kintsugi

[ kin-tsoo-gee ]

noun

1. Also called kin·tsu·ku·roi [kin-, tsoo, -koo-roi]. a traditional Japanese pottery repair technique in which lacquer mixed with precious metals, especially gold, is used to fill cracks and replace missing pieces:

   A 300-year old vase repaired with kintsugi was on display.

Word History and Origins

Origin of kintsugi¹

First recorded in 2005–10; from Japanese: literally “gold repair, gold joinery”

Example Sentences

Visitors can also participate in kintsugi workshops, learning how to repair chipped, cracked and broken ceramic and porcelain tableware using 100% natural materials including urushi lacquer and 24K gold powder.

From Los Angeles Times

Other Lives makes meaning out of old, cast-off clothes, drawing on the practices and philosophies of Japanese creative techniques like suminagashi dyeing, sachiko embroidery and kintsugi ceramics mending to see the redeeming spirit in an item, to repair the unrepairable.

From Los Angeles Times

“Kintsugi” is not necessarily an indictment of L.A. — it’s an indictment of the entertainment industry that I’d found myself rubbing up against.

From Los Angeles Times

You sing about L.A. in a pretty negative way on Death Cab’s “Kintsugi,” which followed your divorce.

From Los Angeles Times

Other Lives makes meaning out of old, cast-off clothes, drawing on the practices and philosophies of Japanese creative techniques like suminagashi dyeing, sachiko embroidery and kintsugi ceramics mending to see the redeeming spirit in an item, to repair the unrepairable.

From Los Angeles Times