Seeking a strength that she could call her own, she worked hard to find a way to offer accessories
Kyotakekago Hanakokoro Chiemi Ogura

She split an 8cm-diameter piece of bamboo vertically into two. Then again into two. Then into four. With no other tool than a hatchet, she split the bamboo into 1mm-wide sticks in less than three minutes. After giving them the same width, chamfering them, and adjusting their thickness, she produced smooth materials. She moved her hands rhythmically and steadily.
“After high school, I started studying at a traditional arts college. Back then, I couldn’t cut through bamboo with a hatchet at all. I didn’t know how much strength I should use. I injured myself many times,” Ms. Ogura of Kyotakekago Hanakokoro muttered, without stopping her hands.
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Adjusting the bamboo sticks to the same thickness.
A Child who loved nature and handicrafts
Ms. Ogura was born in Kanagawa Prefecture, and she grew up in a normal household.
You might wonder how she found her way to traditional bamboo crafts.
“I grew up surrounded by nature. I loved picking wild flowers, and pressing them. I loved making wreaths out of acorns and pines. I was fascinated by the fact that something I put my heart into making was able to last.”
Then, how did her love of those things lead her to bamboo?
“Bamboo grows fast, and it’s a plant that has adapted well to the Japanese climate. It grows readily on its own, and doesn’t need water nor fertilizer. It is amazingly vital. Moreover, I was also attracted to how environment-friendly bamboo is.”
She had a keen interest in ecological matters. And that made her decide to take the path toward traditional bamboo craft.

They didn’t sell well under her own name
Even in Kyoto, there are not many bamboo craftspeople. After learning basic techniques of traditional bamboo craft in college, only a few students managed to become apprentices to the professional artists. She and her friends opened a workshop. Needless to say, they had to also work side-jobs.
“My friend—who worked for a bamboo basket shop—gave me some work. I made flower vases, cup plates, and other tableware. I also exhibited at group shows and at department store exhibitions, but I discovered that products sold better under the name of a long-established bamboo basket store. However, under my own name, they hardly sold at all. And I felt frustrated.”
Her friends at the workshop began to travel their own path. Also, Ms. Ogura became independent in 2011. She started exploring a new path that was to be all her own.

Realizing her unique strength at the Kyoto Craftsman Studio
Inspiration turned out to be unexpectedly close to home. It came in the form of Kyoto Craftsman Studio, which opened in 2012. She was drawn to its motto A home for craftspeople who want to make creative things that are commercial, too. There were lectures on design, on how to describe their products, write business plans, and so on. But what she was most interested in, and what she held the highest expectations for, was the product development class. What kind of process is necessary to develop products? What kind of ideas should product design be based on? How about price? How do my competitors do it? She learned even more deeply what’s considered indispensable to product development; and how those things form the basics of marketing.
“Thanks to my teachers’ advice, I became aware of many things. First of all, I asked myself what my strong point is. Then, I wondered how I could make best use of it. I knew I’d be able to weave very fine products with 0.1mm or 0.05mm bamboo sticks. So how about accessories made of bamboo? I thought it could be my very own strong point; my unique strength.”
Then, in order to research the trendiest kinds of accessories, and the most popular kinds of design, she visited exhibitions, trade fairs at Big Sight, and shops with wide selections in Tokyo.
“In order to make new accessories that didn’t exist before, the more bamboo craft techniques I was able to cultivate, the more useful they were to me. Therefore, I realized keenly that improving my basic techniques is as important as having my own unique strength.”
16 years ago, if immediately after graduating from college she could have become an apprentice to a professional artist, that would have made it easier for her to reach a stable path sooner. However, there are certain things that she wouldn’t have gained without going through those difficult times all alone, and exploring her own path. Her current artwork technique is the fruit of the experiences that she went through. So, in a way, it was a good thing that she didn’t become an apprentice.


Expanding possibilities: collaborating with other craftspeople and exhibiting abroad
In a collaboration with the potter Yukiko Asano, the artists encountered difficulties in matching pottery and bamboo craft; but their finished works were unique and original. She devised designs and weaving methods that matched the flowers painted on the porcelain. She learned a lot, and felt that her horizons had expanded.
“Certainly, I paid respect to my collaborator and to her artworks, and together we discussed, over and over, how we could make our works better. We also searched for new techniques.”
In the past, she also participated in exhibitions in Paris and Portland. She also planned to exhibit in London, although those plans have been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Her bamboo craft was featured in NHK World in April 2020. Bamboo is now attracting worldwide attention as a sustainable material, and as a substitute for plastic. This kind of success will likely mean even more possibilities for Ms. Ogura’s future works.


Kyotakekago Hanakokoro Chiemi Ogura
Kyotakekago Hanakokoro Chiemi Ogura
Born in Kanagawa Prefecture. In 2004, graduated from Traditional Arts Super College of Kyoto (Majored in Bamboo Craft). In 2011 she launched her own brand Kyotakekago Hanakokoro. In 2014, in the Japan Expo held in Paris, her artworks attracted attention. Her accessories, such as bangles, rings, and finely-woven tableware, are now so popular that waiting lists are a year and a half long.
- Email:kyotakekago.hanakokoro@gmail.com
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