Company
About Kayura
Where Japan’s craftspeople open their doors to the world.
Who we are
Kayura is where Japan’s shokunin — master artisans and craftspeople — open their doors to the world. Long out of reach in small workshops and rural towns, they have rarely had a way to reach the people who would treasure their work. Kayura closes that distance, sharing not only what they make but the stories, traditions, and devotion behind it. Kayura is operated by Artisano Inc., Tokyo.
- Platform
- Kayura
- Company
- Artisano Inc. (アーティザノ株式会社)
- Headquarters
- Tokyo, Japan
- Website
- www.kayura.jp
Our mission
To close the distance between Japan’s makers and the people who will treasure their work.
We name the maker, the region, the technique. Every object on Kayura arrives with the story of the hands that made it, so that what has lived quietly in small workshops for generations can be seen clearly — and kept alive by being used.
The name
Japan has an old word, karaku (和楽) — “to open up to one another and enjoy each other’s company.” It has been in use since at least the 16th century. That spirit is what we want between our artisans and you.
Because every piece is made by hand, no two are ever quite the same. In Japanese, that slight variation is called asobi (遊) — literally “play,” the small, living margin that machines cannot reproduce. We placed asobi in the middle of karaku and created a new word: 和遊楽 — KAYURA.
和KA
Japan, and harmony
The word for Japan itself (washoku, washi, wasou), and also to soften, to grow close, to bring different things into accord.
遊YU
Playfulness, difference, and sway
The playfulness and gentle irregularity of the handmade. It is also what makes you wonder who made this — and that curiosity is what connects people.
楽RA
Joy, and ease
Not craft behind glass, but objects used every day, giving quiet pleasure each time they are picked up.
Harmony. Playfulness. Joy. That is KAYURA.
In every piece, a maker’s life and centuries of history are still alive.
The logo
The Kayura mark is not a drawing. It is a photograph of a brooch — a piece of urushi lacquerwork made by Kazuyuki Yoshikawa, one of Japan’s most celebrated lacquer artisans, based in Takaoka, Toyama. Layer upon layer of lacquer, finished in maki-e, the technique of sprinkling gold and silver powder onto wet urushi.
We chose it because it says what we are here for. The logo is itself the work of a maker’s hands, and no two pieces he makes are ever quite the same.
- Craftsman
- Kazuyuki Yoshikawa ／ 吉川和行
- Location
- Takaoka, Toyama ／ 富山県高岡市
- Technique
- Maki-e ／ 蒔絵
- Material
- Urushi ／ 漆
The original urushi brooch by Kazuyuki Yoshikawa, on which the Kayura mark is based.
Management team
Alex Fefer
Co-Founder & CEO
Shinji Kumagai
Co-Founder & Managing Director
Get in touch
Questions about an order, a maker, or working with us — write to us and a member of the team will get back to you. Journalists will find company facts, releases, and the media kit in the Press Room.