Downtown Tokyo was once home to many small glass factories. However, when machine-made glasses became the norm, handmade glassblowing shops disappeared one after another. Today, there are only two factories left that still craft blown glass in Tokyo.
As you step inside the workshop, you can feel the intense heat from the furnace that fills the center of the room. The furnace stays lit 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. About 20 artisans stand around the furnace, blowing air into glass by turn without uttering a word, demonstrating seamless teamwork. The shop has been making blown glass in this manner for decades.
The items produced in this shop have changed with the times. At the time of its founding, it produced light bulbs. The technique of blowing thin glass at equal pressure has continued for generations and today yields thinly-blown drinking glasses. The work of glass artisans is not about creating a single perfect product. They must create many objects of the same design at a uniform level of quality. Products made today and those made half a year later must be identical. The artisans learn on the job from the workmanship of their more experienced seniors, mastering the craft through daily practice. Sharpening their intuition, they challenge themselves to the limit to create products of high precision.
