- You know, in conservation, there are any number of approaches that are correct, but one that survived since the 14th century in Japan, Kintsugi, is about so much more than living with and embracing imperfections.

It's about a dedication to craft, to mastery, and to doing things that may not be easy, but are right.

(bright mysterious music) I'm Julian Baumgartner.

As a fine art conservator over the past two decades working to preserve artworks, I've been fortunate enough to meet and work with some of the most talented, driven, and interesting people in the arts.

And now, I want to take you into their worlds to meet them, hear their stories, and share their passions.

So, join me as we go behind the canvas.

Nestled in the quiet streets of the city of Fukuoka in the south of Japan lies an unassuming workshop.

This is Goenne, the studio of Mikki Tamu.

I've left my studio and traveled across the world to hers to learn the art and craft of Kintsugi.

(doorbell rings cheerfully) - Hi, konichiwa.

- Hi.

Konichiwa.

Mikki?

- Yes.

- Pleasure to meet you.

Julian.

- Yeah, nice meeting you.

Thank you for coming.

- I'm so excited to be here.

- It's so hot here, so come on in.

- Oh, I would love that.

Thank you.

- Yes.

- [Julian] So, Mikki, this is your workshop, Goenne?

- Right.

Goenne is the name.

Yeah, a lot of people ask about the name because it's written in Western language.

- And here in Japan, that's not very common, as I've seen.

- Right, right.

I picked the word because the pronunciation of the word is the same as the Japanese word, goen.

Goen means serendipity, like happenstance, something that you encounter by accident, nothing planned, but it's something so wonderful that gives you that happy moment.

- Oh, that's beautiful.

I love that.

Absolutely.

- Thank you.

- So, tell me about your studio.

- A big part of our studio is actually providing handmade authentic Japanese tools for Lycocraft and Kintsugi craft.

- Oh, very cool.

Well, as somebody who adores tools, can you show me some of those?

- Sure.

Yeah.

These are cherry wood spatulas.

- [Julian] Okay.

- And we custom size this because kintsugi is such a small detailed craft.

- I see.

So, you've adapted the traditional tool for kintsugi specifically.

- Right.

I mean, this is a very traditional tools that people use for kintsugi or machie, for powdering the gold.

So, this is the tools which is like a little sieve.

- Oh, I see.

- Yeah, like a mesh here.

- [Julian] Yeah.

Oh, brushes.

- [Mikki] Handmade brushes.

- [Julian] Oh, yeah.

- Japan has the best handmade brushes.

These are called cat hairbrush.

- Cat hairbrush.

- [Mikki] So, it's still made with cat hair.

- [Julian] Really?

Cat hair?

- Yes, cat.

Like meow.

Cat.

(laughs) - Well yeah, cat.

- White cat.

- Wow.

I've never seen a cat hairbrush.

- It's not disposable.

It's a handmade adjustable product.

- Wow.

- So, you can adjust the length of the brush hair.

- Really?

- And it makes cleaning also easier.

- Oh yeah, you can just take the hairs out and clean them, and this is gorgeous.

- So, anything you see here, there is a specific artisan that has a history or heritage in making them.

When you fall in love with the craft like kintsugi, and if you go deeper and look into every single tools, you are actually supporting that industry of artisan as well.

- Oh, interesting.

- If you learn or practice traditional craft, you are also sustaining a whole infrastructure of makers.

- [Mikki] It's not just the object, but it's the people who make it, the families, like you said, the society, the history of it.

The objects may be the starting point or the vessel for that story, but the story goes much deeper.

- Right.

A lot of the industry for tools, there's only, like, a handful of artisans.

If the older artisan kind of passed away, some of the family business is like, "Well, that's it.

No more."

- Sure.

And what teenager wants to go into making brushes instead of becoming a YouTube star or something, that sort of, you know.

- And it's pretty common in Japan right now.

It's not only this section.

Anything you see over there is facing the same problem.

- Is there any government intervention to help sustain these crafts?

- They are, but then Japan in general, I think every single industry has the same problem.

We don't even have enough doctors or caregivers.

- Wow.

Hopefully it's not an either or.

Hopefully it's a both and.

- Right, right, right.

- So, you're trying to keep craft alive by supporting the local artisans who make these beautiful tools, these beautiful boxes, traditional Japanese craft.

But you are also keeping the product of their craft alive with kintsugi.

- [Mikki] Right, right.

- So, Mikki, for a layperson like myself, what is kintsugi?

- The most general description or explanation is golden joinery, because that's literally what the word means.

If you ask me, kintsugi is a very small branch of a larger craft, which is like a craft.

- Everybody likes gold.

- Everybody, yeah, talks about the gold; that's the big word.

But then, it's just one style, because other than kintsugi, there is a wide variety of other way to repair or different aesthetic.

There's kintsugi, there's rushitzugi, there's yakitsugi.

So, there's just different material, different style, different aesthetic.

- So, that's what you do here in your studio is the practicing of kintsugi as part of the larger lacquer crafts?

- Right.

Kintsugi, it's a lot of the work, but I also do a little bit of maquette and some lacquer craft as well.

- So, you mentioned lacquer craft, and kintsugi is a part of the lacquer craft family.

- Right, right, right.

- Lacquer craft is?

- Lacquer craft is, well, lacquer wear.

I mean, a lot of people, if you go to Japanese restaurants and you drink miso soup and things, you know, that's actually lacquer craft.

It has a wood core inside.

There's a whole industry of people who create these wares, you know?

So, it's painting gazillion layers of Japanese lacquer.

And it all starts from the tree that provides the sap or the resin to give you lacquer.

So, a lot of people just think that this is pottery work, especially in outside of Japan.

This craft was picked up by a lot of potters because there isn't any lacquer craft outside of Japan, right?

So, the closest people that can relate to that kind of work are ceramist and potters.

For me, it's providing that option there.

If you enjoy or if you really love this craft, what are you also bringing to help this craft?

- So, that's what you do here.

Would you mind showing me?

- Sure, yes.

- Yeah.

- Yes.

A lot of people teaching kintsugi, they give you, like, a kit, you know, because this is what they market and this is what they sell.

- Right, it's a business.

- So, we just open a kit and they're all the tools.

But here this is actually the tools that I use myself.

So, you actually get to touch and feel and try and experiment on your own.

And so, you see how easy or difficult it is.

- So, you're gonna trust me with your tools?

- Of course.

- Yeah.

Okay.

- You can have a seat there, and we can start.

- All right.

After donning the necessary protective equipment, the urushi resin from the Japanese lacquer tree at the heart of kintsugi is an irritant related to poison ivy.

Mikki walks me through how the different adhesives are chosen and mixed.

For some repairs, basic urushi is sufficient.

For others requiring more structural stability, various fibers and fillers must be added to fortify the adhesive and ensure the durability of the repair.

(soft relaxing music) - [Mikki] Let's start with mugi.

So, in your case, it's wheat flour with water.

- [Julian] Water.

- So, you would use a little palette knife and add a little bit of water and create a tiny little dough.

Like, we call it mimi.

- Okay.

- Like, mimi means ear.

- Okay.

Oh, yeah.

- So, you feel your ear.

- You just keep adding and calibrating until you get it.

(soft serene music) - I think I have my mimi is what you call it.

- Mimi, or your ear.

Yeah.

This is raw urushi.

Start mixing your urushi into your paste.

- [Julian] And now, how long after the urushi has been introduced do you have to work?

- It's a very slow curing process.

- Okay.

- In a controlled environment, it takes about five days.

- Oh wow.

- That's how slow.

- Very forgiving.

- Right.

- Okay.

- If you apply it too thick, the surface cures first, then you get a wrinkle surface, just like oil paint.

When you leave oil paint out, it forms an outer skin.

- A skin.

- Yeah, so it's exactly like that.

And urushi wrinkles.

So, that's why the whole reason of putting it in the box with high humid.

- To control, to slow.

- The humid slows it down, pays it.

It pays the curing.

So, you would want to get this to a consistency where it's kind of like pulling string cheese.

- [Julian] Okay.

- [Mikki] Yeah, yeah, yeah, you got it.

That's it.

- [Julian] All right.

- Mugi urushi, that's your glue.

- This is my glue.

This is the base.

- Yeah.

- All right.

- So, you would save half of it for kokuso.

- Right.

- And then, use some of it to try piece this together.

Usually before you repair, if you have a freshly broken pieces, you wanna clean the edges.

- Right, make sure that they're receptive.

- Right.

Because you may have loose shards, and you see, it's still falling, right?

So, you wanna clean up all the edges.

And that's also the time where you can modify the shape a little bit to however your desire, or make your life easier when bonding.

- [Julian] Yeah.

So, you use just some small files.

- Right.

If something is broken and you're putting glue or whatever substance in between, there's actually no room for that.

- [Julian] That's right.

- Right?

- If it's too tight.

- So, whatever you press it, it's going to squeeze all out.

- [Julian] Create a space for the adhesive and also- - [Mikki] So your bond will be stronger.

- Yeah.

It always feels weird to, in the repair process, remove material.

- Ah.

Isn't it, yeah, but it's part of it.

- It's necessary.

Right, right.

- Yeah, it's part of it.

- And then, you can apply your glue to that piece.

- Now, do I apply it to the larger piece, the smaller piece?

- You need to apply it on both sides.

- Both sides.

Oh, okay.

- Yeah.

You decide which tool works best for you, you know, a smaller tip or sometimes toothpicks, you know.

- And again, there's no right way, just what works for you.

- There's no right way.

There is a tidy way or messy way, right?

Because afterwards, like, cleaning up.

Once this is dried and cured, like, you're gonna scrape it clean, you know?

- You don't wanna make more work for yourself later one.

- Right, so that's why there are easier, cleaner, more delicate ways to apply.

- Well, and also I would assume you don't wanna waste material.

- [Mikki] Right.

And it also depends on a person.

Not everybody is so handy, so it really depends.

So, you apply on one side, and then you apply on the other side, and then you just piece it back together and tape.

- And tape.

- You use tape till you secure.

- Yep.

- Yep.

- Take a look and let me know.

- Yeah.

You're a natural.

(laughs) - I don't know about that.

- That's exactly.

That's all you need, right?

- [Julian] Okay.

- Supposedly, next step, if this is the only repair, then it goes into the chamber for about five days.

- And the chamber is where it controls temperature and humidity to allow it to cure properly.

- Right.

Exactly.

You can't do anything here for this particular piece, right?

- You have to wait.

- So, each piece is different.

But in this piece, it's like, "Oh, there's nothing I can do here.

This will be future parts."

- So, that we would use the kokuso.

- Kokuso.

- Kokuso.

- Yeah, kokuso, because I will gauge, you know, sometimes if it's something this small, I can go right ahead and use sabi because this one doesn't have much structure going on.

It's more like just rebuilding the edge.

I can do sabi.

Sometimes this is debatable.

"Oh, this is kind of big.

It's kind of not."

So, you have to decide.

In this size, for this particular size, I would say, yeah, I would use kokuso first, and then sabi over it.

So in this case, throw it in there, wait for five days, and then you can continue to next step, which is cleaning it up.

Kokuso is your leftover mugi with wood powder and hemp fiber.

- [Julian] Right.

So, this is elm.

- [Mikki] Yeah, this is elm.

- [Julian] And then this is hemp fiber.

- [Mikki] Yes.

- And so, between the wood powder and the hemp fiber, you're adding a lot of physical structural support.

- Right, so this kind of like the straw in the mud brick.

- Yeah.

- Right?

- So, what powder proportion, again, it's, like, supposed to be one to one, but then I would also go by however it feels.

- Okay.

- [Mikki] It's about, yeah, getting that consistency where you can still apply, but then- - You can always add more, but you can't take it out.

- And you also want it to be able to stand up that doesn't flop over.

So, that's kind of the consistency I would be looking at.

Hemp fiber, you would want something like this short.

- [Julian] Oh wow.

Really, really small.

- [Mikki] Depending on how much you use.

- [Julian] Yeah.

- [Mikki] Then you would mix that in.

- So, this is an incredibly slow process, Mikki.

I trust that there's no way to speed it up, that you just have to trust the process and be okay with that.

- Yeah.

I mean, people who cannot handle this speed of work, they will go reach for those epoxy type of kintsugi, right?

- Right, right.

- But for those who really enjoy this craft, it's because of the slowness, because you're in that moment.

People can talk about the whole wabi sabi, your broken life can be repaired, all those philosophy as much as they want.

But the therapeutic part could also be the slowness of this craft, the time it takes to create every little small steps.

- It sounds a lot like the practice of zen.

- Yeah, yeah, it is.

- Being fully engaged, being in complete control of your movements, your breath, your decision-making process.

- Right.

- [Julian] And being clear of distraction.

- Right, right, right.

- [Julian] And just consumed.

- Right.

You have to be in complete focus to do it.

- You spoke about, like, how the wellness industry has taken control over kintsugi and kind of distorted it.

- Yeah, they focus on only one part.

There's more to it.

Because I don't wanna say they're wrong, what they're focusing is wrong.

It's just, it's subtle here.

We don't constantly preach or talk about it.

It's just a way of life.

- All right, well, I think I've probably built up as much as I can on this pass.

So, I will give it to you.

- Perfect.

Thank you for your hard work.

- [Julian] Yeah.

(laughs) - Yeah, that looks pretty good.

Yeah, one step closer.

So, literally what I would do after this stage is sabi.

- [Julian] So, once that's cured and it's fully built up.

- Because I think what I need is kind of like the skeletal structure, right?

And before you can apply the sabi, there's sanding involved, right, removing excess if you need to.

- Right, exactly.

If certain area, this is too high, you know, I need a little room for my sabi, then I will cut it.

By sanding, because kokuso, there's no way you can get it to a fine shape because kokuso is so rough, right?

- [Julian] Right.

- But then, sabi is the top coat, top layer of fillers that will give you whatever shape you need to rebuild, you know, like the edges and stuff like, this edges are sabi.

So, this is a very soft material that you can use it to recreate a lot of the edges, the forms.

Yeah, it's more delicate.

It's easier to sand, to sculpt it back to whatever shape you like.

- [Julian] On the tool, it feels really lovely.

- Right, so that's, yeah, that's about right, I think.

Yeah.

You can try pile it to create that lip, to fill that whole lip.

- Okay.

But now, this won't be as structurally sound.

- [Mikki] Right.

- [Julian] So, it's much more fragile as a final repair.

- Right.

And it's okay to pile up more than you need for sabi.

- Because it's soft and it can be sanded back.

- [Mikki] Right.

And then, sabi shrinks.

- Oh, okay.

- A little bit.

So, you may pile up a lot, but then it kind of shrink a little so you get a little less.

And then you, oh, I need to do another round here.

- [Julian] So, I don't have to worry about perfection on the first try.

- [Mikki] So, this one is kind of like playing with cake icing.

- That's what it feels like.

Yeah.

- So you can use your palette knife to create a nicer curve.

I mean, it won't be perfect, but.

- But eventually, we've built up enough that we end up here, and then this needs to be sanded smooth.

- [Mikki] Yes.

- [Julian] And that's done with?

- In traditional craft, we use artisanal charcoal.

So, these are magnolia charcoal.

- [Julian] Oh, wow.

- That is made by hand.

- And then, after many rounds of applying and sanding and applying and sanding, you end up with a surface that is... - Once you achieve that perfect, you recreated that trim or whatever detail you like, then it's ready for the lacquer coating.

- And that's the urushi?

- That's the red or the black urushi.

- [Julian] Once the urushi color is chosen, it's strained through fine paper, either natural or synthetic, to eliminate any clumps or debris that would otherwise mar the perfect surface required to receive the gold.

Using the cat hairbrush, a layer of urushi is applied and allowed to dry until the surface is just tacky.

It is only then that the delicate gold powders can be applied.

So can I take my gloves off now?

- Yes.

Yes, yes, yes.

- Okay.

So, this is a gold that's been pulverized.

- [Mikki] Yes.

- And it comes in different karats, different colors.

Is it like gold leaf in that respect?

- [Mikki] Yes.

This is actually blue gold.

It's bluish, right?

- Yeah, it's got a much more cool undertone to it.

- Yeah, because it has silver in it.

Now you are ready to, I would suggest, practice first, right?

- Okay, that's probably a good idea.

- We have a small kebo.

Kebo is the sprinkling brush.

If you use the round powder, I would let you try this.

You can try that.

But this is not round powder, so that's why we use this tool.

- So that's why we use the brush.

We also use cotton, silk cotton, so you can also dab it.

Silk, it's more finer.

So, when you use it to dap your powder, it's not gonna create marks.

So, practice first.

We hold it with two fingers, and you slowly kind of tap.

- [Julian] Okay.

- [Mikki] And that will release the powder.

- [Julian] Gotcha.

- If you master this way of holding the brush, it preps you to use this tool.

- [Julian] Mm.

I see.

My heart is pounding right now.

And the reason we wanna dust it is to get a very fine even layer?

- Because the surface is so refined, the lacquer is so refined.

So, if you put sudden weight to it, it's disrupt.

- That makes a lot of sense.

But I can notice that the texture that I'm getting, the surface is really beautiful.

It's really even.

- Like I said, the whole craft is a really elegant and delicate craft.

There's a lot of respect for the material.

A lot of questions come in.

How can I get to that detail, get to that level of smoothness?

It's so hard to explain in an email or in an Instagram post, you know.

But then, it all depends on understanding the material, how the material behave, and using the right tools and with the right techniques.

- Okay, so speaking of the right tools, I think a pretty good technique?

- [Mikki] Yes.

You are very good.

You're natural.

- (sighs) Okay.

So, then what?

- Okay, so now you have all the excess, right?

- The excess.

Yeah.

- So, you need to remove that.

And so, it's just like sweeping from left to right to remove the excess and also even out whatever landed there.

- Okay.

It's so fine, the gold, that I can see it almost smearing.

I can see where maybe the surface of the glaze had maybe some oils on it from my hand because the gold is sticking to that.

- Yeah.

So, you are brushing in one direction.

- Oh, and I have to go- - SO, I would do, like, left, right, left, right.

- I gotcha.

Okay.

So, then after I have brushed all of the excess off, the next step is the silk.

- Yes.

So, you wanna kind of lightly tap the silk ball onto the powder a little bit, and then lightly tap it to do a final touch.

To kind of press it down a little more, but without too much weight.

It needs three, five days for the urushi to polymerize, to cure.

And then, actually there's a final, final step, because now you have all these exposed gold powder, very delicate.

You want to protect it, right, because you can easily scrape it off.

So, we would paint a very, very thin coat of the brown lacquer, because the brown lacquer is gonna cure transparent, right?

- Right, right.

And that will be waterproof.

- So that becomes a sealant.

- Okay.

Gotcha.

- [Mikki] Yeah.

- All right, so this needs to go and cure.

- Yes.

Good job.

Hey.

- [Julian] So, after that piece gets cured and the urushi polymerizes, then we would come back and do one final coat.

- Right.

To seal it.

- To seal it.

- Yeah.

- And then, this looks appreciably shinier than what I put down.

How is that done?

- There are several method and several material.

One of the most traditional way is, you know, these deer antler.

Back then, people use antler powder, grind it to a fine dust, and we use finger with oil.

- And just create a, like, a pumice.

- Yeah, yeah, a pumice.

- Yeah.

- So, that you can get this to shine.

- Wow, just with your finger.

It's that fine.

- And then, we have this, everybody love this tool.

This is fish tooth.

- A tooth.

- Sea bream.

- Sea bream.

- Yeah.

So, that's the burnishing tool that we use.

It's good to have a friend that is a sushi chef, so you get unlimited supply.

- [Julian] Then the piece is ready to go home?

- [Mikki] Yes.

Finished.

- That's beautiful.

- So, depending, then we add design to it.

The fun part is sometimes the shape of the damage kind of gives you an idea to do design.

So, for me, this one keep looking like a fish.

So, when I repair it, it wasn't a fish, but then I keep repairing it, I was like, "Wait, this looks like a koi fish."

That's what (indistinct) is about, right, painting with sprinkling gold.

- Wow.

This has been one of the singularly greatest experiences I've ever had.

I feel like I have seen so much information, gone so much deeper than I ever could have on my own.

I think it's really easy to stop at the gold and to see it as beautiful or to see it as something that embraces imperfection, like we talked about.

But to understand the entire process, to understand how and why it feels that much more special.

- Right.

Yeah, so it's a complete different layer of experience compared to just achieving this final part, 'cause a lot of people say, "I just wanna know how to polish the gold," right?

But before we even get to this part, we have to go through and understand and perfect it, this part first.

This is something that I believe in and something what my sensei inspire or taught me to do way back, you know?

I was discussing with him about kintsugi kit.

It's so easy for us to create our own.

And then, immediately it was like, "No."

My sensei said, "Don't go that way.

Don't go that route."

I was like, even as of now, you know, I would still say, "Sorry, I don't sell kits," because everybody comes to me and asks, "Can you create your own kits and sell kits?

And I was like, "No, I don't do hobby kits.

I'm sorry."

You know, we have set certain route in teaching this craft or in practicing this craft, and that's where we are.

- And I feel incredibly humbled that you've allowed me to come into your space to see this process, to teach me, to educate me, to let me try.

I've learned a lot here that I'm gonna take back to my studio, and I think that it's gonna make me a better and more sensitive conservator.

So, thank you for everything, Mikki.

- It's my pleasure.

You are a natural.

I say.

You're so good.

- Spending the day with Mikki in her workshop, I feel honored and incredibly humbled.

I also feel bonded to a craft that survived for centuries.

But I'm also aware that one day in the presence of a master can only give me a taste, but it can spark a fire, and I don't think that this is the end of my experience with Kintsuki.

(soft hopeful music) (soft hopeful music continues)