Introducing: Master Glasswork Artisan Masato Kigasawa

Step inside the workshop of master glasswork artisan Masato Kigasawa!
Glasswork, or glass cutting, is called 'kiriko' in Japanese. There are several notable schools of kiriko, for example Edo (Tokyo) and Satsuma (Kagoshima), however artisans who don't identify with either region are simply known as 'kiriko shokunin'.
We can see him draft, cut and polish an exquisite tumbler for us, although he is quite used to producing much larger and more intricate works, which takes weeks, if not months!
Here's an example of one such work: arterrace.jp/e...

[@delancyj67]

His work is beautiful but why no dust mask? Doesn't he inhale fine particles of glass?

[@HandmadeInJapan]

@@delancyj67 thanks for your comment. It was a concern I held as well, however I didn’t direct him not to wear a mask, and it felt odd questioning his practices when he’s quite clearly a master in his field. Either way I hope it doesn’t affect him