What is Edo Glass?
Hand made warmth
～being only one～
"Edo Glass" refers to a glass product handmade inheriting the tradition from the Edo era.
There is a distinctive design and deepness that the craftmen can put in with the product and make it out because it is handmade.
Unlike mass-produced machinery, each one is all one point, that is, it is only one.
From "Tokyo's Crafts" to "Japanese Crafts"
Edo Glass received designation as a traditional craft item
Edo Glass received the designation of "Tokyo's traditional crafts" in 2002. Because it received designation as a traditional craft by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in 2014, it established the status as a traditional industry representative of Japan.
There are mainly three methods of making Edo Glass.
Spray blow, Mold blow, Press mold
Edo Glass is a craft that developed as an industry mainly in Tokyo by Western-style glass manufacturing technology introduced in the Tokyo-Shinagawa government-owned factory (Shinagawa Glass Mill) in the early Meiji era.
The main recipe is as follows.
- Mouth blowing……Technique to freely shape with a blowing rod
- Mold blowning……Technique to mold by blowing into a mold
- Press molding……Technique to sandwich and press and mold
Edo Kiriko and Edo Glass,
Where is the difference?
It is surprisingly few people who know the difference between "Edo Kiriko" and "Edo Glass".As a matter of fact, Edo Kiriko is a product that made Edo Glass a traditional cut pattern.
It is a traditional technique that we want to preserve both in future generations.
- Quotation below -
A facet is a technique of cutting various patterns using a gold board or a grinding stone on the surface of a glass, that is, a cut glass.
It was Kagaya Kyubei who runs a vidro shop in Daimonma Town that created Edo Kiriko.Kyubei studied at Osaka, which was a developed region of vidro's manufacturing technique, and then returned to Edo to open a vidro shop to manufacture eyeglasses, thermometers, hydrometer and so on.
The precise pattern shining with sharp techniques and glittering gets crystal glass, which is a suitable glass material for it, and it will demonstrate more real value.
Source:Tokyo's traditional crafts | Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Labor Bureau | Edo Kiriko