Brighter Skies for Kyoto Umbrella Craft: Wagasa Innovator - Kotaro Nishibori

Overview

A Kyoto Prefecture umbrella maker with 160 years of history drove to the brink of bankruptcy in 2003, falling demand for traditional Wagasa paper umbrellas. Son-in-law Kotaro Nishibori left his job as a civil servant to take over the helm, with the motto "true tradition always moves with the times." Since then, lampshades and other products leveraging Wagasa making techniques have won fans at home and abroad, and brought collaborations with international designers.