Hakuza

Hakuza

Gold leaf & gilded objects · Kanazawa, Japan

Kanazawa produces close to 100% of Japan's gold leaf, and Hakuza is one of the city's established makers. Their leaf is made by enzuke — a hand-hammering method in which gold is beaten between sheets of hand-made gampi paper until it reaches just 0.0001 mm thick, taking on a soft, light-scattering texture that machine-made leaf can't replicate. The technique is recognized by UNESCO as one of the traditional skills safeguarded as Intangible Cultural Heritage.

"I listen to what the gold leaf itself is telling me, and let that guide how it should be expressed."
— Mina Takaoka, Hakuza

Hakuza was built as a gold leaf manufacturer from the start, and still oversees everything in-house — from hammering the leaf to designing the objects it becomes part of. Only around 15 artisans in Kanazawa can still hammer enzuke leaf by hand, a rare skill that founder Mina Takaoka has spent her career bringing out of ceremony and into everyday life.