The Elephant in the Room: Most 'Kintsugi' Workshops in the UK Don't Teach Kintsugi

Over the last few years, kintsugi has become increasingly popular in the UK. Pottery studios, community centres, craft fairs, and private tutors now offer workshops under the name “kintsugi”, often attracting people who are curious about Japanese culture, ceramics and the idea of finding beauty in repair.

There is, however, an uncomfortable question that few people seem willing to ask:

If a workshop does not teach kintsugi, should it be called kintsugi at all?

This is not an argument against creativity, accessibility, or alternative methods of repair. Nor is it an attempt to diminish the enjoyment people derive from these workshops.

Rather, it is an argument for honesty and accurate description.

Because the reality is that most “kintsugi” workshops in the UK do not teach kintsugi.

We generally distinguish between a craft and an activity inspired by that craft. Building a flat-pack cabinet is not woodworking. Painting-by-numbers is not the same as learning to paint. Casting a concrete planter is not the same as learning ceramics.

This is not to diminish the value of these activities. They can be enjoyable, accessible and often serve as a gateway to deeper learning. For many people, they provide ideas that may later lead to a more serious exploration of the craft itself.

Yet when it comes to kintsugi, this distinction often disappears. Epoxy-based repairs are frequently presented as kintsugi, despite relying on fundamentally different materials, techniques, processes and bodies of knowledge.

What Is Kintsugi?

Kintsugi is a Japanese repair technique that developed alongside the wider tradition of urushi lacquerware.

Kintsugi uses natural urushi lacquer, derived from the sap of the lacquer tree (Toxicodendron vernicifluum).

Depending on the repair, it may also involve water, flour, clay powders, sawdust and precious metal powders such as gold or silver (Gintsugi). Repairs finished without metal powders are commonly referred to as Urushitsugi.

The process is slow.

A traditional repair typically takes several weeks or months to complete. Individual stages must cure before the next can begin. Repairs are built up gradually, refined, polished and finished over time.

Kintsugi is therefore not simply a visual style. It is a material practice with its own techniques, tools, history and philosophy.

The gold line is only the final visible result.

What Is Commonly Taught in the UK?

Most workshops marketed as kintsugi in the UK use two-part epoxy adhesives.

Broken ceramics are glued together during a single session. Mica powders, brass, or gold-coloured materials are then applied to create a decorative finish that resembles a kintsugi repair.

These workshops are often enjoyable, accessible and creative. They allow participants to complete a repair in a matter of hours rather than months, making them an appealing introduction to the idea of ceramic repair.

There is nothing inherently wrong with this.

The problem arises when these workshops are presented as kintsugi.

Because they are not.

They are epoxy-based repairs inspired by kintsugi.

The materials, techniques, curing processes, timescales, bodies of knowledge, and historical foundations are fundamentally different.

While both approaches involve the repair of broken ceramics, the similarity largely ends there. The knowledge required to work with urushi, the materials involved, the repair stages, curing methods, finishing techniques, and long-term behaviour of the repair differ substantially from those of modern adhesive repairs.

Why Does This Matter?

Some people argue that both approaches repair broken ceramics and may produce a similar visual result.

They attempt to resolve the issue by referring to “traditional kintsugi” and “modern kintsugi”.

I would argue that this framing creates more confusion than clarity.

The issue is not that one form of kintsugi is old and another is new. The issue is that they are different practices.

If a repair uses epoxy instead of urushi, follows a different process, relies on different materials, and can be completed in a few hours rather than several months, then what connects it to kintsugi is not the practice itself, but the inspiration behind it.

A similar visual result does not necessarily indicate the same practice.

If materials, methods, and processes no longer matter, then the word itself begins to lose meaning.

We would not describe assembling a flat-pack cabinet as woodworking simply because the finished object may resemble handmade furniture.

Likewise, if we substitute clay with concrete, we do not call it pottery simply because the object resembles a ceramic vessel. In the same way, if we substitute urushi with epoxy, we should not automatically assume we are discussing the same craft simply because the finished repair may look similar.

Likewise, not every repair decorated with gold should automatically be called kintsugi.

The term “kintsugi” refers to more than an appearance. It refers to a specific repair tradition, rooted in urushi lacquer and the techniques that surround it.

Some argue that kintsugi is defined primarily by its philosophy rather than its materials. However, if materials, techniques, and processes are considered irrelevant, it becomes difficult to determine where the boundaries of the practice lie. At that point, almost any visibly repaired object could potentially be described as kintsugi, regardless of how it was repaired.

This is not an argument against epoxy repair. Epoxy-based repairs can be practical, creative and enjoyable.

Modern adhesive repairs occupy an important and respected place within Western conservation and restoration traditions. They do not need to be presented as kintsugi in order to be recognised as legitimate forms of repair, nor to be valued on their own merits.

Indeed, they may even encourage people to explore urushi, lacquerware and kintsugi more deeply.

However, inspiration and equivalence are not the same thing.

There is kintsugi, and there are repairs inspired by kintsugi. Both can be appreciated for what they are, but they should not be confused with one another.

All crafts evolve. Potters may use electric kilns rather than wood-fired kilns. Woodworkers may use power tools rather than hand tools. Yet the underlying materials, processes and body of knowledge remain recognisably connected to the craft itself.

Replacing urushi with epoxy is not simply a change of tool. It is the substitution of the material system upon which the practice is built. At that point, the question is not whether the craft has evolved, but whether it has become a different practice altogether.

A More Honest Description

Fortunately, there is a simple and honest alternative already used by a few.

Rather than presenting epoxy-based repairs as kintsugi, they can be described as repairs inspired by kintsugi, or kintsugi-inspired repairs/workshops.

Such terms acknowledge the source of inspiration while remaining clear about the materials and methods involved.

Such transparency respects both participants and the craft itself.

Can Kintsugi Be Taught?

One common objection is that kintsugi can be difficult to teach.

Certainly, urushi requires specialist knowledge, controlled curing conditions, and an investment of time.

However, difficulty should not be confused with impossibility.

The real limitation is not the complexity of the craft, but the expectation that it can be compressed into a single afternoon.

People routinely attend pottery courses that run once a week for eight or ten weeks. There is no reason why a similar approach cannot be applied to kintsugi.

A structured kintsugi course spread over five, eight, or ten weeks would allow participants to develop a basic understanding of the materials, how they behave, the stages of a repair, and the practical realities of working with urushi.

This should not be mistaken for professional training.

A five-to-ten-week course can only provide an introduction to the craft. The resulting repairs would not possess the same level of refinement, durability, strength, or curing time as those carried out by an experienced practitioner working over a much longer period. Nor would such a course attempt to cover the full breadth of techniques, materials, and knowledge that underpin kintsugi as a discipline.

Yet this does not diminish its value.

Just as a beginner pottery course does not produce a master potter, a beginner kintsugi course does not produce a professional lacquer artist. Nevertheless, both can provide a meaningful foundation for further study and a genuine introduction to the craft itself.

The challenge, therefore, is not whether kintsugi can be taught. It is whether we are willing to distinguish between introducing people to a craft and selling a short creative activity inspired by it as though the two were equivalent.

Conclusion

The purpose of this article is not to argue that one approach is superior to the other.

The issue is not whether epoxy repair is valid.

The issue is whether it should be presented as something it is not.

Kintsugi and epoxy-based decorative repair are different practices, using different materials, different techniques and different timescales.

Recognising this distinction does not diminish either approach. On the contrary, it allows each to be appreciated on its own terms.

Perhaps that is the real elephant in the room:

Most “kintsugi” workshops in the UK do not teach kintsugi. They offer a short creative activity inspired by it. There is nothing wrong with that. But we should be honest enough to say so.

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