About Sakami Kogei

The Sakami Kogei workshop in Tokyo is owned by Mr. Sakami, who has been involved in metalworking for 26 years.

Although he is the founder, Mr. Sakami is not strictly speaking the "first generation".

He was born into a family in Kyoto that had been metal workers for generations.

As Mr. Sakami says:

“My parents, my siblings, my cousins, my relatives, they all do metal work.

There's metalwork everywhere you look - it's an ancient craft."

A large part of the production takes place on a heavy lathe, where round trays and plates are created from metal. The traditional Japanese craft is called 'Hera Shibori'. It is a method where a metal plate is fixed in a mold and rotated while the plate is pressed against the mold with a rod called a spatula. It takes great craftsmanship and experience to know exactly how to angle the spatula and how much force to apply. Finally, the tray is given a brushed finish by a traditional matting process called 'Metsuke'.