Satsuma Kiriko Glass Studio
craft
薩摩切子工房
Watch artisans create Satsuma Kiriko, cut glass with a gradient color technique that was lost for 100 years and revived.
Satsuma Kiriko is a distinctive cut-glass technique developed in the 1850s by the Shimazu clan, using a layered color-to-clear gradient unique to Kagoshima. The technique was lost after the Meiji Restoration and only revived in 1985. At the Shimazu factory near Sengan-en, glassblowers demonstrate the painstaking process and the showroom sells pieces at direct prices.
Watch the cutting floor through the glass window. Each piece takes 40+ hours of hand-cutting. Sake cups start around 30,000 yen but small accessories are more affordable.
Want to visit Satsuma Kiriko Glass Studio?
Build a trip to Kagoshima