Kintsugi

September 22, 2022

Sake bowl with “joint call’ repair to the rim.” Photograph by Angela Brown, Courtesy of Japan House London.

Shallow bowl with lacquer and gold repair. Photograph Courtesy of Dave Pike.

Kintsugi is a magical method of repair, but it is also a lesson for life. It teaches us to accept and embrace imperfections in ourselves, in others, and in the things that surround us in our everyday lives. It tells us not to hide and be ashamed of our flaws or the broken parts of ourselves or our lives—those damaged parts can be repaired and make us stronger. In her 2018 book Kintsugi Wellness: The Japanese Art of Nourishing Mind, Body and Spirit, Candice Kumai sums up the deep lesson of kintsugi. “It’s beautiful to think of this practice as a metaphor for your life, to see the broken, difficult or painful parts of you as radiating light, gold and beauty.”

Base of tea jar by Eiraku Tokuzen, 1853–1909. Photograph Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1925.

Stoneware tea jar, as above, by Eiraku Tokuzen with peony and plum motifs repaired with imitation gold. Photograph Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1925.

Vase repaired with lacquer and gold. Photograph Courtesy of Dave Pike.

Set of five sake bowls repaired by Myriam Greff. Photograph Courtesy of Myriam Greff, Atelier Kintsugi.

Contributing Editor Jane Pettigrew, an international tea expert who has written many books on the subject, including her newest, Jane Pettigrew’s World of Tea, is a recipient of the British Empire Medal. A former tearoom owner, she is a conference speaker, an award-winning tea educator, and currently Director of Studies at The UK Tea Academy, an online tea-training body based in the United Kingdom that reaches out to students all around the world. Although her travels take her around the globe, she resides in London.

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