Asakusa, Tokyo: Cut Your Own Edo Kiriko Glass with an Artisan

Most glass workshops hand you a pre-marked piece and a simple tool. Here you sit at the artisan's own wheel, in the district where Edo Kiriko has been cut since the Edo period, and work on a real piece of layered glass. What makes the craft unusual is that you cannot see the result until it happens. The colour sits in a thin layer over clear glass, and the pattern only reveals itself as you cut it away. A line cut too deep cannot be undone — which is why the artisan stays at your shoulder rather than leaving you to it. Sessions are limited to four people. You choose your own colour and pattern, and the piece you carry out is finished, usable, and cut by your own hand.