Kagoshima: Stories in Craft from South Japan

Kagoshima: Stories in Craft from South Japan returns to the 2025 London Design Festival from 13–21 September at wagumi, Oxo Tower Wharf. This year’s edition showcases 22 makers, with a special spotlight on woodworker Shintaro Oku (KOPPA) and his live demonstrations and workshop.

Kagoshima: Stories in Craft from South Japan returns for its third edition at the 2025 London Design Festival, bringing together a compelling selection of traditional and contemporary makers from Japan’s southernmost region. The exhibition runs from 13th to 21st September at wagumi, the Japanese design store located at London’s Oxo Tower Wharf.

This year’s spotlight is on woodworker Shintaro Oku, who will travel from Kagoshima to lead wood carving demonstrations and a hands-on chopstick carving workshops from 13th to 15th September at the Oxo Gallery below the wagumi shop. Working under the KOPPA brand, Oku transforms camphor wood off-cuts into smooth, textural forms that honour the character of the material. His zero-waste approach and philosophy of living within one’s craft have earned him recognition across Japan’s contemporary craft movement.

The exhibition also features twenty one other makers whose work expresses the region’s rich cultural identity and deep connection to the place. From the shimmering, hand-cut glass of MIRIYU Kōbō to the shrine-rooted folk toys of Kōbō Miyaji, the event explores the enduring creativity of Kagoshima. Ceramicist Kaori Sasaki of Nohara-ya kiln fuses Okinawan yachimun forms with the black Satsuma tradition using local clay and volcanic ash, while Shōbu Gakuen showcases vibrant work made in inclusive studios for artists with learning disabilities.
Visitors can also explore the delicate textures of traditional handmade paper by Tsuruta Washi, and taste organically grown teas from Yamaguchi-en, a pioneering family-run farm in the Satsuma region.