Tsuzumi Le Double Sakazuki by Yuko Ishikawa Okuhara

Tsuzumi Le Double Sakazuki by Yuko Ishikawa Okuhara is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 A' Design Award d'Argent in Ustensiles de Cuisine Competition Category.

ArgentUstensiles de Cuisine· 2023

Tsuzumi Le Double Sakazuki

by Yuko Ishikawa Okuhara

Client: Authentic Japan Shunme

A' Design Award d'Argent Winner in Ustensiles de Cuisine Category

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Colors

The Design

About Tsuzumi Le Double Sakazuki

Tsuzumi a une forme symétrique avec deux tasses à chaque extrémité, et chacune a une couleur différente. Vous pouvez utiliser Tsuzumi pour servir du saké, une sorte d'alcool fort ou des mets délicats, mais le simple fait de l'afficher comme une œuvre d'art pourrait vous satisfaire en raison de sa noblesse et de sa grâce. Il s'harmonise avec presque tout. Normalement, le makie est appliqué sur le corps ou l'intérieur du bas, mais dans le cas de Tsuzumi, il est positionné comme s'il semblait sortir de l'intérieur. C'est l'essence même de la beauté japonaise, qui est modeste mais impressionnante. L'urushi en couches, tamenuri, crée des nuances gracieuses dans la tasse.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award d'Argent

Tsuzumi Le Double Sakazuki est lauréat de l'A' Design Award d'Argent, une reconnaissance énormément prestigieuse décernée à des designs haut de gamme, superbes et impressionnants. Les lauréats Argent sont des œuvres tout à fait brillantes et extrêmement créatives qui illustrent l'expertise, le talent et la perspicacité remarquables de leurs concepteurs. Tsuzumi Le Double Sakazuki est censé être une œuvre merveilleuse, une vitrine de savoir-faire, remarquablement professionnelle et profondément innovante. Ce design lauréat de l'A' Design Award d'Argent est une invention très notable et admirée, qui sert l'art, la science, le design et la technologie et en repousse les limites. Tsuzumi Le Double Sakazuki est une création très enviée qui éveille les désirs, apporte des sentiments positifs et suscite émerveillement et étonnement.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Tsuzumi has a symmetrical shape with two cups on either end, and each has a different color with makie on it. Normally, makie is applied to the body or the inside bottom, but in the case of Tsuzumi, it is positioned as if it looks peeking out from inside. This is the very essence of Japanese beauty - modest but impressive. You can choose either cup to use according to your preference on the day. Furthermore, the body is polished by a roiro specialist to represent the true black, shikkoku. Tsuzumi can be used to serve sake or delicacies, but just displaying it as a piece of art could satisfy you due to its nobility and gracefulness. It is easy to maintain because there is no angle between faces. Such angles would easily get dirty and deterioration tends to start with those angles.
Dimensions & Packaging: Materials: Natural Wood, Diatomaceous Earth Powder, Urushi, Gold Powder
Dimensions: Width 65 mm x Depth 65 mm x Hight 100 mm
Package: Packed in a high-quality paulownia box with a piece of natural turmeric-dyed cotton cloth
Tags: wood, lacquer, nature, japan, culture, decor, tableware, elegant, beautiful, sake, shunme
Production Technology: Tsuzumi is handcrafted with totally natural materials, so it is light and has low thermal conductivity, and the curved surface is extremely smooth. Due to such characteristics, you feel pleasant to touch and use it as well as you can enjoy it as an objet d’art. Only the high-skilled turners can work on this item because the finished side, which has been finely carved, must be connected to the turning machine without being damaged. One of the cups is finished in tamenuri that enables you to enjoy not only graceful shades but also its aging with time making its color brighter. It is repairable, so it will always be with you.
Design Challenge: Tsuzumi requires highly-skilled artisans through the entire process of production. The characteristic shape and glossy tamenuri finish of Tsuzumi make it laborious for the artisans to complete each of their procedures. They must be the ones who have experiences and intuition for their arts. However, the number of artisans who have skills high enough to be involved in the traditional production process of this kind of shikki has decreased due to the shrinking market. Such shikki will disappear unless the best effort is actively made to make people understand and enjoy the splendor of such shikki. Tsuzumi is designed to play one of the roles of items in the mission.
Research: Shikki is categorized as traditional craft in Japan and part of them are protected in some ways mainly under one of the ministries of the government - METI. However, the manufacturers and artisans dealing with a certain kind of shikki - 100% from nature - have, in a sense, certain kinds of difficulties. Tools and materials needed for traditional production process tend to have poor distribution, manufacturers and artisans of that kind feel unrewarded with chemical-blended urushi also allowed to be displayed as urushi, for example, and, even in Japan, people generally don’t know true beauty of shikki partly because they don’t have opportunity to appreciate it - such shikki is light and feel pleasant to handle. Materials from nature and artisans’ skills should be in a perfect harmony to produce the beauty in the items for use. Whether in Japan or across the world, such beauty could be one of the examples that are persuasive enough to make people believe that nature, tradition, sustainability and beauty are altogether part of something we love.
In the 1900s, the number of experts and workers involved in the industry has decreased to about one-third from approx. 22,000 at its peak (Yukiharu Yasujima, 'The Decline and Development of Traditional Industries as Seen in Case Studies Focusing on Wajima Lacquerware', Koyo Shobo, 2020).
Inspiration: I believe that aesthetics of things you use as well as their quality is the crucial element for you to enjoy everyday life and that such aesthetics of shikki requires careful manufacturing with natural materials. That’s the key to the unique gloss of Tsuzumi and the way it feels. With its characteristic shape, Tsuzumi harmonizes with almost any style beyond its origin. It is repairable and sustainable, which means it will always be with you. You would know the beauty and values of shikki when you actually see and touch it. Tsuzumi could be a rising star to spread the splendor of traditional handcrafted items.
Project Duration: The project started in October 2019 in Toyama and finished in April 2021 in Ishikawa, and was exhibited at National Art Center, Tokyo, in December 2021.
Operation Flow: This design enables people to enjoy the item for a lifetime because the more urushi ages, the more transparent it becomes, and because the item is repairable by re-applying urushi or by mending with gold powder and urushi, adding another taste to the item. The item is made with totally natural materials, so it has high affinity with nature, i.e. eco-friendly.