About Kintsugi Labo JAPAN — Urushi Artists & Our Studio

Whisking matcha in a Kintsugi-restored Raku-style bowl inside a Japanese tea room, accompanied by chasen, natsume, and traditional tea ceremony utensils.

Our Founding Story

How The Kintsugi Labo JAPAN Began

From Overlooked Vessels in 2020 to a Studio of Six Urushi Artists Today

Why We Began

In Japan, cracks, stains, and traces of use have long been seen as features that add to a vessel's story rather than diminish its value. Yet, many valuable ceramic vessels are quietly discarded each year — damaged by age, flawed in the making, or left behind when their owners pass away. Once broken, they are more often replaced than restored.

In 2020, we founded The Kintsugi Labo JAPAN to restore these overlooked vessels with natural urushi lacquer. In doing so, we preserve not only the objects themselves, but also the time, skill, and intention invested in their creation. Every vessel reaches us already broken, gathered through trusted suppliers across Japan — we never break one ourselves. Each restoration spares a piece from disposal. In this way, we carry the vessels' stories forward for a new generation of collectors.

Opening to the World

The decision to sell internationally came from Yosuke Inui, the designer behind our brand identity. Collectors abroad, he told us, had long been asking where in Japan they could find authentic kintsugi. Here it is mostly a private restoration service or a school subject — finished pieces rarely reach the open market. We built this cross-border studio to change that.

Our Artists

We started with one artist. Now, six artists work with us. Each is based in Shiga or Kyoto. They include a nationally certified Master of Traditional Crafts who specializes in urushi lacquering for Buddhist altars, an artist with over forty years of experience creating and restoring urushi lacquerwork for Buddhist altars, temples, and shrines, and four Kyoto City University of Arts graduates who majored in urushi lacquering. They all bring their craft to kintsugi alongside their own practices.

Today

Over 300 broken vessels have come to us from across Japan. In March 2026 we reached our 200th sale, with pieces now in the hands of collectors in more than 15 countries. Each one carries the mark where it once broke, and is worth more for it — modern luxury, made sustainable.

Three Principles We Keep

What Makes The Kintsugi Labo JAPAN Different

Who restores each piece, how far the restoration goes, and where the vessel comes from.

Urushi artist applying gold powder to a sometsuke kintsugi vessel in Japan

01 — Who Restores

Restored by Six Japanese Urushi Artists

Every piece is restored entirely in Japan, by hand.

Our six urushi artists include a Master of Traditional Crafts, artists devoted to Buddhist altar and temple lacquerwork, and graduates of Kyoto City University of Arts working at the contemporary edge of urushi lacquer art. Each restoration is built layer by layer in natural urushi and hand-polished using techniques refined over centuries.

Meet Our Urushi Lacquer Artists

Close-up of an Adorned Kintsugi cup and saucer with 24K gold, urushi-e and raden detail

02 — Beyond the Gold Line

Kintsugi as Urushi Art

Most kintsugi ends at the gold seam. Select works in our collection go further.

02 — Beyond the Gold Line

Kintsugi as Urushi Art

Most kintsugi ends at the gold seam. Select works in our collection go further.

In response to each vessel's character, our artists extend the restoration with time-honored techniques such as raden (mother-of-pearl inlay), urushi-e (lacquer painting), and kawari-nuri (patterned lacquer). The restoration becomes a continuation of the piece's story — a restored vessel that is also a work of urushi art. We call this Adorned Kintsugi.

Discover Adorned Kintsugi

Broken Japanese ceramic vessels awaiting kintsugi restoration

03 — Where the Vessel Comes From

Ethically Sourced, Food-Safe Restoration

Every vessel already carries a history before it reaches us.

Some vessels crack at the very last step of making — painted, yet unfit for sale and bound for disposal. Others are damaged by accident or time. We purchase these pieces from potters, wholesalers, and antique dealers across Japan; we never break a sound vessel. Each crack is ichigo ichie, a meeting that happens only once. Restored in natural urushi and food-safe materials, the vessel — and the hours and spirit its maker gave it — lives on, to display, gift, or use without concern.

Learn About Our Commitment

The Wabi-Sabi Spirit — Beauty in the Imperfect

Our Philosophy

In Japan, imperfections — a crack, a chip, the patina of age — are not flaws to be hidden, but qualities that can deepen a vessel's beauty and value. This is the spirit of wabi-sabi: a quiet appreciation for what is incomplete, weathered, and worn with care.

Kintsugi grows directly from this view. We never break a brand-new vessel to create kintsugi. We collect ceramics already bearing cracks or flaws — from potters, wholesalers, and antique shops across Japan — and give each a second life through urushi lacquer and 24K gold.

This, to us, is modern, sustainable luxury: not the pursuit of the new, but the choice to honor what already holds beauty — a Japanese spirit we hope to carry forward.

Kintsugi as a Vessel of Thoughts

What We Hope to Carry Forward

Urushi has been worked by human hands for roughly 5,500 years. Kintsugi, built upon urushi and 24K gold, has itself been practiced quietly for centuries — a craft passed from one generation of artisans to the next, carrying its philosophy forward across eras.

We see each piece as a vessel of thoughts. It holds the maker who first shaped it, the artist who restored it, and a tradition older than any of us. When it enters your home, your own thoughts join the vessel — and you become part of how this tradition is carried forward.

This is our Hope: that as these pieces find homes across more than 15 countries, kintsugi becomes a quiet teacher of another way of seeing — one in which mending is honored over replacing, and beauty is recognized in what has lived through something. A Japanese tradition kept alive not behind glass, but in the hands of those who choose to live with it.

Our Business Model

From Artist to Collector, Without Wholesalers in Between

Each kintsugi piece moves along a single line — from the artist who restored it, through the studio that curates the work, to the collector who receives it.

01 Context The Conventional Path

In Japan's traditional craft industry, finished works typically pass through multiple wholesalers before reaching consumers. Artists are paid only for their labor, often receiving as little as 10% of the final retail price. For kintsugi — a craft requiring months of skilled work — this structure has long driven up costs to the point of hindering circulation. It is one reason kintsugi is rarely sold as art in Japan.

Many younger artists balance gallery exhibitions and personal creative work with other jobs to build their careers. Unlike in Western Europe, Japan lacks significant public funding for the arts, leaving their professional foundation precarious.

02 Approach The Direct Path

The structure here is different. Each of our six urushi artists receives a share of the sales value, alongside a labor fee, at the moment they complete a piece. Through this direct, full-volume buyout system, established craftsmen receive compensation that reflects their decades of skill, and younger artists are given a sustainable foundation.

03 Outcome The Path of Each Purchase

By selling directly across borders, we maintain fair prices for everyone involved — honoring the artists who shape each piece, and offering collectors a transparent path to authentic Japanese kintsugi.

The Kintsugi Labo JAPAN business model: comparison between the conventional Japanese craft trade path with multi-tier wholesalers, and our direct path connecting ceramic suppliers, Isono Revitalizing Office, urushi lacquer artists, and international collectors in 15+ countries

The People Behind The Kintsugi Labo JAPAN

The Team

Each kintsugi piece is restored entirely by hand by urushi artists based in Kyoto and Shiga. Our team includes an artisan with over forty years of experience, a nationally certified Master of Traditional Crafts, and graduates who majored in Urushi Lacquering at Kyoto City University of Arts. Together, they unite generations of traditional craftsmanship with contemporary artistic practice in every piece we create.

About Kyoto City University of Arts

Founded in 1880, Kyoto City University of Arts is Japan's oldest public arts university. Its Urushi Lacquering major is among Japan's most respected, where students master every stage of traditional lacquer craftsmanship through rigorous studio training while also studying the history, science, and contemporary artistic practice of urushi.
Several artists at The Kintsugi Labo JAPAN hold B.F.A. or M.F.A. degrees in this major.

Lean more about this university →

Our Urushi Lacquer Artists

Urushi Lacquer Artist Holding Nature’s Stillness

Keiko Hata

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Urushi Lacquer Artist with a Painterly Sensibility

Maki Mizuno

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Urushi Lacquer Artist Coating Margin into Value

Rio Hashimoto

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Urushi Lacquer Artist Reflecting Memory and Refuge

Saki Moriyama

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Master Urushi Lacquer Artisan with Over 40 Years of Practice

Nobuyasu Suginaka

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Nationally Certified Urushi Master of Sacred Restoration

Seisaku Nakajima

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The People Behind the Studio

Warm portrait of a Japanese kintsugi shopkeeper, conveying the spirit of wabi-sabi and dedication to restoring beauty through urushi and gold.

Founders & Studio Directors

Ken & Michie ISONO

Ken and Michie Isono founded The Kintsugi Labo JAPAN in 2020 as part of Isono Revitalizing Office LLC., a Japanese consulting firm dedicated to supporting traditional crafts. After meeting Mr. Suginaka through their consulting work, they were drawn into the world of urushi and kintsugi — and built a cross-border platform to bring authentic Japanese kintsugi to international collectors.

Ken now studies urushi lacquer at Kyoto City University of Arts, deepening his understanding of the medium he curates. Together, they handle everything from artist relationships and curation to logistics and customer care — bridging language, culture, and trade for collectors worldwide.

Advisor

Yosuke INUI

Yosuke Inui is the designer behind The Kintsugi Labo JAPAN brand identity, and the person whose insight first sparked this venture. Through his wide connections in the arts and crafts industry, he recognized growing international interest in authentic kintsugi from Japan, and encouraged the founding of this studio. He continues to advise on brand and design direction.

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International Activities

The Kintsugi Labo JAPAN has shared the urushi lacquer tradition with international audiences through lectures, workshops, and press features that introduce kintsugi and urushi lacquer beyond Japan.