te ao te po — a school of candle making

te ao te po is a school of candle making based in Matsumoto, Nagano.

Our aim is not simply to teach how to make candles. It is to help students understand materials, think for themselves, acquire skills, and give shape to their own expression — and to build the ability to keep doing what they love as their work.

PHILOSOPHY

1. Learning a skill expands your possibilities.

Understand materials, think for yourself, express, and make the skill your own.

2. Turning what you love into viable work.

We nurture not only the skill to make, but the ability to communicate, deliver, sell, and continue.

3. Women choosing their own life and work.

We create an environment where no one has to give up the career and craft they have built because of marriage, childbirth, raising children, or caring for family.

From learning to skill, from skill to work — and craft as one of life's choices.

te ao te po aims to be a place where learners can expand their possibilities and build work and a way of life that are truly their own.