Today, we're on a Design Hunt, to track down "unique" designs in the "historic" city of Kyoto.

For over a thousand years, Kyoto "flourished" as the capital city of Japan.

It's home to countless famous Japanese crafts and it has played a "key" role in shaping Japanese culture.

I'm personally very interested in the "fascinating" designs of young Kyoto creators.

How does Kyoto keep its traditions alive?

Let's go and explore its secrets.

Today, I'm visiting Nishijin, a neighborhood near central Kyoto.

This region has been producing textiles for over 1200 years,

and Nishijin fabric is now synonymous with beautiful "obi" kimono belts.

One "historic" business here has drawn a lot of attention both in Japan and abroad.

- Hosoo-san?
- Good to see you again!

A pleasure to see you again.

Thanks for meeting me.

- It's been a while!
- It has.

This is your showroom?

We renovated the 55-year-old head
office to make a 5-floor building.

Very chic.

Hosoo Masataka is the 12th-generation head of a Nishijin textile company that dates back to 1688.

He's also the brand's creative director, charged with leveraging "design" to "reinvigorate" traditional Nishijin fabrics.

All Nishijin textiles. How unique!

This is a clutch purse.

We adapted traditional Nishijin
fabric and techniques to make it.

Nishijin uses thick, thin, and
flat threads to create patterns.

It produces gorgeous, rich
3D textures like these.

The inside too, when you open it up!

Incredible.

Linings play a key role
in kimono culture.

We wanted to carry that
across to bags and purses.

This uses real silver.

It's pasted onto paper, cut finely
and woven into the fabric.

This must take superb skill.
It's breathtaking.

The challenge is to make our fabric
part of people's everyday lives.

Most people hear Nishijin
and think of kimono and obi.

You're changing that.

Nishijin fabric designs are based on traditional patterns,

and weavers combine different sizes and colors to build each piece.

But Hosoo is using his own ideas to shape totally new designs.

We have a room with
200 different designs.

Your fabric collection?

Yes, displayed all along this room.

Nishijin fabric is closely associated
with traditional patterns.

But you can make global patterns,
like these petals.

How lovely.

This was inspired by nature
but it's quite abstract.

This has given me a new impression
of Nishijin's potential.

Thank you.

It's my first time getting up close and personal with one of Hosoo's designs, and I'm blown away.

Hosoo shows me a piece of technology he developed alongside weavers

that he says was crucial in bringing about this transformation.

- This is it?
- Yes, our 150cm loom.

It has 9,000 vertical warp threads.

They move up and down as the
weft threads create the pattern.

Amazing.

A computer controls
each of those threads.

A single artisan handles the whole
process. Like a jockey and horse.

So you developed this 150cm loom.

It's an original design
by our firm, yes.

Because Nishijin fabric was traditionally used for "obi" belts,

the looms could only weave fabric with a maximum width of 32 centimeters.

Hosoo has increased this by a factor of "5 to 150 centimeters," opening up enormous potential for Nishijin fabric.

What inspired you to develop
this in the first place?

In December 2008, the Louvre held an
exhibition on Japanese aesthetics.

We presented an obi for it.

It was a huge hit and New York
architect Peter Marino contacted us.

He wanted us to develop a new textile
using our skills and technology.

The problem was the width.

32cm is too narrow to make textiles
for interior decor. Too many seams.

We decided we needed to build a loom.

So we built the world's first
150cm-wide Nishijin loom.

Right.

It seemed impossible.

We hit so many bumps along the way.

But after 1200 years, we made
Japan's first wide Nishijin fabric.

Chair covers, wallpaper, curtains,
high fashion, art, products.

Textiles are everywhere.
Even in cars and other vehicles.

We've gone from one wide loom
to 14, with 15 artisans.

I think this is the only way
to preserve this tradition.

To continually challenge ourselves.

This philosophy guided Hosoo to a host of new ideas.

One was a research and development project called QUASICRYSTAL.

It's a collaboration between media artists, programmers, and mathematicians.

They're using math and computer programs to create new weaving designs with totally unique structures.

Hosoo says he'll give me a look at another project he's been working on recently.

These silk pajamas were dyed with
the roots of the murasaki plant.

Dark purple was once a regal hue
restricted to the imperial family.

Unfortunately the plant itself
is on the verge of extinction.

1,000 years ago, wearing purple
was considered medicinal.

Its beauty was linked
to its medical benefits.

It was said to help wounds heal
faster, and suppress inflammation.

We're growing murasaki now.
It was said to be impossible in Kyoto.

But various experts have helped
and we had a harvest last year.

I'm looking for the future in the past
by harvesting and dyeing with it.

It's a good example of finding
something new by looking back.

Incredible. You've shown me that
tradition itself can be innovation.

Thank you, that's good to hear!

Meanwhile, I'm visiting Gojo, a neighborhood in central Kyoto.

I've heard a shop here sells traditional craft items for babies and children - perfect timing!

- Yajima-san? Hello.
- Hello!

- I'm Shaula.
- Yajima Rika, nice to meet you.

Likewise. I'm really excited to be here.

Thank you.

So many cute things!

This was actually our very first
product.

- Clothes for newborns.
- Lovely color!

Organic cotton dyed by hand
30 times, over several days.

Japan has such a long
relationship with indigo.

Back in the Edo period,
every town had an indigo dyer.

Folks took clothes to be dyed and re-dyed.

They'd have their kimonos cut down
for their children to wear.

Later they'd become diapers,
and finally cleaning rags.

This color was visible
everywhere you looked in Japan.

- Is this a ball?
- Pick it up.

It's so light!

Traditional Japanese homes with
shoji screens are vanishing.

We live in very different
environments today.

But one reason Japanese culture and history...

...has lasted until modern times
is washi paper.

Japanese paper and ink lasts, so
we have so many texts to draw on.

Washi paper has been vital in linking
Japanese people to their roots.

Right.

What inspired you to begin working
with traditional crafts like this?

I'm a Japanese person who
fell in love with Japan.

You fell in love with Japan?

Yajima grew up in the outskirts of Tokyo.

As a student she joined tea and flower-arranging clubs,

where she discovered the charm and depth of traditional Japanese culture.

She found herself hoping that children could have this experience earlier in life,

and started her company while still at university, and opened a traditional craft store in Tokyo.

Yajima had always wanted to open a branch in Kyoto,

and spent over five years looking for a traditional "machiya" house that's over a century old.

Eventually, she found a space in a 150-year-old yarn store.

But they wouldn't let her rent it right away.

I visited each month for a year.

I explained to them my motivations
for promoting traditional crafts.

And what we wanted to achieve
as a company.

I met the family and their relatives.

Finally they agreed to host us
under their roof like this.

Extraordinary. That's something you
often hear about Kyoto.

How hard it can be to open a shop
or start something new here.

That period was necessary, I think.

And thanks to that, we now have a
real relationship.

I feel as though I learned a lot
about how we connect to one another.

That's really wonderful.

Yajima has also spent a long time working closely with artisans to create her products.

One of the store's best-known items is this series of bowls.

Hold the spoon in your non-dominant hand.

I'm right-handed, so my left.

Oh, I see! It's so easy.
The lip does the work.

Yes, there's a carefully angled
lip inside the rim.

It makes it hard to spill and
it promotes wrist development.

Eventually kids can eat from any bowl.

It's such a beautiful design
that people can use for years.

These ones here are made of wood.

Yamanaka lacquerware from Ishikawa.

We've carefully chosen ceramics,
porcelain, and lacquer.

Drawing on the skills of
regional industries.

This is Kawatsura lacquerware
from Akita.

Setoyaki from Aichi,
Tsugaru-yaki from Aomori.

They all share the same shape.

We asked artisans around Japan
to follow this design.

We explained to each person how
the shape and function are vital.

But we also wanted each region
to keep its own flavor.

That's how we expanded the line.

That's incredible!

We also have a special line for
our Kyoto store.

These are our Kyo-yaki bowls.

I was drawn to this color at once.
I love yellow.

- I'm so glad!
- Such a happy color.

Kyo-yaki is unusual.

The location actually matters more
than the glaze or material.

Really?

Kyo-yaki is said to include anything
that the Imperial Family...

...and nobles had made here,
regardless of material.

So anything made here is Kyo-yaki.

There are no real rules.

So I wasn't sure where to turn
for Kyo-yaki bowls.

Yajima takes me to a Kyo-yaki studio to meet the artisan who helped her tackle this question.

- Hello.
- Hello.

How are you?
Thanks for meeting me today.

Welcome to Kyoto.

Kato Takehiro is a 35-year veteran craftsman.

His work is just astonishing! Every piece is an eye-catching work of art.

You're making one right now.

My apprentice, and daughter.

Your daughter?

- She began making these recently.
- I see. Hello.

Hello.

Sorry to disturb you.
It must take concentration!

Yes, it's pretty hard.

The lip means I have to use
a different technique.

What did you think when Yajima-san
first approached you?

I planned to refuse until I met her.

It wasn't our kind of job.

This studio creates their
own original designs and items.

So what changed your mind?

We talked for around 2 hours and by
the end, we were discussing colors.

Before you knew it,
you'd made a connection.

It's because it was Yajima-san.

Thank you, how kind!

I really do love that yellow.

How did that choice come about?

It didn't start out yellow.

What color was it?

- It was pink.
- Then we took photos.

The food didn't look good.
It has to appeal to kids, right?

Work up their appetite.

We talked about Kyo-yaki culture and
what would make baby food look good.

We went back to the drawing board
and eventually landed on that yellow.

Food looks good, and the color
is pretty on its own.

It brightens up the room as is.

It's easy to fall in love
as you make it.

And not just because we're
making them for children.

With my own work, I now think beyond
technique to see what lies past it.

I can see a mutual respect.

And how much fun you're having
making new items.

Yajima-san is devoted to truly
helping traditional crafts survive.

She has concrete ideas about how
to make that happen. It's great.

- I have nothing but respect.
- Watching it take shape.

Yajima's dedication to introducing children to the charms of traditional crafts

has touched Kyoto artisans and taken shape in the most beautiful way.

A historic hotel in Okazaki, Kyoto.

Its design features many works by local masters of traditional crafts.

I've decided to pay a visit.

Please come on through.

This is Nishijin fabric,
from Hosoo-san.

Oh, how extravagant!

Hosoo's work is like a painting.

It creates a "rich, opulent" atmosphere.

"This" piece is by wood craftsman Nakagawa Shuji.

The "stunning" design showcases the wood grain.

This tightly woven "light fixture" creates beautiful patterns on the ceiling.

It's the work of "wire mesh" artisan Tsuji Toru.

There's also bamboo decor by bamboo craft firm director Kosuga Tatsuyuki.

While "tea caddy" craftsman Yagi Takahiro made the lights which illuminate room numbers.

Potter Matsubayashi Hosai created several works for this space, all of them stunning!

All of these craftsmen are part of Kyoto-based creative unit GO ON.

They've collaborated with a range of companies to draw a spotlight to the world of traditional crafts.

One of the group's members agrees to meet with me, so I head to the nearby city of Uji.

Hello.

Hi, Matsubayashi-san.
I'm Andy, a pleasure.

- Thanks for coming out to Uji.
- Thank you for meeting with me.

Matsubayashi Hosai is the 16th-generation head of the 400-year-old "Asahi-yaki" pottery studio.

Asahi-yaki has made tea ware
here in Uji for about 400 years.

It's what we're best known for.

This dappled pattern emerges
naturally from the clay.

Our tea bowls showcase
the unique aspects of Uji clay.

This is my father's work,
and this is my grandfather's.

Both have the same dappled,
Uji pattern.

- Dappled with spots.
- That's right.

I saw this bowl at the hotel.

We launched GO ON in 2012.

After that, I started exhibiting
my work abroad.

I wasn't sure what I should make.
That's where this piece came from.

- Not traditional colors?
- They're not, no.

Matsubayashi wanted to try a new approach.

He chose a colored glaze that was rarely used at the pottery.

I spent a month in the UK in 2015.

I went to make pottery, and I was
struck by the difference in light.

Different light?

The light in Japan is quite soft.

The UK is often very overcast.

The UK is famous for that.

I felt that a lot of people chose
strong colors for items at home.

I wondered if softer Japanese hues
would fade away in that setting.

Interesting.

I wanted to make something a little
more assertive. This was it.

It's become your signature color,
wouldn't you say?

I think so.

I love the size,
and the dynamism of it.

Thank you very much.

The pale blue of Matsubayashi's work is a "harmonious" match for a traditional Japanese home.

He also showed me something that came about from a collaboration with two other GO ON members.

It was presented to the spouses of the leaders who attended the 2019 G20 summit in Osaka.

Japanese tea can be a bit
puzzling if you're new to it.

Just add the tea to the strainer,
and add hot water.

You can enjoy watching the leaves
unfurl for 90 seconds.

Enjoying the wait and the scent
is part of drinking tea.

It's a rather new approach
we wanted to suggest.

What a great collaboration.

What's the end goal for GO ON?

Is this something you've discussed?

Something we often talk about...

... is the idea of creating
a kind of craftwork society.

In opposition to an industrial one.
Of course we also need industry.

But a society of AI and industry isn't
as rich as one with craftwork ideas.

I agree.

We need to expand the movement.

Part of that is also having
interested amateurs make things.

We need more artisans.

More people who think
and feel the same way.

We want to open workshops
and schools to teach our ideas.

To prepare for the next generation
of artisans, and a larger GO ON.

That's the society we're building.

GO ON members everywhere.

That's what we're hoping for.

I think it's just like you say.

It's certainly a much richer set
of values and way of thinking.

I look forward to that future.

Kyoto has an eternal allure.

I can see a much brighter future after talking to these young creators who are shaping the flow of tradition.