It was a rainy autumn day in Tokyo, as my companions and I shuffled out of the Toei Chikatetsu metro line at Asakusa Station. Emerging onto the street level, we quickly opened and raised our large, red paper umbrellas, on loan from our escorts, and made our way down a few alleys to the Ohshimaya Onda Chochin Lantern Shop.
Here, we were greeted with bows by Mr. Shunji Onda himself, a fifth generation master of the Japanese paper lantern.
Mr. Onda’s business was founded 160 years ago by his great-
