Tokyo accessory maker turns Japan’s prefectures into pieces of art to wear around your neck

http://bit.ly/2UC0sVW Casey Baseel

Beautiful silver series is a subtle way to show off your favorite part of Japan.

Japan might not look so large on a world map, but at ground level, there’s a huge amount of variety. For some, the country shines brightest in the dazzling lights of Tokyo, while others find their slice of heaven in the quiet traditions of Kyoto, the boisterous comradery of Osaka, or even farther afield in charms of the Seto Inland Sea or Yamaguchi.

So even though accessory maker Jam Home Made is based in Tokyo, they want you to have a way to keep your favorite part of Japan close to your heart, in both a figurative and literal sense.

The Nippon Map Necklace series (Nippon being one of the ways to say “Japan” in Japanese) starts with a single piece of silver, from which artisans cut a map of Japan’s four major islands, Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, as well as Okinawa, Then those pieces are further split into the country’s 47 prefectures, with each then being placed on a chain to be worn as a necklace.

▼ Because they start as a single map, the individual prefectures are to scale, with Hokkaido (left) being much bigger than Kyoto (right).

▼ Left to right: Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka

▼ Kanagawa, Nagano, and Nara

While wearing the entire map of Japan as a piece of jewelry might feel too flashy for many people, pinpointing a specific part of the country to salute makes for a subtler, more elegant effect, and seeing many of the prefectures on their own makes them look as much like avant-garde abstract art as geographic regions.

▼ Kagoshima, Oita, and Okayama

Each piece is hand-crafted, currently priced at 8,262 yen (US$74), and can be ordered through Jam Home Made’s online store here.

Source: PR Times via Japaaan
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Insert images: PR Times, Jam Home Made (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)