Shunsuke WadaWada Chōkin Studio

Wabori chōkin

I was born into a family that has made its living by chōkin since my great-grandfather's generation, and learned wa-bori engraving from my father and grandfather. Wa-bori chōkin is a carving technique particular to Japan, in which metal is worked with chisel and hammer.

By adjusting the breadth and depth of each line, and the way the light returns from it, a countenance emerges that is at once weighty and fine. Only hand carving yields that brightness where a deeply cut channel catches the light. Laser work burns and melts the surface, so luster and relief are difficult to obtain; a piece of chōkin is far more beguiling in the hand than in a photograph.

With chisel work handed down for more than a century, and a feeling for drawing out the nature of each material, motifs such as dragons, phoenixes, and the flowers, birds, wind and moon are given both strength and grace.

What can be carved is any metal softer than the chisel itself — brass, copper, silver, steel, titanium. Since each material shines differently and cuts differently, I make a trial carving to be certain before finishing the work.

The Reach of the Technique

Upon the foundation of wabori chōkin I combine the drawing of designs with the making of prototypes from 3D data. The experience in computer graphics and film I gained at a game company lives on in the construction of volume and the rendering of light. For casting, colouring and the like, I join forces with fellow craftsmen and with specialist firms, arriving at expression beyond the reach of one pair of hands.

I keep in mind, too, the meeting of my work with many other cultures — musical instruments, knives, animation, games, professional wrestling. An encounter with a knife maker began the engraving of grips; now I engrave the blades of kitchen knives as well. There have been occasions to exhibit abroad, and visitors to Japan have taken pleasure in the work.

Working alongside creators and companies, I continue to make things visionary and singular, in which tradition and the culture of the present sound together. Even an unformed enquiry — "I should like to make something in metal" — is welcome.

The Stories in the Motifs

The making begins by turning the mind toward the world and the story held within a motif. The traditional motifs of Japan carry tales long handed down and meanings of their own. They live not only in the ornament of temples and shrines and in Buddhist fittings but in today's animation and games as well, and so have shaped a world particular to Japan.

A design begins with listening to the commission. What is to be carved, who will use it, what price it is to meet. From these I settle the placement and the mood, and draw a design that makes use of the story. Thinking as far ahead as how the piece will be held while it is cut leads to carving that is unforced, and beautiful.

Through designs that join the traditional to the present, I spin the Japanese sense of beauty forward into the future.

What We Aim For

My aim is to keep making work that moves people — honoring tradition while answering the changes of the age. Standing before a solemn temple, or the ornament of a festival in full fervor, something in me trembles: an involuntary "oh." From here I would like to venture into fields closer to present-day life as well, fashion among them.

In 2025 I founded ProjectO, a creative team dedicated to carrying Japan's decorative crafts out into the world. In an age that prizes cost-efficiency and simplicity, I want to speak for the allure of traditional ornament directly, without apology.