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Electronic devices continue to evolve at a rapid rate
driven by the development of ever more powerful electronic components.
Amazingly, some of this cutting edge technology was inspired by traditional
Japanese craft techniques.
Kyoto is the home of Japanese tradition.
It's also the home of the technology used to produce one of the world's most
vital electronic components.
These are ceramic capacitors.
A cellphone contains about three hundred;
the computer, six hundred;
and an LCD TV around one thousand!
Without ceramic capacitors, electronic devices simply cannot function.
Each capacitor consists of a ceramic center where the charge is stored and two
metal plates to act as conductors.
With conventional manufacturing techniques it was difficult to bond the
ceramic and metal parts securely.
That problem was solved using a technique from Kiyomizu-yaki,
a Kyoto ceramic tradition that dates back over five hundred years.
The technique involves several firings at different temperatures.
It proved to be exactly what was needed to make reliable ceramic capacitors.
Kiyomizu-yaki artisans first apply the under glaze
then fire it in the kiln at one thousand two hundred degrees celsius.
The designs are then painted on and the pieces refired at seven hundred eighty
degrees.
The lower firing temperature bonds the glaze firmly with the ceramic.
Next, gold paint is applied and the piece is fired again. This time at six hundred
degrees.
This is the best temperature for the metallic gold to bond.
This firing method was the key to manufacturing high-quality ceramic
capacitors.
The first firing hardens the ceramic section of the capacitor.
The second firing at a lower temperature
bonds the metal conductors firmly to the ceramic.
This is the technique used in Kiyomizu-yaki for the gold decoration.
What happens is that the glass components in both ceramic and metal parts
fuses together at the atomic level, creating a very strong bond.
"When we bond the metal conductors
to the fired ceramic...
we're applying the same theory as in Kiyomizu-yaki."
"We're using techniques and ways of thinking
that grew from the culture and
history of the Kyoto region and I'm pleased to see that is still relevant today."
Ceramic capacitors have been developed for many different applications.
But all of them are now made using the Kiyomizu-yaki method.
Gold leaf decoration is another craft with a long tradition behind it.
This famous tea ceremony room is entirely covered in it.
Kyoto artisans still use traditional techniques to produce gold
leaf that is as thin as one ten thousandth of a millimeter.
Today these old methods are also used to make materials for electronic components.
The components are mounted on printed circuit boards
and the circuits that connect them
are formed at extremely thin sheets of copper foil.
The copper sheets are produced using the same traditional methods used to make
gold leaf.
Everything depends on the artisan's eye and the ability to skillfully judge
thickness.
"We are confident that we can continue to use these abilities to meet
new technological challenges."
High-tech components:
essential for today's electronic devices.
Made possible by craft techniques honed over the centuries by Kyoto's
Artisans.