Japan's Candle & Wax Craft Culture

About this book

A festival guide gives the candle one line of atmosphere. A hobby book teaches you to pour one. Japan's Candle & Wax Craft Culture does the missing job: 200 Japanese candles, their makers, their regions and their candlelit places — warosoku built from haze wax, painted candles of Aizu, flower candles of Yonezawa, temple candles and the flames of the festival night — in one uniform format, every entry giving History & Setting, Wax, Wick & Making, Flame & Character, and Visiting, Using & Care, each entry written in full at 200+ words.

The wick that breathes through a hollow core and the flame that barely flickers. Candles painted with peonies and cranes, candles shaped like flowers that bloom as they burn, the great candles of the snow festivals, the candlelit rows of a temple approach, the maker's bench where wax is drawn onto the wick by hand, layer over layer. The regions that kept the craft — Aizu, Yonezawa, Nanao and more — and the customs of the lit room, from memorial flames to festival nights.

There are no photographs: the craft is taught in words, for the eye. Fees, hours, schedules and prices are never asserted; every entry asks you to confirm them on the official channel. Fire safety is stated plainly where it matters.

Written and created in Japan by Japanese author Aki Wakamatsu. Published by Takikawa TOKOTOKO Kids LLC, a Japanese publisher in Hokkaido, Japan. Authentic Japanese content, carefully made in Japan — not mass-produced.