This time we speak with our friend and Master Glassmaker Yamaguchi Noriko. Find out how Noriko spent over 10 years chasing her dream to create Satsuma Kiriko, how she was repeatedly turned down until she set out across Japan to discover glass working for herself, and how she realised her dream and is now bringing craftspeople into the limelight.
Satsuma Kiriko is a style of cut crystal glassware produced in the Kagoshima region. The production of Satsuma Kiriko was started in 1851 at the factory complex called the Shuseikan which neighboured the stately home and gardens of the Shimadzu clan, Sengan-en.
Lord Shimadzu Nariakira had ordered his samurai to create a product to show the cultural and scientific development of his domain. Production began in earnest, and the glassware received high praise, but with the death of Nariakira in 1858, and the destruction of the workshops during the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, production was stopped and the glass blowing and cutting techniques were lost for over 100 years.
In 1985, Shimadzu Limited began research into reproducing Satsuma Kiriko and built a workshop the following year. After intensive research into the original techniques, production was started, and this previously lost craft was brought back for the world to enjoy.
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Shimadzu Satsuma Kiriko
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People of Kagoshima
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AloJapan.com