kintsugi

American  

[kin-tsoo-gee] / kɪnˈtsu gi /

noun

1. Also called kintsukuroi.  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.

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Etymology

Origin of kintsugi

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

kintsugi

Ms. Kondo illustrates mottainai through art forms that evolved from the spirit of preservation—including kintsugi, or the painstaking process of repairing broken pottery with a combination of lacquer and gold.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025

“I started to repair things,” she said — along the lines of the Japanese concept of kintsugi, in which repair creates new life.

From New York Times ● Sep. 15, 2022

The repairing of the cracked ceramic lotus, a Japanese art known as kintsugi, was a symbol of the collective effort to heal the wounds of religious bigotry.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2022

If that sounds hard to believe, look up the Japanese word kintsugi.

From Salon ● Apr. 30, 2021

The 15th century Japanese technique of kintsugi — which means “to join with gold” — uses lacquer mixed with powdered gold to repair shattered pieces of pottery.

From Washington Post