Kanazawa’s Kinpaku: Gold from the Mountain Stream Part 3

Gold! The sparkle of it catches the eye at almost every place you visit in Kanazawa City, especially in shops at sightseeing spots such as Kenrokuen Garden, Kanazawa Castle Park, and the East Teahouse District. Flecks of gold can be found in tiny bottles attached to phone straps on rotating sales racks, floating in your pour-over coffee, and sprinkled on top of the dish you just ordered. Sheets of gold are wrapped around tea cups and chopsticks and vases. Gold seems to be inescapable. It’s easy to be a bit put off by it. After all, most of us have heard tale after tale warning us of the evils of gold, from the greed of King Midas to the anxieties of the Israealites. However, that’s not what gold means to the Japanese.
For centuries, gold foil, or kinpaku, has been reserved solely for use in temples, turning inner sanctuaries and altars into the earthly version of Heaven, for if Heaven is the realm of pure light, what material could possibly be better suited to reflect the mundane radiance of the sun or the flickering flame from manmade lanterns than gold? Behold Kyoto’s world famous Kinkakuji, or Golden Pavilion Temple, where the divine illumination of Heaven feels like it’s only a breath away.

©Keri Yazawa

Breathtaking, isn’t it? In more ways than one, as it turns out. Yes, when faced with its magnificence, one can be forgiven for forgetting to breathe (for a moment or two, of course), but breath is a vital part of the process of making gold foil.

I was able to book a gold foil making experience and not only learn but feel what it is like to handle gold foil using traditional production techniques. Kanazawa’s gold foil is thin. Super thin. How thin is super thin? One-tenth of a micron. It is so thin that transferring it from the sheets of paper it is sandwiched between for hammering and onto a leather-padded cutting board must be done while barely breathing.

You think I’m exaggerating. Remember the last time you struggled with the plastic wrap? You tore the sheet from the roll with too much gusto or a wind whipped by and suddenly the plastic was scrunched up and clinging to itself? And then, when you tried to tug it flat again, it tore? Well, gold foil that is 0.1 microns thin is no easier to handle.

©Riotaro Mochizuki

Lifting the sheet of gold with bamboo pincers alone can tear the foil, so you must start by tapping the corner of the paper with the pincers to generate just enough of a breeze to lift the corner of it from the paper. Then, when sliding one pincer under the gold, take care not to poke a hole in it along the way. Next, lift up, up, up and once it’s free, you carefully slide the leather cutting board under it.

OK, the gold foil is on the board. Angling the board so that it is parallel to your face, gently – so gently – blow. The gold is so thin at this point that your breath is the only thing that can smooth it out without tearing it. It can also be the thing that crumples the foil up, so beware of inhaling too deeply once you have the foil all nicely laid out.

Setting the pincers aside, it’s time to cut the gold foil into a lovely square. This is done not with metal or diamond edging, but with a sharpened bamboo frame. Two of its sides have been carved and sharpened to a razor’s edge. Sliding this carefully back and forth will cut the foil easily.

Cut once and then turn the cutting board and cut again. The excess foil is picked up and put aside. Now you are left with a single sheet of kinpaku for you to take home with you. (Carefully pressed between two sheets of clear plastic for you to transport home, frame, and display.)

©Keri Yazawa

To my surprise, I found that I wasn’t just taking a square of gold foil home with me. I was taking home a precious metal, yes, but also something that had been made using something equally precious: the very breath from my body. Using traditional techniques to make gold foil was a surprisingly personal and moving experience for me. A journey that I encourage you to try for yourself during your visit to Kanazawa. Truly, there is nowhere else in Japan (and perhaps the world) where you can work so intimately with something so highly valued by nearly every culture in history.

In feudal times, gold foil was meant for temple altars and, eventually, for members of the elite ruling class as well, but times changed. The feudal system ended and suddenly the country was blooming with social equality. Fast forwarding to over one hundred years later, during the boom of prosperity following Japan’s industrious recovery from the devastation of WWII, gold foil could be found in just about every Japanese household on the family’s Buddhist altar, or butsudan.

©Keri Yazawa

But what’s more, gold foil was used to cover iconic works of art in public spaces, such as the golden Pegasus at the Pont Alexander III Bridge (Paris) and the Reclining Buddha of Wat Pho (Thailand), both gilded by a manufacturer based right here in Kanazawa.

Prosperity in the gold foil industry was short-lived, however. As gold plating technology gained traction, traditional artisans retreated to Kanazawa, a place that (unlike Tokyo and Kyoto) has been allowed to modernize at its own pace and in its own way, a place where tradition still triumphs over convenience.

But now, in the Digital Era, times are changing yet again and few homeowners in Japan have the space, the funds, or the inclination to purchase elaborate religious altars. As demand falls and sales plummet, the production of gold foil is slowing. Many companies must dare to redefine their business and offer gold foil to everybody. And I do mean every body. Gold foil has been accessorized: there’s everything from tie pins to purses and wrist bangles to cosmetics. Be it pottery or soft-serve ice cream, if you can imagine it, then you can probably find it wrapped in a shimmering sheet of decadence.

Gold isn’t just for the elite anymore. Nor is it reserved for nothing less than sacred spaces. Or. Maybe it is. Maybe these days, that includes us.

©Keri Yazawa

Continue to Part 3

Visit Kanazawa’s Shiroyamatei to try local soul food: chicken jibuni with flecks of gold foil

To learn about the production process of gold foil, visit the Kanazawa Yasue Gold Leaf Museum

This article was written by Keri Yazawa

About Keri Yazawa
Keri Yazawa has been a resident of Kanazawa City since 2005 and enjoys cycling, stamp-making, and tofu!

©Keri Yazawa