PREMIUM ITEMS

THE RYOKAN COLLECTION

THE RYOKAN COLLECTION
Lacquerware Wine Glass

  • Lacquerware Wine Glass
  • JPY 150,000
Yasushi Satake is a third-generation woodworker, a wonderful craftsman who preserves the traditional culture of Japanese wood craftsmanship, in the form of fine containers and lacquer ware. At the same time, he challenges himself to create works that appeal to people in our modern culture.
As traditional culture slowly declines in Japan, Yamanaka lacquer ware is also at risk of disappearing. But devoted craftsmen like Satake-san are keeping the old techniques alive.
The Kayotei uses the finest quality handmade lacquer wear, produced using the traditional methods and adapted into modern forms that fit with the aesthetic of modern life.
They think the tableware used in the ryokan should be the “real thing,” in keeping with the local community’s history and culture, and can be used for a long time. The Kayotei uses cups and plates made by three generations of the Satake family – his grandfather, his father and Yasushi himself.





Entering the studio and workshop of Satake-san you find yourself in a classic atelier.
The studio holds a brazier with blazing charcoal in the center of one room, and in another room there is a collection of museum quality lacquerwere, as practical as it is artistic.

The workshop is filled almost to the ceiling with works-in-progress, and has several sunken stations where Satake-san and his son Create lacquerware with tools that they have made themselves.

Time slows down in this rich, aesthetic atmosphere, and you get the sense that the art that is being fashioned here has cultural significance.

Indeed, Yamanaka Hot spring town has a long history of lacquerware produced for very best of that tradition.

Satake-san carries forward the tradition while at the same time giving it their own unique, personal interpretation: To use beautiful objects day to day.
While you stay at the Kayotei, you can visit the studio, by appointment, and discover the artist and his art.