The town of Takaoka, at the heart of the Toyama region (on the main island of the archipelago), is famous for its metal work, or takaoka doki. It is in Shimatani Shoryu Kobo’s studio space that you will find him making orin, standing bells used during Buddhist prayer.

A fourth-generation artisan, Yoshinori Shimanti uses traditional hammer (tankin) methods based on a savoir-faire passed down through the generations since the start of the twentieth century. The process has barely changed: it begins with a brass plate patiently hammered and then cooked, before finally undergoing a tonal adjustment to avoid any tone deaf standing bells!  Three months after the initial strike of the hammer, the product is finished.

Harmonious at every level, the standing bells produced by Shimatani Shoryu Kobo’s studio put a degree of spirituality back into art.