kintsugi at our historic Kyoto urushi store and take a good look at tools and materials that you normally wouldn't see.
Choose your favorite dish
We have a range of pieces just for you, from sake cups to small plates and bowls. Choose your favorite two to fix during the experience.
Handy hint: If you're trying kintsugi for the first time, wider shapes are easier to fix.
Put broken pieces back together
Think of this as the climax of kintsugi. For traditional kintsugi, we would use an urushi and flour paste called mugi-urushi to glue pieces together, but here we'll be using a special resin to speed things up. Fine-tune the position of both pieces again and again, making sure they fit together perfectly in the end.
Learn about urushi ware
While waiting for the glue to dry, your teacher will hold a talk on urushi ware, or urushi-coated items. You will learn about the urushi tree, how urushi is harvested and refined, and its history.
Smooth the cracks
Smoothing the cracks where the broken pieces have been put back together will make them look even more beautiful when you paint urushi over them later. This step is quite pleasing, as you can see the surface getting cleaner as you work. (We have plenty of guests who forget about everything else as they do this - it's a popular step that's easy to lose yourself in.)
Drink out of urushi ware
Sit back and relax with a drink in a beautiful cup coated with urushi. Appreciate the gentle texture and soft feel as you drink from it while also learning about the beauty and unique characteristics of urushi ware.
Paint urushi
At last, we're going to use urushi! Carefully paint urushi over the cracks you smoothed before, an exciting step that might even make you nervous. It's easy for your hands to shake, but concentrate and remember to be slow and steady so that you don't go outside the cracks.
Sprinkling gold- and silver-colored powder
It's finally time for the most glamorous part of kintsugi. Gently sprinkle (gold-colored) brass or (silver-colored) tin powder onto the urushi lines and polish to make them shine beautifully. You can choose either powder to better match the color and shape of your dishes, creating works of art just for you. Each piece transforms the instant that the powder hits it, an impressive sight that is sure to stay with you.
Take your pieces home
Your teacher will pack your pieces into a paulownia wood box and a special bag. You will then be able to use them in two to three weeks. Although you might want to take them out right away, the wait is worth it.
CAUTION
*This experience includes the use of genuine urushi. Although you will wear gloves as a precaution while working with urushi, it may cause rashes if it comes in contact with your skin.
Price per person (incl. tax)
(Includes coffee)
Number of people/lesson
(For 8 people or more, it will be taught in a rental space)
Duration
Extras
Genuine gold and silver
Swap the standard brass and tin powder used to finish your pieces for genuine gold and silver powder. Why choose gold and silver? You can experience the sprinkling process more thoroughly and create even more striking pieces.
Price: ￥3,500 per person
Traditional Kiyomizu-yaki ceramics
Swap the standard mass-market dishes for Kiyomizu-yaki, or traditional Kyoto ceramics. Standard dishes break cleanly with simple lines, but breaks in Kiyomizu-yaki - due to being handmade - create complex lines that result in a unique feel.
Price: ￥3,500 per person
Hear From Our Customers
It’s easy to lose yourself in the process; two hours go by in a flash
Before, I thought that kintsugi was something difficult, but thanks to my teacher’s careful instruction, even clumsy me managed to produce good results. I was surprised that before I knew it, two hours had flown by. This was an experience where you can relax and lose yourself in it, and it made me want to keep going.
That moment of wonder when the gold hits the dish
I originally thought that you do kintsugi with gold-colored paint and was surprised to learn that you actually finish it by sprinkling gold powder. I felt such wonder seeing the dish suddenly become so much more gorgeous after sprinkling the powder and thought it was amazing that you can begin using broken dishes again through this process.
We went as a family and ended up coming back
This was our second time doing this experience. The first time, we brought the whole family and used your dishes. We fixed some little sake dishes with kintsugi, and now we still use them for soy sauce. It was a lot of fun, so we came again as a couple and brought our own dishes. We’re very happy to see the dishes we love come back to life. Next, we’re thinking of bringing a chipped yunomi cup to repair.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I join even if I have no experience with kintsugi?
Of course. Most people who come to our experiences have never done kintsugi before. We’ll teach you everything you need to know, from how to use the tools to finishing the process, so anyone can do this experience.
Your website says to bring an apron. How messy is this experience?
The kintsugi process isn’t especially messy, and generally people don’t get their clothes dirty. You may get urushi or powder on your clothes if you drop your brush or when you sprinkle the powder. The powder can be lightly brushed off, but we still recommend bringing clothes you don’t mind getting dirty or an apron just in case. (About 80% of our guests participate without using an apron.)
Can I take home the dishes I fixed?
Yes. Whether the dishes were provided by you or us, you can take them with you after the experience. However, you must keep them in the provided box to let the urushi dry and harden for about two to three weeks. Then, you can wash and then use them.
Location
Shikata Urushi
Address
290 Tawaraya-cho, Fuyacho-dori
Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto
・5-minute walk from Kyoto-Kawaramachi Station (Hankyu Railway)
・6-minute walk from Karasuma Station (Kyoto Municipal Subway)
・10-minute walk from Gion-Shijo Station (Keihan Railway)
How to Book
Online bookings are required to participate in Shikata Urushi's two-hour kintsugi experiences.
Access our online form
Please choose your preferred date through the form.
Enter and confirm your details
Please enter all necessary information. However, please note that we may not always be able to accommodate your preferred dates.
Complete booking
After your booking is completed, we will send you a confirmation email, so please check the details inside this email. On the day of the experience, please come about 5 minutes before the designated time.
Prices and Requirements for Guests
Price
Price per person (incl. tax)
￥9,500 (Includes coffee)
Extras
Genuine gold and silver: ￥3,500 per person
Traditional Kiyomizu-yaki ceramics: ￥3,500 per person
How to Pay
Cash
Minimum number of participants
2 people
Cancellation policy
Cancellation fees:
2-7 days before: 30%
1 day before: 50%
Day of experience: 100%
Please note that if you arrive more than 15 minutes after the designated start time, the experience will be cancelled.
Requirements
Minimum age: 10. Guests under 18 years old must be accompanied by a guardian (aged 18 years or older).
Suitable clothes
Please wear clothes you don't mind getting dirty, or bring an apron.
Although the kintsugi process is not especially messy, you may get urushi or powder on your clothes if you drop your brush or when you sprinkle the powder.
Confirm before booking
・This experience includes the use of genuine urushi. If it comes in contact with your skin, you may get a rash.
・If you arrive more than 15 minutes after the designated start time, the experience will be cancelled.
・We are unable to accept extra guests who have not paid, even if they only wish to observe the experience or accompany another guest.
Contact us here to book or inquire about our 2-hour kintsugi experience. We're happy to share info about the experience itself, dates, or anything else you want to know. If you'd like to see what it's really like, feel free to stop by our studio too.
Ask us anything
about our kintsugi experience
© 2020 Shikataurushi .