Water, Wood and Wild Things : Learning Craft and Cultivation in a Japanese Mountain Town

Taking readers deep into evergreen forests, terraced rice fields, and smoke-filled workshops, this book captures the centuries-old traditions still alive in Yamanaka, a misty Japanese mountain village. When food writer Hannah Kirshner received an invitation to apprentice with a 'sake evangelist,' she discovered a community of craftspeople, farmers, and foragers dedicated to their ancient practices.

Water, Wood, and Wild Things invites readers to see what goes into making a fine bowl, a cup of tea, or a harvest of rice, and introduces the masters who dedicate their lives to this work. Full of the author's own beautiful drawings and local recipes, the book offers an intimate glimpse into the daily rhythms of traditional Japanese craft and cultivation.

Part travelogue, part meditation on the meaning of work, this is an ode to a place and its people, as well as a profound examination of what it means to sustain traditions and find purpose in craft.