Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Kesapasa’s craftspeople take private orders for woodblock prints, noren curtains and Edo-moji calligraphy. For example, you might want to create your own senshafuda print with your design, an authentic noren curtain for your business or an Edo-moji calligraphy piece with your name in Japanese kanji.

Noren Curtains

We have developed a convenient design tool for you to create your own noren curtain. You can choose your desired font, color and text designation. This tool provides a good example of how your final noren curtain will look, and our noren craftsman Takumi Katayama will contact you to finalise your design.

Woodblock Prints / Edo-moji Calligraphy

If you would like to design your own woodblock print or Edo-moji calligraphy piece, please request a private order through our contact form. The associated craftspeople will contact you to create your design based on your ideas. We also have access to artists who can draw your design!

The Challenge of Handmade Products

Every item on our website is a unique creation made by skilled hands, adding a personal touch to your purchase. As a result, there might be subtle variations between the product you receive and the images displayed on our website. These differences ensure the handmade nature of our products, showcasing the craftsmanship that goes into each item. We appreciate your understanding and celebrate the individuality that comes with each handcrafted piece. We are committed to delivering a product that reflects the dedication and artistry embedded in our handmade creations.

Our associated craftspeople are all specialised in crafts originating from the Edo period (1603-1867) in Japan. They all completed an intense training period to master these crafts, as students would have done in the Edo period.

Nowadays, there are more convenient tools to print, create or dye products. However, these craftspeople still highly value the Edo period way of working, and still use the same tools from this period. For example, Nobuto Ogawa uses woodblock printing paper, tools, brushes and ink similar to the ones used 300 years ago in order to produce prints as close as possible to the originals. This also applies to our noren curtains, boro fabrics and calligraphy. Therefore, we can proudly say that all our products are made by hand in Japan. There are no machines involved in the creating process.

Our craftspeople all reside in Japan, mainly in the Tokyo Arakawa Ward, which still has a compact but strong community of craftspeople. The Arakawa Artisan Training Project is a huge factor in this development and is dedicated to keeping the traditional crafts alive.

Due to this dense community of craftspeople, all of whom followed a similar, tough training, it seemed an obvious move to join forces. Since our staff at Kesapasa have a deep understanding of what it takes to become a craftsperson, we want to highlight our craftspeople and give them a platform. They are the real stars and without them these beautiful products could not be realized.

At the time of writing, we collaborate with the following craftspeople:

Nobuto Ogawa - Woodblock prints

Takumi Katayama - Noren curtains

Yuka Mekaru - Yose-moji calligraphy

Jelle Hoeks - Indigo and boro fabrics

Sylvain - Soy wax aroma candles

Nobuto Ogawa, Founder and CEH (Chief Executive Handicraftsman)

Fascinated by watching his grandfather print woodblock prints, Nobuto pursued a career in woodblock printing himself in 2014. With a dream to continue his family woodblock printing tradition, Nobuto started his 7 year long training with his grandfather's successor. After finishing his training and witnessing the challenges of many other craftspeople around him, he came up with the idea of Kesapasa. Nobuto noticed that most craftspeople were so occupied with mastering their craft and physical work that they did not have the knowledge and time for showcasing and selling their work. The lack of English proficiency was also a roadblock for most. Besides that, Nobuto developed a real passion for traditional handmade crafts, which he thinks should be shared with the whole world to enrich our daily lives. Therefore, he founded the online traditional handicrafts platform Kesapasa in April 2022.

Nobuto manages the relationships with the craftspeople at Kesapasa, takes care of all finances and administration, continuously creates new ideas and steers the direction of the platform. Besides all that, he keeps working as a woodblock printing craftsman and teaches new craftspeople.

Jelle Hoeks, Creative Manager

Jelle's initial passion for traditional handcrafts started with his discovery of old Japanese fabrics when he was still living in The Netherlands. There are dozens of Japanese fabric types, all made with incredible attention to detail with natural ingredients through various creation processes. However, he was completely sold when he dyed with natural indigo for the first time in Japan and saw his indigo blue hands. As a result, his mission was to learn about all Japanese traditional handicrafts, and coincidentally met Nobuto in Tokyo, who was a woodblock printer and just started Kesapasa.

Jelle is in charge of the website, all creative and promotional work like photography, videography, graphic design and social media. Apart from that, Jelle collects, repairs and sells Japanese fabrics and occasionally works with natural and indigo dyes.

The staff and members of Kesapasa are proficient in Japanese, English, French, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin and Dutch. If you speak any of the aforementioned languages, please feel free to contact us in your language!