Tsubame–Sanjo, Niigata — Japan's metalworking district
Made on the workshop floor. Shipped to your door.
TsubameSanjo Stories connects independent workshops in one of Japan's most famous craft towns with buyers abroad — custom orders placed directly with the people who make them, and visits to the workshops themselves.
Track record
What I can arrange
Two ways in.
Neither requires you to speak Japanese or already know which workshop you want — that part's mine to handle.
A sample of what's come out of Tsubame-Sanjo workshops so far — more on request
Custom Orders
A piece commissioned directly from a Tsubame-Sanjo workshop, made for you.
- Hammered copperware — cups, tumblers, kettles, milk pans, decorative boxes (tsuiki-dōki)
- Hand-painted kites, sized to display as wall art — with your name, a company name, or a logo
- Spun-metal (hera-shibori) pieces — lacquer, engraving, or your own logo or mark
Most pieces are one of a kind, made in small runs by hand — roughly 2–3 months for copperware, often faster for existing kite designs.
Ask about a custom orderOpen Factory Visits
Coming to Japan? Visit a working Tsubame-Sanjo workshop in person.
- Introduction to a workshop that fits what you're interested in
- On-site visit, arranged around the maker's schedule
- Order in person if you'd like — same process either way
Availability depends on the workshop's production schedule — the earlier you ask, the more options there are.
Ask about a visitHow it works
Five steps, one thread the whole way.
Message
For a custom order: tell me what you'd like to order and how many. Not sure yet? Describe the piece you have in mind and I'll put options together.
For a factory visit: let me know if you want a visit only or a hands-on session where you make something too, roughly what dates you're thinking of visiting, and what kind of workshop or artisan you'd like to see. Not sure? Just say "what's possible."
Quote & timeline
I check with the workshop directly and come back with real pricing and an honest timeline — not a placeholder.
Confirm & pay
You approve the details. For a custom order, payment is by bank transfer, and the order goes in with the artisan once payment clears. For a factory visit, this step just locks in the date — no payment needed unless it's a hands-on session.
Made by hand
Your piece is crafted. For longer builds, you get progress updates along the way — not silence until it ships.
Shipped
Packed and sent from Tsubame-Sanjo to your door, wherever that is.
The pieces themselves
No stock photos. Nothing rendered.
Everything on this page is something I've actually filmed or photographed — copper annealed over an open flame, a kettle heated over a charcoal brazier, cups finished by hand. If you order, this is the standard of work you're commissioning.
- Video content, too — the Instagram account behind this page runs short, unscripted workshop interviews
- No script — artisans describe their own work, in their own words, subtitled in Japanese and English
- No stock footage — every clip and photo is from a workshop or piece I've visited in person
Who's behind this
A reporter's approach to a trading business.
I'm Chiharu — born and raised in Tsubame-Sanjo, the town in Niigata where Japan's kitchen knives, copperware, and hand tools are still made close to the way they've always been made. After a few years in Tokyo media and a year working across Australia, I came home and started filming the workshops directly: the sound of a hammer on copper, the artisans speaking for themselves, nothing narrated over it.
That footage is TsubameSanjo Stories. What I'm building now is the part after the video ends — a straightforward way for someone who sees a piece and wants it to actually get it, made to order, from the workshop that made it.
- Based inTsubame-Sanjo, Niigata, Japan
- Ships toWorldwide, order by order
- Works withIndependent workshops across the Tsubame-Sanjo region
- ContentShort, unscripted artisan interviews — JP/EN subtitles, on-site audio only
- Track recordDirect introductions behind product listings in 5 Australian cities to date
Get in touch
Have something specific in mind?
Send a message and tell me what you're after — a piece, a maker, or just a question about how this works.