Kinsai Gold Craft: Create Tradition with Tsutsugaki Technique

Kinsai is a craft technique in which gold leaf, silver leaf and delicate gold powder are applied to fabrics and utensils to give them a gorgeous, elegant shine. Visitors can observe up close the rare tsutsugaki technique, which has been handed down for four generations, and experience the craftsman's skills first-hand. Tsutsudakaki is a highly difficult technique, born out of the yuzen dyeing technique of itome, in which delicate gold lines are drawn along the lines of the paste. Under the careful guidance of a craftsman, the artist applies the gold colours to the paulownia box with his or her own hands. The finished paulownia box will become a treasured memento of Kyoto's traditions.