The Art of Amezaiku (The Japanese Art of Sugar Sculpture)

By Gaurav Karn

For anyone who’s used the phrase “too pretty to eat,” we've got a brand new benchmark for you: "Amezaiku", the Japanese art of sugar sculpture. In contrast to different sorts of sculpture, Amezaiku isn't fashioned by a break from a block. Artists use their hands, tweezers, and scissors to form melted rice malt (mizuame) into implausibly realistic animal shapes and styles. They solely have a number of minutes to tug, nip, and bend a small indefinite quantity of nearly 200 degree-Fahrenheit candy on a stick; to any extent further and therefore the mizuame hardens and becomes immovable. Finally, artists paint the forms with edible dye to boost the styles. The top result's a lollipop in contrast to the other.

Amezaiku is associated with ancient Japanese tradition chemical analysis back to the Heian period (794 to 1185 CE) when people would leave the hardened candy creations as temple offerings. Within the Edo period (1603 to 1868), the confection became additional standard due to travelling street vendors, who would regale passersby with candy-making, stories, and music. Songs and poems celebrated the art; but, they offered very little within the means of elaborated descriptions that allowed future generations to hold on the craft. But that hasn’t stopped dedicated artisans from filling within the gaps. At his look in Tokyo’s Asakusa district, 31-year-old Shinri Tezuka shapes realistic candy creations of cyprinid fish, koi, frogs, octopuses, and different animals that are as semitransparent as glass and nearly as fragile. He conjointly encourages amateurs to undertake their hand at the traditional craft by shaping a comparatively oversimplified rabbit after they are part of his public categories. Tezuka picked up the art quite a decade past when he was 20 years old. “At the time, it had declined to the purpose wherever there was no teaching atmosphere in any respect, and it absolutely was on the verge of extinction,” he tells Mental Floss. “There was a robust feeling that it might be a shame to let it become extinct ... It had an extended history, was terribly engaging, and had been treasured for an extended time; I felt a robust sense of duty to steer this tradition.”

Using literature, recent video footage of artisans, and repetition, Tezuka instructed himself the art of amezaiku. “The ability to manoeuvre my hands exactly is vital, however, the ability to look at associate degree object and grasp its form accurately is additionally necessary,” he says. “Many folks may be ready to produce honest work if they got a full day. however, you've got to create Amezaiku in 5 minutes. that's the toughest half.” Today, artists estimate there are solely around one hundred amezaiku practitioners all over in Japan. They’re called Takumi—skilled craftspeople who hold associate degree honoured place in Japanese society. “Although ‘candy making’ would possibly sound lofty as a profession, it's a significant art with extremely skilled artisans practising it," Japanese food historiographer and reference book author Elizabeth Andoh tells Mental Floss. “Using skill as pay attention to building a community commercially isn't distinctive to the present craft, or this community. it's fairly common practice in Japan [and has been] for millennia.” - Read new blogs every week!

Do give a like if you loved the blog.