In our efforts to assist in the furtherance of culture and art, we encountered Kaga Zogan.
The art of Kaga Zogan focuses on quality, not appearance. Generously using much more gold and silver than is evident from the appearance of the pieces, craftsmen make the most of their skills to ensure that the gold and silver will not peel off. Putting quality before quantity – this is a philosophy shared by Nikkiso.
We treasure what we’ve learned through our efforts to help preserve and promote Kaga Zogan and make the most of these lessons in sustained efforts to achieve higher quality.
Soukeikai Foundation
Nikkiso established the Soukeikai Foundation to preserve and develop Kaga Zogan, a traditional metal craft. This craft has been passed down from generation to generation in the Yamakawa family of Kanazawa, from which the mother of Nikkiso founder Keijiro Oto was descended.
Through the Soukeikai Foundation, we seek to increase awareness of Kaga Zogan and to promote the training of successors and wider public knowledge of the craft.
Soukei Kaikan
Soukei Kaikan is an exhibition hall located on the premises of the Kanazawa Plant. The hall showcases both Kaga zogan, the traditional Kanazawa craft, and Nikkiso’s state-of-the-art technology.
In addition to finished articles and displays illustrating the craft of Kaga Zogan, exhibits at the hall include major Nikkiso products and systems from the past to the present, as well as a corner which introduces the future prospects of the company.
The exhibition hall is open to the public and caters to everyone from art lovers to museum fans to sight-seeing tourists. We invite you to come and visit.
Origins of the name
Soukei Kaikan is named after the grandfather and great-grandfather of Nikkiso founder Keijiro Oto. “Sou” comes from the Chinese characters in “HokuSOUsai” and “SOUsai,” pseudonyms of his great-grandfather Koji Yamakawa I and grandfather Koji Yamakawa II. “Kei” comes from KEIjiro Oto.
| Location | In the Kanazawa Plant, Nikkiso Co., Ltd. 3-1, Hokuyohdai, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-0177, Japan Phone: +81-76-257-4181 |
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| Open | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Admission until 3:30 p.m.) |
| Closed | open throughout the year |
| Admission fee | Free |
Topics
Soukeikai Foundation 15th anniversary exhibition
Fascination: The beauty, majesty, and craft of Kaga Zogan
| November 24 and 25, 2008 | Tsuki-no-ma (The Room of the Moon) in Ryotei Tsubajin, a Japanese restaurant (Teramachi, Kanazawa) |
In autumn 2008, the Soukeikai Foundation held a special exhibit at Ryotei Tsubajin, a Japanese restaurant, to celebrate its 15th anniversary. The ancestor of the family who operates the restaurant was a zogan craftsman who made sword guards for the lord, the Maeda family, during the Edo period. In a space perfectly suited to showcasing the fascination of Kaga zogan, we exhibited some 20 zogan works, including works from the foundation’s collection centering on the works of Koji Yamakawa III and other works from the Edo period as well as those by young contemporary artists. Both the exhibition site and the exhibits themselves made this a special event that lavishly demonstrated the profound fascination exerted by Kaga zogan. Sponsored by: Hokkoku Shimbun Group, TVkanazawa, Hokuriku Broadcasting Co., Ltd., FM Ishikawa Broadcasting Co., Ltd., Kanazawa city, and NHK Kanazawa station |
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“Exploring the art of Kaga Zogan” (summer children’s event)
| August 9, 2008 | Soukei Kaikan |
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We organized a summer children’s event entitled “Exploring the art of Kaga Zogan” to help children in Kanazawa learn about Kaga Zogan, one of their city’s traditional crafts. The children listened to a lecture on the basics of Kaga Zogan and witnessed a demonstration of coloring, a Kaga Zogan technique. They also got some hands-on experience in simple experiments to learn how colors change in metals. For the event, we made models to illustrate Kaga Zogan’s unique technique of metal inlaying. The models provided a clear demonstration of how one metal is fitted to another metal. Some of the children demonstrated significant interest and said they intended to make Kaga Zogan the subject of their summer homework. |
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The Soukeikai Foundation opens the Tsukiura Craft Workshop
| April 8, 2008 | |
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The Soukeikai Foundation opened Tsukiura Craft Workshop, intended to support young metal craft artists. After locating an old, empty folk dwelling in Tsukiuramachi, a town neighboring Kanazawa Techno Park, where the Kanazawa Plant is located, the foundation made the renovations necessary to turn the house into a metal crafts studio. Naoki Sakai, Hiroshi Kise, and Asuka Matsukawa joined the workshop as its first students after completing their training at the Utatsuyama Craft Workshop. |
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