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27 October 2026

In Japan, kintsugi is the traditional art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer, often incorporating powdered gold, silver or other materials. Instead of disguising every crack, the technique makes the repair visible, turning damage into part of the object’s later history.

The result is not simply a vessel restored to its former appearance. It is an object whose past remains visible in a new form.

Kintsugi is closely associated with Japanese craftsmanship and aesthetic traditions that value imperfection, age and the passage of time. Its practice requires patience and skill; the process is not merely a decorative shortcut for joining broken pieces.

The idea has also travelled beyond workshops and ceramics. People often use kintsugi as a metaphor for recovery after personal setbacks. The comparison has limits: human suffering cannot be repaired as neatly as a bowl. Still, the image offers a thoughtful way to consider how experience can become part of a person’s story without defining the whole of it.

A repaired object may carry evidence of its breakage, yet remain useful and beautiful. Perhaps there is something worth learning from that approach: restoration need not erase history to make room for a future.

#Japan #Kintsugi #Culture #RajatChandraSarmah

Rajat Chandra Sarmah, Guwahati, Assam, India, Instagram @rajatchandrasarmah, YouTube: conversewithasmile, email rajatchandrasarmah@gmail.com