A German Girl Trying to Preserve Japan's Traditional Crafts

Our world is at a turning point. We are trading century-old traditions and knowledge for convenience and mass production. Old workshops full of history are shutting down to make space for large companies that can be found almost everywhere in the world. So I decided to set out on a journey across Japan to find the craftsmen who against all odds continue to preserve these remarkable skills and traditions. I want to share their stories with you in hopes that together we can help keep them alive for future generations. I hope you come along for the journey. It is a lot of fun driving around rural areas in Japan and to find vanishing craftsmanships but it also takes quite a bit of energy. So Nomi and I were so happy to rest at such a nice hotel in Tochigi city. Good morning everyone. We're gonna look for some other artisans today here in Tochigi. So please stay tuned because it's going to be very exciting. This is the bath. They have a little onsen here where we're going to go tonight. First time trying Tochigi strawberries. Today we are in Tochigi city. Not many people get off this station. One can tell by the many shut shops that remind of a time when this city was flourishing. Most of the people visiting Tochigi go straight to Nikko so this area is very overlooked which is a shame because it's full of history and lovely little cafes. Oh with the boat. Kawaii. One of these cute cafes is Palour but this trendy cafe hides an old workshop that will surprise you. In the rural landscapes of Tochigi prefecture, everyday life once depended on what the land could provide. Long before plastic and mass production, people shaped grasses, straw and bamboo into tools they needed to live. These are not just crafts, they are solutions. After the harvest nothing was thrown away. Straw became robes, sandals and brooms. Flexible branches and wild grasses were gathered, dried and transformed by hand into baskets, bags and tools. This way of life reflects a deeper relationship with nature, known in Japan as Satoyama, a balance between human activity and the natural environment. Something we have almost completely forgotten today. It is fascinating to me how much knowledge people once possessed. They knew how to make use of what nature offered them and could create so much with their own hands. While we continue to collect more and more knowledge, we seem to have lost many skills that allow us to survive independently in nature. In becoming increasingly dependent on large companies and complex systems, we may have also given up our real freedom. First we removed the seeds and assembled the stalks. Today I'm going to make a little broom which comes very in handy because in August I'm moving to a new Japanese house that is full of tatami rooms. Many Japanese brooms are designed specifically for tatami. Their flexibility allows them to pick up dust from the surface without damaging the mat. The most crucial part is to keep even tension when binding them. I'm almost done at making the broom. Now there's just one more line that I have to make. Looks good. I can use it for like small areas within my house like a desk or yeah little places to clean. It's very very sweet and the place is so beautiful. Home crafting has become quite popular in the recent year. It makes a lot of sense to me. We spend so much time in front of our laptop or scrolling through our phones that doing repetitive work with our hands and letting your thoughts pass on by feels like a treat. People from many generations ago must wonder how strange we have become. Our world seems so advanced yet in the end most of us are longing for a simple peaceful life in harmony with nature. Maybe I'm part of the reason you are staring at the screen but I hope these videos inspire you to question the way you spend your time and to aspire the simple joys of life. Now we finished making the shape of the broom. Now the last step is to cut it and yeah this we can only do once so I hope I'm going to do it well. It is such a simple tool but making it myself out of only natural materials brings me so much joy. I know from now on sweeping will become a little bit more exciting to me. Getting around rural Tochigi is where you notice how important it is to stay connected. Whether it's using maps, translating signs or getting to remote workshops and locations like this, that's where Simify comes in handy. I think a lot of people still don't fully understand how eSIMs work. Instead of buying a physical SIM card when you arrive in a new country, an eSIM is a digital SIM card you can install on your phone before you even travel. That means the moment you land your data is already set up and ready to go. For example before your trip you simply go into your phone settings, tap add eSIM, scan the QR code Simify provides and within a minute it's installed. Then when you land you just turn it on, enable data roaming and you're instantly connected. If you're planning a trip to Japan I definitely recommend checking out Simify's Japan eSIM, especially their unlimited Japan eSIM option since it makes traveling around much more convenient without worrying about running out of data. You can use my code Nini to get 15% off or check out the link in the description for more information. It is time to rest while enjoying something sweet. Japanese craftsmanship doesn't stop with permanent items. Even edible sweets are created to perfection. These are all tools that are used to create wagashi, traditional Japanese sweets that are closely connected to the tea ceremony, the seasons and Japanese aesthetics. Traditionally wagashi are made out of sweet bean paste that comes in many different colors. It honestly felt a little bit like playing with play-doh. Highly skilled wagashi makers spend years mastering techniques to create delicate shapes and textures by hand. The sweet is designed to evoke a feeling or a moment in nature. As you can see here with a little sakura bloom I created. Master Wake-san showed us a few of the beautiful designs that one is able to make after many years of experience. Maybe you can guess some of these flowers names. They truly feel way too beautiful to be eaten but the impermanence of these little artworks makes the craftsmanship even more fascinating. Wake-san is the third generation owner of the shop called Korindo. It was first opened in 1885 here in Tochigi. Wow it's so pretty. How beautifully they made it with all the furniture. So nice. Okay bye bye everyone. Today I'm in Sano city visiting a seventh generation family of iron craftsmen. These are chagama a large kettle specifically designed for the use in Japanese tea ceremony. Tenmyo imono is one of Japan's oldest and most historically important casting traditions with a history of over 1,000 years. We are in the workshop of the Wakabayashi family whose history as casting craftsmen stretches back to 1815 over 200 years ago. The chagama sits over a charcoal fire and is considered one of the most important utensils in a tea room. We are making our way to the workshop where the special kettles are made. We looked into a room filled with sand and a huge oven-like object. I was told I was not allowed to enter with my shoes. You will understand why in a little bit. Cast iron is a type of iron that contains relatively high amount of carbon. Unlike steel which is often shaped by hammering, cast iron can be melted into liquid and poured into a mold. The challenge is that molded iron is extremely hot. To shape it into a kettle craftsmen need a mold that can withstand that heat while capturing fine details. This is where the sand enters the story. For every kettle craftsmen create a brand new mold from specially prepared molding sand. Many of the decorative features found on traditional Japanese tea kettles are created directly in the mold. After the iron cools and solidifies the mold is broken apart to reveal the finished casting. And this is the moment that surprised me the most. The mold can only be used once. Every single kettle requires a completely new mold. At first this sounds incredibly wasteful but the broken mold is collected and turned back into sand. When I visited the workshop the craftsman explained that most of the sand used today has been continuously recycled for centuries. In other words the sand beneath my feet is part of the workshop's history. The molds are temporary but the sand survives and so does the knowledge of the craftsmen who continue to use it. So since of course I cannot make a whole casting iron today I'm luckily able to try and make my own plate. I found myself wondering what it would be like to be born into a family where my path had already been paved by the generation before me. Yet Minogo-san did not simply follow in their footsteps. He studied in Kyoto and Okinawa to find his own path within this craft while carrying forward the tradition that his family has preserved for over 200 years. Though it seems very hard it's actually quite flexible so you can mold it even with your hands as much as you like. Before leaving I was given a wonderful experience. The mother of Minogo-san served us matcha using water heated in a 500 year old cast iron. I feel very honored to be able to taste it and to receive a tea from her in that moment. While I'm very happy that matcha has become so popular around the world I feel that the depth of the philosophy and the practice is unknown to many people. It is an interaction of craftsmanships, generations of knowledge, precision and devotion that makes a tea ceremony so special. It is not just about drinking matcha it carries a deep Japanese philosophy that requires practice and attention to truly feel and understand it. This teapot is 500 years old it's been in the family since many generations and the water really tastes different because the iron from the pot is getting into the water and we made a test to different types of normal boiled water and from this pot that's really totally different. We are now at this beautiful temple where we're going to do a little crystal ball meditation. If you guys can see the beautiful view over the city. After the wonderful ceremony Motohashi-san's wife served us tea and we spent the rest of the evening talking. I was very glad to share some of my questions and receive so many beautiful insights. I also tried a matcha for the first time a naturally very sweet tea that is usually enjoyed at Buddha's birthday. A truly special night. Thank you very much for coming along this journey. I hope you got a little insight into some of the beautiful Japanese craftsmanships.