The workbench in Azusa Fukushima’s studio in rural Ibaraki, north-east of Tokyo, is her own invention, proportioned exactly so that thread can be pulled taut against her own weight. Cotton – dyed with natural Japanese indigo, persimmon, or madder – is bound around stalks of dried sorghum grass. With each stitch, the bundle finds its shape: a classic “clam”, or hamaguri-gata, which echoes a spray of sorghum. The result is an object of natural and utilitarian beauty, appreciated by a growing community of makers and buyers from east London to LA.


Azusa Fukushima large handbroom, £65, foundland.com

Kake bushou broom, $120, nalatanalata.com