After wood and earth, the Skills Academy in Japan turns its focus to metal, another key material in the nation’s craft traditions. As in previous editions, the Academy aims to explore this universal material through the unique prism of Japan’s culture. What is metal’s symbolic role in Japan? How has it shaped the country's history? What specific metalwork techniques have been developed there? How have the country’s artists used this material? Through a series of key events, the Skills Academy Japan aims to understand the many aspects of metal and explore them in all their diversity. Open to participants of all ages and backgrounds, the Academy offers a veritable platform for multidisciplinary and intergenerational learning.

A Book

In Japan, the Skills Academy will begin in autumn with the launch of a book, Savoir & Faire – Kizoku, Le Métal, co-published by the Foundation and Iwanami Shoten. As with the previous volumes in the collection, this book brings together translations of articles from the French edition and original contributions in Japanese. From essays to interviews and portfolios, the book’s contents explore the emblematic uses of metal in Japan, from traditional sword-making and articulated sculptures (jizai okimono) to contemporary art, by way of architecture and music. The history of the material, the consequences of its extraction for the landscape and its alchemical dimensions are all evoked in this broad and multifaceted study.

An Exhibition

Alongside this book, the public is also invited to delve into the ambivalent qualities of metal through an eponymous exhibition at Le Forum, the Foundation’s exhibition space in Tokyo. From 30 October 2025 to 31 January 2026, “Metal” brings together three artists from different backgrounds who explore this material through music, cinema and sculpture respectively. Each of these different fields of expression contributes, in its own way, to the rich imaginary surrounding metal.

Workshops 

In spring, following a call for participation, the Skills Academy Japan will propose a series of public workshops, primarily aimed at teenagers. Accompanied by experts from different professional backgrounds, the young participants will have the opportunity to undertake an interdisciplinary immersion in metal: different sessions will explore its manufacture, the use of key metalwork tools, welding and alloying, the soul of metal, and micro and macro approaches.

A Summer School and a Series of Talks

In July 2026, the programme will continue with a summer school. While participants who attended sessions in the spring will be able to put their newly acquired skills to good use, this event will welcome a broader audience still, offering a creative and educational environment in which everyone will have a chance to work with their own hands. Finally, to conclude this third edition of the Skills Academy Japan, two parallel events will put French and Japanese approaches to metalwork into perspective with one another: Paris will welcome Japanese professionals for a masterclass, while a day of roundtable discussions will take place in Tokyo.