Inspired by the Land of the Rising Sun

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CRAFT MICHAEL YATES

CRAFT MICHAEL YATES

the sacredness of the process and attention to detail resonated with me in a way that nothing had before.”

The Japanese-influnced Furniture of Woodworker Michael Yates

INSPIRED BY THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN

W ORDS : A D R I E NNE B R E A U X PHO T O GRAPH Y : C . r Y A N

During his first few weeks living in Japan, Austin furniture designer Michael Yates spent a lot of time laughing. The cultural differences between laidback Central Texas and the traditional Japanese city of Kyoto are vast, and for the then Texas A&M electrical engineering student, nearly everything was an adventure. Luckily for Austinites, Yates took more from his trip to Japan than just memories. He found among Kyoto’s dense architecture and ancient temples the inspiration for his unique, Japanese-inspired custom furniture that he designs and builds here in Austin.

Kyoto It was the summer of 2000, and Michael Yates found himself on a Texas A&M study abroad trip for the company Suncall in Kyoto. He was the only non-Japanese worker at the firm. Armed with some Japanese language courses and his own adventurous spirit, nothing could quite prepare him for living and working among his Japanese engineering counterparts day *ITAL and night (all the young men from the company stayed together in one dormitory). There were the exercises every morning with his fellow work mates set in a beautiful courtyard led by loud music pouring out of a speaker. Then there was the memorable time when his coworkers took him out to eat, and he ended up face to face with a still breathing fish head. Along with all the cultural adventures, it was in Japan that Yates also came face to face with stunning beauty. He took trips every weekend to ancient temples in and around Kyoto, which can either be squished next to McDonald’s or set in idyllic sceneries on the outskirts of town. Some temples are tall, one is covered in gold leaf and one is even a castle (complete with a moat). But what all the temples have in common, whether they are pinched

MAY / JUNE

2008

ODIC FORCE

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Inspired by the Land of the Rising Sun by adrienne breaux - Issuu