Mr Isogai Tsuyoshi is a certified Traditional Craftsman and representative of Bekko Isogai , a Tokyo-based family workshop producing tortoiseshell crafts, whose roots trace back to the late-Edo-period. He trained under his father, master craftsman Isogai Minoru, and today continues the family tradition together with his two brothers, Katsumi and Daisuke, each contributing their own skills to the workshop.

While preserving the meticulous techniques and knowledge of Edo Bekko passed down through generations, Mr Isogai also explores new possibilities for the craft. Through contemporary designs, everyday objects and collaborations with other materials and creators, he continues to develop new expressions for Bekko while carrying forward its traditional craftsmanship.

Mr Kimura Totosai is a Bizen ceramic artist and certified Traditional Craftsman from Tokeido in Okayama, one of the historic Six Families of Bizen ware. As the 25th-generation master of this long-established pottery family, Kimura carries forward a lineage of Bizen craftsmanship that has been passed down through his family for centuries.

Bizen ware, one of Japan’s Six Ancient Kilns, is traditionally created without glaze, allowing the interaction of clay, fire and ash during wood firing to produce distinctive colours and textures. Working within this long tradition, Kimura continues to explore the relationship between the maker, the natural qualities of the clay and the unpredictable nature of fire, creating works rooted in tradition while expressing his own sensibility.

Mr Isogai Tsuyoshi is a certified Traditional Craftsman and representative of Bekko Isogai , a Tokyo-based family workshop producing tortoiseshell crafts, whose roots trace back to the late-Edo-period. He trained under his father, master craftsman Isogai Minoru, and today continues the family tradition together with his two brothers, Katsumi and Daisuke, each contributing their own skills to the workshop.

While preserving the meticulous techniques and knowledge of Edo Bekko passed down through generations, Mr Isogai also explores new possibilities for the craft. Through contemporary designs, everyday objects and collaborations with other materials and creators, he continues to develop new expressions for Bekko while carrying forward its traditional craftsmanship.

Mr Kenry Peh is the fourth-generation owner and tea master of Pek Sin Choon, one of Singapore’s oldest Chinese tea merchants, established in 1925. Mr Peh joined the family business in the 1990s and trained for several years, learning different aspects of the trade before eventually taking the helm of the company.

Today, he continues the traditional methods of tea blending and roasting passed down through generations while promoting Singapore’s distinctive Nanyang tea heritage. He also shares his knowledge through talks, workshops and cultural activities, helping to foster a wider appreciation of tea culture and its long-standing relationship with Singapore’s Bak Kut Teh tradition.

Professor Fushiki Kaori is a professor at Taisho University, specialising in ethnomusicology and cultural anthropology. Her research focuses primarily on Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, exploring music, dance, theatre and other performing arts in relation to society, religion and cultural practice.

Through extensive research and fieldwork, she has examined how performing traditions are practised, sustained and transmitted within communities. Her research also considers the acquisition and transmission of skills and embodied knowledge, bringing a valuable perspective to the dialogue between Japanese craftspeople and Singaporean cultural practitioners.