KINTSUGI AND THE ART OF

REPAIR: life is what makes us

Andrea Mantovani
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Sep 19, 2019 · 4 min read

The 400+ year old Japanese art of kintsugi (golden repair)

or kintsukuroi (golden joinery) is a pottery repair method that
honors the artifact’s unique history by emphasizing, not hiding,
the break.

According to art historians, kintsugi came about accidentally

(well, it does fit). When the 15th-century shogun Ashikaga
Yoshimasa broke his favorite tea bowl, he sent it to China for
repairs and was disappointed that it came back stapled together.
The metal pins were unsightly, so local craftsmen came up with
a solution — they filled the crack with a golden lacquer, making
the bowl more unique and valuable. This repair elevated the
fallen bowl back to its place as shogun’s favorite and prompted a
whole new art form.

An art form born from mottainai — the feeling of regret when

something is wasted — and “mushin,” the need to accept change:
the cracks are seamed with lacquer resin and powdered gold,
silver, or platinum, and often reference natural forms like
waterfalls, rivers, or landscapes. This method transforms the
artifact into something new, making it more rare, beautiful, and
storied than the original.

Why is this art also important for us

as humans?
You probably don’t expect other people to be perfect. You may in
fact appreciate when people expose their vulnerabilities, show
old wounds or admit mistakes. It’s evidence that we’re all
fallible, that we heal and grow, that we survive blows to
the ego or to our reputations or health and can live to
tell the tale. Exposing vulnerabilities, by admitting errors,
creates intimacy and trust in relationships, and fosters mutual
understanding.

Still, though we’re often relieved when others are truthful, we’re
afraid to expose ourselves. We see other people’s honesty about
their flaws as positive, but we consider admitting our own
failures much more problematic.

This happens because we understand other people’s experiences

abstractly, but see our own very concretely. We feel the things
that happen to us intimately and physically. On the other hand,
what happens to others functions more like an instructive tale,
because the pain of failure isn’t our own and the distance gives
us perspective. We all understand in theory that bad things can
happen. But we also feel really bad when they happen to us, and
condemn ourselves.

Vulnerability is courage in you but inadequacy in me: that’s

completely wrong. Like the kintsugi crafters who repaired the
shogun’s bowl with gold long ago, imperfections are gifts to
be worked with, not shames to be hidden.

Turn the ordinary into extraordinary

It’s absurd to be embarrassed about missteps and
failures in our lives because they happen to everyone,
and no experience is wasted.

Everything you do — good, beautiful, bad, ugly — can serve as a

(life) lesson, even if it’s one you would never want to repeat
again. Actually, mistakes can be the most important and
effective experiences of all. And can be shared truthfully
with those in need and that would deserve to learn that wisdom.

Things may fall apart. That’s life. But if you’re wise, you can use
every scrap, patch yourself up, and keep going. That’s the
essence of resourcefulness, resilience, persistence.
It’s mottainai. Some philosophers would argue it
actually is the meaning of life.

When we expect everything and everyone to be perfect,

including ourselves, we not only discount much of what is
beautiful, but we create a cruel world where resources are
wasted, people’s positive qualities are overlooked in favor of
their flaws, and our standards become impossibly limiting,
restrictive, and unhealthy.

The kintsugi approach instead makes the most of what

already is, highlights the beauty of what we do have,
flaws and all, rather than leaving us eternally grasping
for more, different, other, better.

In other words, the experiences you have, and the person you
already are, suffice. You may occasionally chip and break and
need repairs. And that’s fine. But reality is the best and most
abundant material on the planet, available to anyone, comes for
free, and we can all use what we already have — including our
flaws — to be even more beautiful.

After all, our cracks are what give us character. And let
us shine!