Filters
Tsuboe is a Japanese family workshop in Tsubame, Niigata Prefecture, that has worked metal for four generations – first as a file maker, today as a specialist in oroshigane, the Japanese grater. Tsubame-Sanjo is Japan's centre for metalware and cutlery, and it was here that Kotaro Kasahara began making files in 1907. Through specialised files for the building trade, the teeth of a file gradually became the teeth of a grater, and in 1993 Tsuboe began producing graters in stainless steel, copper, aluminium and titanium. The fourth generation, Shinji Kasahara, has led the workshop since 2010 and in 2021 was named a Niigata Ken-O Meister for his craftsmanship in honmetate.
Honmetate is the heart of a Tsuboe grater. Traditionally each tooth was raised one by one with a chisel, and rather than pressing the entire grating surface in a single stroke as industry does, Tsuboe developed – after hundreds of prototypes – its own NC machine that strikes one tooth at a time with the precision of the hand. The result is a sharp, irregular arrangement of teeth that grates without crushing – less resistance, longer life and noticeably better flavour and texture in whatever is grated. The workshop's motto: one strike, one tooth, one devotion.
From sheet to finished grater, every piece passes through twelve steps in the Tsubame workshop: blanking, flattening, tooth striking, forming, polishing, washing and laser marking, before every single grating surface is inspected under a loupe. The flagship Gokujo – "the supreme" – arrived in 2019 as a stainless steel grater with container and drainage basket, followed in 2021 by two small graters with teeth in eight directions, developed specifically for ginger and wasabi. The sister series SHIRO gathers simple accessories, while irogami – "coloured paper" – is Tsuboe's colourful aluminium series, in which every piece is formed from a single sheet, as if it were folded paper.
The designer behind irogami: Gensuke Kishi
The irogami grater and chopstick rest were designed by Japanese product designer Gensuke Kishi. He began at a design studio in Tokyo, working on interiors, furniture and products. He has since built his own practice in Europe – first in Amsterdam, then in London and today in Rennes, France. Kishi works with local industries and craft traditions across Europe, Asia and North America. His work is about the presence of objects: how material, weight and small irregularities shape the atmosphere of a space.
The irogami hitohira grater ("piece of grater") dates from 2019. It is shaped like a sheet of paper with a turned-up corner that rests against the hand, so you grate directly over the plate. In 2020 the grater received a GOOD DESIGN Award from The Chicago Athenaeum, and today it is also sold by the MoMA Design Store and the museum shop at M+ in Hong Kong. Kishi also won the grand prize in Tsubame's design competition for young designers in 2019 and silver at the Hong Kong Smart Design Award in 2022. He has exhibited at events including Milan Design Week, Ambiente in Frankfurt, London Design Festival and Maison&Objet.
