CRYSTAL｜WAKASA Nuri (Lacquerware)

Brand

A craftsman loved by chopsticks

CRYSTAL

• 1956
• WAKASA Nuri (Lacquerware)
• Masayoshi Matoba
  Yuya Fujii

History

An apprentice at the age of 18, he has been a craftsman for over 60 years.

Matoba started his career as a Wakasa-nuri craftsman at the age of 18, and has been an active craftsman for the past 60 years.

After becoming an apprentice to his master, he continued to make Wakasa-nuri chopsticks for more than 20 years using a traditional technique called "Togidashi".

Later, he introduced a unique technique called "brush drawing" to chopstick making, which greatly expanded the possibilities of Wakasa-nuri chopsticks.

Matoba has been drawing pictures every day since he was a child, and he was able to use his chopsticks as a campus for his creative activities.

Whenever a new idea came to him, he would stay in his workshop until midnight, repeating the process of trial and error, leaving behind more than 500 different pieces of work in his lifetime.

This series of chopsticks, named "CRYSTAL," is a new type of Wakasa lacquered chopsticks created by chopstick craftsman Masayoshi Matoba.

Characteristic

Bringing Beautiful Moments to the Campus of Chopsticks

Obama City in Fukui Prefecture, which accounts for more than 70% of the total production of lacquered chopsticks in Japan, is known throughout the country for its traditional Wakasa-nuri chopstick production.

However, Matoba was not bound by the framework of the traditional chopstick industry, and he created his chopsticks based on his own free idea.

Matoba says "I wanted to draw my own chopsticks, something I had never done before. I thought I could do it with a brush."

In addition to making chopsticks, Matoba also enjoys bowling, ballroom dancing, and singing.

He used the insights he gained from these activities to make chopsticks.

Matoba's representative work, "Night Sky," has a delicate beauty with a gorgeous playfulness that gives different impressions to different people who pick it up.

This is the result of Matoba's love for chopsticks, who says, "I want to make the most of the moment when I feel beautiful".

For Customers

What a man who devoted his life to making chopsticks left behind

While there are other ways to produce chopsticks by machine, Matoba has continued to produce them by hand.

While maintaining his commitment to handcrafting, he has also actively incorporated innovations to make it easier for customers to use his products, such as dishwasher-safe and non-slip chopstick tips.

This is an expression of Matoba's wish that "I want my children (chopsticks) to be used by as many people as possible".

After Matoba passed away, his apprentice, Yuya Fujii, took over his skills and continues to produce the crystal series.

We hope that the chopsticks that reflect Matoba's passion for chopsticks will continue to reach many people in the future.