GATO MIKIO-SHOUTEN

GATO MIKIO-SHOUTEN was founded by Komakichi Gato in 1908 in the Yamanaka Kaga Onsen area in the Ishikawa Prefecture. The Ishikawa prefecture has a 450-year-long history of lacquerware products and has an ideal environment for its production. 

GATO MIKIO-SHOUTEN was originally a woodworking plant with its founder being a highly-skilled woodturner. The second generation of the Gato family started to develop lacquer skills and added them to their portfolio. By the time the third generation took over, the brand was designing high-quality lacquerware in addition to the fine-grain wood products.

Inheriting the policy of the "kijiya" (Japanese woodturners), GATO MIKIO-SHOUTEN's craftsmanship is particular about the perfection of wood grain, which is the basis of lacquerware. In the age of mass production, GATO MIKIO-SHOUTEN still works according to the traditional ways in order to preserve the artwork, craftsmanship, and local culture. The designs, however, have evolved over the generations to keep up with the times and demands. The brand ensures that its crafts are not only authentic but also suitable for contemporary use. Each skillfully crafted wood or lacquer product is an ode to the region it comes from and the traditions that birthed it.

GATO MIKIO-SHOUTEN's Karmi Tea Canisters received the Good Design Award and Prize of Smaller Enterprise Agency's Director, Germany's Design Plus Award, and won a silver medal of the world's most authoritative design award, the Designpreis Deutschland in Germany, among more than 1,500 other candidates. The name "Karmi" refers to one of the most renowned haiku poets, Matsuo Basho's haikai philosophy, "karumi (軽み)." The products express an open-hearted state of mind that we could feel in our everyday lives, without overly elaborating on knowledge and techniques. The products also represent the philosophy of beautiful design that exudes from the inside of the product.