Edo Kiriko (Cut Glassware)〜Traditional Crafts of Tokyo JAPAN

History and Characteristics:
Kiriko is a form of glass cutting in which grinders and whetstones are applied to the surface of glassware, and a number of different cutting (or grinding) techniques are employed in order to manufacture products.
The originator of the traditional craft of Edo Kiriko (cut glassware) was Kagaya Kyubei, who ran a glassware store in Edo's Odenmacho (in the vicinity of modern Nihonbashi).
Kyubei is said to have learned his craft in Osaka, which at one stage was a leading center of glassware production in Japan. After completion of his apprenticeship, he returned to Edo and opened a glassware store in the city, where items such as eye glasses, thermometers and hydrometers were produced.
Edo Kiriko techniques deliver exquisite patterns that are both sparkling and lustrous when applied to suitable glassware such as "crystal glass," such techniques delivering products of great intrinsic value.
As Japan moved from the Taisho Era to the Showa Era, manufacturing evolved so quickly that "cut glass" came to be synonymous with "artistic glass," with the industry reaching its pre-war zenith around 1940.
In contemporary times, approximately 80% of Edo Kiriko manufacturing occurs in Koto and Sumida Wards.
Concerning Satsuma Kiriko (cut glassware produced in Kyushu), which is as equally loved as Edo Kiriko, it resulted from the Satsuma Domain (who ruled over modern Kagoshima Prefecture) inviting the Edo glassware manufacturer, Yotsumoto Kamejiro, to establish glassware production in the domain. This industry grew quickly as the government of Satsuma fully supported its development.