Artigianati.com

Finishing touches: An artisan works to finish a Satsuma kiriko glasswork to honor the bicentennial of the birth of the style's creator in Kagoshima on Wednesday. KYODO PHOTO

KAGOSHIMA (Kyodo) A group of artisans in the city of Kagoshima has been toiling away on a commemorative piece of Satsuma kiriko glassware to honor the bicentennial of its creator's birth.Shimazu Nariakira (1809-1858), the 11th lord of the Satsuma domain in present-day Kagoshima Prefecture, is credited with creating Satsuma kiriko glassware by improving glass-cutting techniques through Western science at a time when Japan had isolated itself from the world.....

Read more at - http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090815a8.html