In the old days in Japan, traditional crafts would be divided into many parts and families would specialise in just one part of the process. While not quite so common now, in Suya san's case he comes from a family specialising in the design and marketing of lacquerware: he is the sixth generation since 1882 to run Kihachi Kōbō.

He finds wood-turners who share his vision and can bring his ideas to life. Satake san is a young turner who makes the Kashiwan bowls with Suya san and they both share a profound belief in letting their products speak for themselves rather than focusing on the maker and designer.