Nousaku (能作)
400 years of Takaoka casting. Pure tin tableware and interiors from Toyama.
Founded in 1916 in Takaoka, Toyama — Japan's foremost city for metal casting, with a 400-year tradition of precision bronze and copper work — Nousaku has evolved from a maker of Buddhist altar fittings into a design-led producer of pure tin (100% tin) tableware, interiors, and art pieces. Their signature KAGO series: flat tin meshwork that you bend into a basket with your own hands, held in shape by tin's natural softness. Their tin cups and sake vessels: said to mellow the flavor of cold sake through tin's ionic properties. Available in over 60 countries.
PROFILE Company & Brand Story
Nousaku's roots lie in traditional metalcasting: Buddhist altar fittings, tea ceremony tools, and flower vases — the craft that Takaoka has produced for over 400 years. Founded in 1916, the company spent decades mastering the Takaoka casting tradition before turning its attention outward, toward everyday objects and the living spaces of modern Japan and the world.
The turn came when Nousaku began making 100% pure tin tableware. While most tin products use tin-alloy mixes, Nousaku works with tin at its maximum purity — harnessing its natural softness, antibacterial properties, and the way it rounds the flavor of cold beverages. The result: products that feel unlike any other metal, with a weight and warmth that becomes more personal over time.
Their KAGO series — "kago" means basket — is the product that introduced Nousaku to the world. A flat piece of tin mesh arrives in your hands. You lift the edges, shape them into a basket, and set it on your table. The form holds because pure tin is soft enough to hold a bend. It can be a fruit bowl, a bread basket, a wine bottle holder, or a flower frog. Every user shapes their own version.
In 2017, Nousaku opened their current headquarters in Takaoka's Office Park: a factory, FACTORY SHOP, IMONO KITCHEN café, and NOUSAKU LAB casting experience space, all under one roof. Visitors can watch live casting, make their own tin sake cup, eat at a restaurant using Nousaku vessels, and shop the full lineup including factory exclusives. It has become one of Toyama's key destinations for craft tourism.
100% Pure Tin — Not an Alloy
Standard tin products use alloys. Nousaku uses 100% pure tin — maximizing the metal's natural antibacterial properties, softness, and the effect it has on the flavor of sake, beer, and cold drinks poured into it.
KAGO — Bend It Into Shape Yourself
KAGO arrives flat. You shape it into a basket by hand — pure tin holds the bend without tools or heat. Use it as a fruit bowl, a bread basket, a wine holder. Put it flat again, reshape it later. The form is yours.
Founded 1916, Takaoka — 400 Years of Cast Metal
Takaoka has been Japan's casting capital since the early Edo period. Nousaku's production carries over a century of the company's own craft history, rooted in a region where casting knowledge runs four centuries deep.
Factory + Café + Experience — Open to Visitors
The Takaoka headquarters combines a working foundry (tours available), IMONO KITCHEN café (dishes served on Nousaku vessels), NOUSAKU LAB casting workshop, and a factory store with the full catalog plus exclusives.
PRODUCTS Featured Products & Services
Nousaku KAGO Tin Basket — Pure Tin, Bendable, Made in Japan
The KAGO series: 100% pure tin mesh that you shape into a basket yourself. Arrives flat, bends without tools. Use as fruit bowl, bread basket, or wine holder. Multiple sizes and patterns available.
View DetailsNousaku Tin Sake Cup / Beer Cup — Pure Tin, Made in Japan
Pure tin sake cups and beer mugs from Nousaku. Tin's high thermal conductivity chills rapidly and is said to soften the taste of cold sake and beer. Antibacterial, no metallic taste.
View DetailsMEDIA Media, Awards & Initiatives
- Nousaku headquarters won the Good Design Award for architecture and design. KAGO and tin tableware are stocked in international select shops, museum gift shops, and design stores in over 60 countries. Featured in major Japanese travel and craft media as a Toyama craft tourism destination.