A German Girl Learns Ancient Japanese Crafts From Their Masters

In this episode of the craft series, we are exploring some of Japan's oldest traditional crafts, knowledge that has been passed down from generation to generation for centuries. Today, only a handful of master artisans continue to preserve these remarkable skills, dedicating their entire lives to keeping them alive in a rapidly changing world. We will step inside their workshops, uncover the secrets behind their craft, and discover what it takes to ensure these ancient traditions survive for generations to come. Today I'm learning about one of Tochigi's most beautiful traditional crafts, Kanoma Kumiko. Kumiko is created without a single nail or metal fitting. Instead, hundreds of tiny wooden pieces are cut with incredible precision and fitted together purely through friction, forming intricate geometric patterns that seem almost impossible to make by hand. Yoshihara-san first fell in love with Kumiko when he was just 19 years old, after seeing the beautifully decorated doors of a Buddhist altar. He spent nearly 10 years mastering the craft before opening his own workshop, where today he works alongside his wife and their three sons. What makes Kanoma Kumiko so extraordinary isn't just the beautiful patterns, it's the precision behind them. Some of these wooden strips are only around 1.5mm thick, and even an arrow no thicker than a sheet of paper can stop the entire pattern from fitting together. Although machines can help prepare some of the wood today, the final cuts and assembly still depend entirely on the artist's hands and years of experience. We were invited to their home to see some of their most delicate works later in the video. They gave me this design, which is like a snowflake, and now some of the pieces that make this and I have to figure out how I have to put them together. I'm very bad at this, so let's see if I can do it. After a few tips from the craftsman, we figured it out. If you look at the cuts in the wood, they indicate which of the pieces belong together. Would you have figured it out by yourself? Sadly, like many traditional crafts in Japan, Kanoma Kumiko is facing an uncertain future. At its peak during the 1960s and 70s, Kanoma had around 4,000 joinery workshops. Today, fewer than 100 remain. But rather than giving up, families like the Yoshiharas are finding new ways to keep the craft alive. Alongside traditional architectural pieces, they now create lamps, trays, and furniture, while also teaching Kumiko to local school children, in the hopes of inspiring the next generation. I felt very honored that we were invited to see their home, but nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to see. We traveled along the Nikokaido road, a path that many samurai and merchants have traveled in the past. Then we arrived at the gorgeous home of the Yoshihara family. As you can see, even the front door has beautiful Kumiko integrated into it. The house was filled with their amazing work. Walking through the home felt like stepping inside a gallery. Everywhere we looked, there were intricate Kumiko panels, each one casting delicate shadows across the room as the sunlight filtered through them. And those patterns aren't just decorative. The famous Asanoha hemp leaf pattern, for example, represents growth and resilience, qualities admired in both nature and human life. Others are inspired by natural elements like waves, mountains, or seasonal flowers, reflecting Japan's deep cultural connection to the environment. Hello everyone, Editing NiNi here. As this is, for now, the last craft episode in Tochigi, I wanted to say a huge thank you to Yuko, who was my tour guide for this trip. She organized all the amazing experiences with artisans, and without her, I would have never been able to meet all these people. So if you want to visit Tochigi in the future, please make sure to contact her. I will put her information down below. So let's get back to the video. Hello everyone, I'm sure some of you have maybe seen online, or even in real life, Japanese taiko drum performance. And we are right now in front of the manufacturer of these drums. So let's see how these powerful instruments are being made. Onozaki Taiko Store is a long-established Japanese taiko drum manufacturer. Founded in 1889, the company preserves traditional production method in which every stage is completed in-house. It is a family business, and I was very happy to hear from Onozaki-san about the history of the family and his craftsmanship. The story of taiko stretches back over a thousand years, and the explanation of the origin of its sound moved me deeply. Making a taiko drum is not just construction, it is transformation, and it unfolds in careful, deliberate stages. It begins with a tree. Only mature, selcova trees, often decades or even centuries old, are selected. Once cut, the wood is left to season, sometimes for years, so the moisture slowly evaporates, preventing cracks later on. Next comes hollowing the body, back in the day with tools like this. Can you imagine what hard work this must have been? The thickness must be perfectly balanced, to thin and the drum loses strength, to thick and the sound becomes dull. Then the exterior is shaped and refined. The iconic barrel form emerges, smooth, symmetrical and slightly curved, to enhance resonance. The surface is polished until it feels very smooth. Meanwhile the drum heads are prepared. Traditionally made from cowhide, the skins are soaked, stretched and scrapped, to achieve the right thickness. Attaching the drum heads is one of the most physically demanding steps. Finally the drum is tuned, not with pegs or keys, but through craftsmanship itself. In Tochigi today, a handful of workshops continue this tradition. Each drum can take years to complete, and no two are ever the same. Like all Japanese craftsmanship, the beauty of it is the repairing process. Many of old taiko drums used in temples or schools are brought here to be fixed. This way the beautiful trees that have been used in the craftsmanship can survive many generations. Also Onozaki family has started to plant some trees, to give back to the forests. With ancient craftsmanship, incredibly valuable information is transmitted. Much of this wisdom has been forgotten in our modern world, where many everyday items are filled with chemicals that quietly harm us. Among these traditions is the story of a deep blue color, once widely worn in Japan, said to possess remarkable healing properties. This is Aizome, traditional Japanese indigo dyeing. Indigo is more than just a pigment, it's a life. The source of the color is a humble plant, Japanese indigo. But unlike modern synthetic dyes, traditional indigo requires transformation. After harvesting, the leaves are composted, dried and fermented into a material called tsukumo. And this is where the magic begins. To create dye, artisans build a fermentation bed, using tsukumo, wood ash, bran and sake. Inside the bed, microorganisms come to life. One of the incredible people preserving this tradition is Kozo-san. My name is Kozo Kazama, and I dye indigo in Ashikaga City, Totsugi Prefecture. Indigo dyeing has a history of more than 1,000 years. As you can see, the Nara period is the oldest period of indigo dyeing in Japan. But of course, it was even older than that. I think it started in the Jomon period. If you can make clothes, dyeing is much easier. I think indigo dyeing already existed when clothes were first made. It has a very long history, so I think this is the tradition of Japan. Yeah, I can smell it more now. Not too bad. Also, this purple-ish thing is a sign of good. It's warm. So guys, I dipped in the fabric for the first time now. And it's actually very warm. And that's because that's what the microbes like. Yeah, now we're gonna keep it in here for some minutes until we're gonna do this all over again for a few more times. Then you can just leave it open. After the fabric is dipped into the vent, something magical happens. At first, the cloth emerges green. But as it meets the air, oxygen transforms it, turning it into the iconic blue. I only dipped it a few times because I wanted to make mine a bit lighter. We're gonna wash out the fabric now in the water here in this beautiful river. As I said, indigo was valued not only for its beautiful deep blue color, but also for its practical qualities. It is said to have antibacterial properties, which makes it especially interesting for people like me who struggle with skin conditions. Indigo has also long been used as a natural way to help protect against the sun. What fascinates me most is the practical knowledge hidden within these traditional crafts. They remind me that generations of people have developed a deep connection with nature and found solutions using the materials around them. I want to mention again that these beautiful traditions continue to exist because of the few dedicated people who take on the responsibility of carrying them forward. However, the number of people preserving these crafts is becoming smaller and smaller. If we want to continue living in a colorful world filled with these unique traditions, I believe we need to take action and support the people who dedicate their lives to keeping these crafts alive. These actions can be as simple as visiting a workshop, purchasing handmade goods or learning about and sharing these crafts so that they will not be forgotten. We ended this wonderful experience with a beautiful melody Kozo-san played on an instrument called sho, which has a history of 1,000 years. Everyone, it's the last episode of season one of the craft series. I hope you enjoyed it. Of course, this is not the end. I've already been to another prefecture and have many exciting things planned, but I want to thank everyone who was involved once again. It was an amazing time and if you guys have any recommendations or things you would like to dive into more deeply, please let me know. I'm always looking forward to improve and yeah, maybe we can cheers to the success. Oh, and by the way, this smells so good. It's made of Hinoki wood. Oh, and I love the smell. If you have ever been to like a traditional Japanese bath where they use wood, it often is Hinoki and it smells so good. I can never get enough of it. So yeah, everyone, I hope you stay tuned and thank you so much for watching. I hope to see you again soon. Goodbye.