Our Mission

Everything begins with an idea.
At KintsugiLA, our mission is to share the powerful message behind Japanese Kintsugi culture: everything has value — nothing is wasted.

Based in Los Angeles, KintsugiLA is an immersive workshop brand founded in Anaheim, California in 2021. Through the traditional Japanese art of Kintsugi — the “art of beautiful repair” — we offer hands-on experiences that inspire reflection and transformation. Our offerings include public workshops, private sessions, corporate events, and educational programs for libraries and institutions.

Kintsugi is a time-honored Japanese technique that uses lacquer and gold powder to mend broken pottery. Rather than hiding the cracks, it highlights them — transforming damage into design, and creating new beauty from what was once broken. This philosophy extends beyond ceramics, offering a deeply human metaphor for life and healing.

At KintsugiLA, we welcome everyone — from curious beginners to experienced practitioners. Participants can explore both traditional urushi-based techniques and modern adaptations. For those looking to deepen their craft, we also offer instructor certification programs and professional repair services using food-safe materials. Together, we’ve helped hundreds rediscover the joy of bringing broken pieces back to life.

Ready to discover a new skill and a new way of seeing the world?
Join us, and let’s build a community where imperfection is celebrated and every crack tells a story.

 

Whats? Kintsugi

It is the art of repairing chipped or broken pottery with lacquer and embellishing it with gold.

In Japan, they have discovered pottery mended with lacquer from as early as the Jōmon period (14,000-300 BCE).

The "acceptance of imperfection" that is taught through Kintsugi comes from the philosophy of Cha-no-yu (traditional tea ceremony) which is seeing beauty in the once broken, and now mended, pottery.

Kintsukgi is now gaining popularity for mending and breathing life back into a well loved dish or enjoying the process and outcomes as art.

Our Team

  • TAKASHI KOBAYASHI

    Lecturer [Japan: Resident]: Takashi Kobayashi

    Born 1965 in Yamanashi Prefecture／Lives in Osaka City

    After graduating from high school, he decided to pursue a career in manufacturing and studied production design at a jewelry school in Tokyo. After working as a designer for a jewelry company, a designer for a design office, and a freelance designer, he has been involved in training as a full-time instructor at his alma mater for about 18 years. Since 2010, he has been running "BACO WORKS," where he focuses on jewelry production and also collaborates with creators in other fields, and currently works on metal nameplates, store signs, kintsugi, etc. In 2016, he established "CREA/ME". In 2019, he will start an online salon, CREA/MEETUP (CREA/ME). Co-chairman of KASIKA Co.

  • FUMIKA TANOKASHIRA

    Lecturer ［America: Resident]: FUMIKA TANOKASHIRA

    Born 1979 in Osaka / Lives and works in OC

    Studied design from high school. After working in the design department of a car manufacturer and as a technical illustrator for an agricultural equipment manufacturer, she worked in machine design at a design company, where she learned the joy of manufacturing.

    In 2014, while working at her main job, she learned about the issue of successors to Japanese cutlery culture, such as Japanese swords and knives, and launched the "Tsunagu-project" to report on and communicate with the "makers".

    She will go to the U.S. in the spring of 2020.　From 2021, She will organize "kintsugi_LA" and hold workshops of "simple kintsugi" mainly in Anaheim, California.

  • Hugo and Tomomi Hernandez