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シラキ工芸
Shiraki Kougei
Yame, Japan · Home
A workshop in Yame, Fukuoka Prefecture, heir to more than two hundred years of yame chōchin lanterns. The COCOLAN mini-lanterns and the Torchin portable lamp, in washi paper, are made by hand, one at a time.
Lightweight lamps, cordless in the case of Torchin, that cast a soft light and dress a room without cluttering it.
Origin
Yame, Japan
Category
Home
Key fact
200 years of Yame lanterns
Distribution
Europe
The brand
Shiraki Kougei in detail
提灯
Torchin, the Yame lantern
Yame, in Fukuoka Prefecture, has been known for more than two centuries for its traditional chōchin lanterns. It is in this same town that Shiraki Kougei created a new kind of light, Torchin: a communion between past and present, a functional, design-led lamp born of traditional materials. The way it is made remains the same; the modern form shows that tradition can be married to contemporary design.
The lanterns come in five shapes – Square, Bell, Oval, Vertical and Circle – a perfect combination of wood and washi paper, delivered in eco-friendly cardboard packaging. After a year of work, the Torchin collection is CE certified and available on the European market.
和紙づくり
Making washi paper
Washi is a traditional Japanese paper, made by hand from the fibres of kōzo, the paper mulberry. The process is long and demands strength and patience: once the inner bark has been harvested, it is steamed, peeled and softened, then beaten by hand to separate the fibres. The fibres are then mixed with the pure water of the Yame river and with neri, a natural thickener; the pulp is lifted on a bamboo screen to form thin layers.
Each sheet is shaped by the rhythmic movements of the craftsman, a Living National Treasure (Ningen Kokuhō), then pressed, dried and bleached in the sun. The result: a light, soft paper with a subtle texture and a delicate translucency.
組み立て
Assembly
Each shape begins on a frame of wire and wooden moulds, the base of the Torchin lamp. Around this structure, several layers of paper are carefully glued by hand, then brushed for a smooth feel. The whole difficulty lies in finding the right balance in the tension of the paper: too tight and it tears; too loose and it does not adhere to the mould. Humidity, among other things, plays a huge part; everything demands great precision.
Washi is a living membrane: like our skin, it breathes and filters. Let the Torchin lamps breathe gently in your room.
木の台座
The ash wood base
The solid base is the anchor of the lantern: it is turned by hand from ash wood, on a lathe. Paper and wooden body are assembled in the Shiraki Kougei workshop, at a pace close to meditation, where the craftsman gives each lamp a soul. No machine can reproduce this work: that is what makes each piece unique.
The cylindrical base is easy to carry. The balance between the light washi paper and the ash wood gives a low centre of gravity, which ensures stability. One touch is all it takes, and it follows you everywhere.
職人技とテクノロジー
A fusion of craft and technology
The metal part at the top of the lantern has a touch sensor: a simple press turns it on and lets you choose between three brightness levels. Warm light 2,700 K, around 168 lm, CRI Ra90, battery life of 4 to 36 hours depending on the intensity.
The lamp is recharged with a USB Type-C to Type-A cable; inside the wooden base, the battery is neatly housed. Charging cable and mains adapter not included. Design by TENT, 300 g.
八女の工房
The Yame workshop
Yame lanterns carry on a tradition of almost 200 years, recognised as a traditional craft by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Made in Kyushu, in the island's largest area of craft production, they embody an excellence handed down from generation to generation.
Shiraki Kougei's mission: to pass on the craft, train the artisans of tomorrow and design pieces suited to contemporary interiors without losing any of their traditional character. We were lucky enough to visit the workshop; the Japanese lantern festival is deeply rooted there, and Torchin continues this centuries-old dialogue between fire and paper, function and spirit, tradition and renewal.
In pictures
Texts and photos taken from the two Robinson newsletters (the launch and “A story of craftsmanship”, translated from the English) and from maisongodillot.com.
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