RICH MIND

RICH MIND

BUSINESS INSIDER

PART ONE

Yoshi yukata spent 20 years making a single calligraphy brush collecting and combining only the best hairs he's been making brushes since he was a teenager

and he's meticulous if even a single hair is out of place, it must be removed this level of Mastery is only achieved through a lifelong dedication to a craft

from an amateur historian in Tunisia who has spent years reconstructing an ancient purple dye made from snails to a Damascus knife bladesmith who refused to

give up after he failed the Mastery exam artisans in every corner of the world have trained to notice the little details that no one else can in Japan's Hiroshima prefecture this family-run Workshop has been making Flawless calligraphy brushes for over 90 years.

calligraphy is a respected art form in Japan and has been practiced for centuries but today there aren't many skilled brush makers left Yoshiyuki kihata is a third-generation brush maker and has been making calligraphy brushes since he was a teenager foreign Workshop in kawajiri focuses on what they call no compromise craftsmanship each brush tip is Handmade by a single artisan, but making these brushes isn't easy.

For a master calligrapher like Daiso Conoco small differences in a brush's hardness or ink retention can drastically affect the lines it can

produce a foreign the dozens of steps involved in Brush making start with selecting the hair different types of hair have a big impact on the price of a brush

Yoshiyuki specialty is one of the priciest goat hair this hair was collected 50 years ago from the chest of Yangtze River delta white goats’ hair from this specific breed of goat is classified as type 3 hair based on its size luster and elasticity it's a highly sought after hair for brush making because it's soft yet durable and retains ink well.

but today this type of hair is hard to find in large quantities and can cost thousands of dollars per kilogram selecting high quality hair is done

entirely by eye and it's one of the hardest skills for a new brush maker to learn. but this long process is just beginning once the hairs are chosen, they're boiled

and combed to remove any fluff this process separates straight long hairs which are ideal for brush making one of the most time-consuming steps is

aligning all of these hairs this delicate work is key to making a uniform brush but it's largely based on experience and instinct at all you know throughout the process brush makers patiently remove any imperfect or damaged hairs,

At this stage Yoshiyuki’s vision for a brush starts to take shape after trimming he wets the hair and combines different bundles to create a

brush that is dense and durable, then he dips the hair in finery an adhesive liquid made from seaweed to hold the hairs together. The finished brush tip is almost

unrecognizable from the Raw Hair but the precise work isn't over yet once the hair dries Yoshiyuki ties up the ends and burns each one with a hot iron binding the hairs together any mistake here could ruin a month of work finally it's assembled the brush like the brush tip each handle is custom made.

consuming process along with the materials used means these brushes can cost a hundred times more than a mass-produced brush the price varies based on the size and

type of brush a larger brush requires more hair which naturally increases the price Indo brushes often cost around thirteen hundred dollars but some brushes can cost a lot more. despite the high price these brushes are essential tools for calligraphers like Daiso he followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather and has been

practicing calligraphy for 20 years. committed to using only the highest quality materials Koso Yoshiyuki San will be the workshop's fourth generation brush maker

but like many traditional crafts the future of brush making is unclear demand for handmade brushes is in Decline some brush makers have started selling makeup brushes to bring in new customers but the main concern for Yoshiyuki and his family is the lack of raw materials enough Artisans to carry on a trade is a challenge shared by many crafts in Morocco making the liege tile mosaics relies on skilled Artisans to Chisel hundreds of tiles by hand and pass their Decades of knowledge onto the Next

Generation one of these Artisans is been making zelige tiles for 54 years Artisans turn a simple mixture of clay and water into a complex work of art while Perfection is often valued it's the imperfect qualities of the liege that make the tiles so unique artisans in Morocco have been hand making the liege tiles for centuries today, they continue this tradition in the city.

but before Artisans at Arabesque can create tiles, they first need to form the clay Fess has remained a center for zelish partly because of these rocks they're considered some of the best materials in the region for making high quality clay this Clay is believed to be more durable than some Clays found further south and

it can withstand very high temperatures once fired first an artisan tosses the Rocks into a pit in the ground called a zuba they fill the zuba with water and leave

the rocks to soften for a day then in one of many tedious stages to come an artisan needs the clay using their hands and feet to make it more malleable after the clay has fermented for a Day a different Artisan has the task of molding it into the proper shape.

The Artisan places the clay into a moldings it over with one hand so the surface is flat for every 10 kilograms of clay Artisans can make over 10 square feet or about

one meter of tiles after moulding hundreds of tiles they leave the clay to dry under the sun the next stage is vital to ensuring the tiles will remain intact the clay repeatedly also removes air bubbles if the air isn't removed the tile may break when an artisan later tries to Chisel it once each piece is perfectly Square the tiles dry again under the sun it's time for the clay to head to the kiln Precision is critical at this stage which is why just one person is trusted to leave the job glazes the tiles and then they're fired for a second time the second firing ensures the colour won't fade it also gives the liege tiles one of their most distinct features heat doesn't circulate evenly in a traditional Moroccan Kiln which is why each tile even those with the same color glaze will have a slightly different shade

but these tiles are just getting started after glazing the tiles move on to the cutting stage where Artisans trace the small shapes they'll later carve chiselling the tiles requires total concentration Artisans must carve each piece as cleanly as possible otherwise it may not fit properly into the final design how well and efficiently this is done depends on the expertise of the artisan and a tool known as the mankash It's a combination of a hammer and an ax because they're hand chiselled no chews leash tiles will look exactly the same it's the prime feature that distinguishes the liege from mass-produced tiles that are notably uniform in color shape and texture.

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