Gyokusendo, Striking Copper for Two Hundred Years

‘Strike. Make your mark on time.’ That is how Gyokusendo’s motto could be translated. For seven generations, the Tamagawa family artisans, based in the Tsubame region (Niigata prefecture) have been beating copper by hand. This ancestral technique has received numerous awards and has notably been designated as an intangible cultural treasure by the Japanese Ministry of Culture.

Time leaves its traces, and according to the precept of wabi-sabi, the true value and soul of an object are found in its patina. Unlike industrial objects, the initial beauty of which is destined to disappear, the life force contained in Gyokusendo’s creations only increases with each stroke. As the gaze is absorbed by the warm reflections of the hammered copper of a cup, one can discern the infinite patience of the artisan, shaping ancestral objects which are made to last.