The 34th Niijima International Glass Festival

The 34th Niijima Glass Festival was held from October 16 to 22. Please see this page for photos and videos.

Niijima Glass Art Center

Niijima is an island with a beautiful contrast of blue sea and white sand beach, 160 km south of Tokyo. There are volcanic rocks (biotite rhyolite) called Koga-seki in the unique products of the island. This pumiceous volcanic rock containing 80% quartz becomes raw material for the Niijima glass. It is a natural color glass that develops into an olive color due to the contained iron.
The Niijima Glass Art Center began in 1987 with the theme of development and education to utilize this Niijima glass as a material for tourism resources and artworks in a multi-purpose manner. The center has been organizing workshops and creating workpieces to cultivate human resources and provide opportunities for international exchange.
The Center holds the Niijima International Glass Art Festival, invites artists from abroad every year to do workshops, open demos and lectures. Many students participate not only from all over Japan but also from overseas to the festival. The festival is an annual and exciting event in the glass art world. This year, we celebrate its 32nd year.

Niijima Glass Art Museum

Niijima Glass Art Museum focuses on contemporary glass art. Our collections are mainly the works of artists who visited Niijima in the workshop. You can see some of the exhibits here.

Youtube videos

We have uploaded the video from the 2023 festival on youtube.

Social Networks

・We have uploaded past glass art festival records to youtube
・Our Facebook page is here
・Our Instagram page is here

Niijima scholarship

We're excited to announce the winners of the 34th Niijima Scholarship:

Mr. Lee Min Gul
Workshop 1 student (Selected by: Mr. William Gudenrath, Instructor
Summer 2024 Pilchuck Glass School 12-day workshop)

Ms. Minori Okuyama
Workshop 2 student (Selected by: Mr. Kentaro Yanagi, Instructor
Summer 2024 Corning Glass Studio 1 Week Workshop)

The Niijima Scholarship offers outstanding festival workshop students the chance to attend U.S. workshops for further glass training. The recipients, selected by instructors, will attend workshops in Summer 2024.

The scholarship, funded through a glass auction and partner scholarships from Pilchuck School and from Corning Glass Studio, covers tuition and accommodation except the travel expenses. The recipients are expected to give lectures during the next year's festival. To date, we've awarded the Niijima Scholarship to 83 individuals. Thanks to all who supported the auction!

Video of the Festival by B.P.G.

The Bangkok Public Glass Company made the videos of interview with Mr.CHATTAKAN VONGSIRI about his experience at the Niijima Glass Festival. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FieoSzwx6pk
The link to the first international glass festival in Thailand is here. From the Niijima Glass Art Center, Yumiko Noda and Osamu Noda were invited. We made a report site from the festival.