Image: a fish sculpted from candy. Text: “These are designs that have been motifs in amezaiku since a long time ago.”

No, these sculptures aren’t glass: they’re candy sculpted into intricate shapes. Tezuka Shinri creates these edible ephemera in his shop in Asakusa, Tokyo.

At 27 years old, Shinri Tezuka may be one of the youngest people still practicing the dwindling art of amezaiku, or candy crafting, in Japan. The self-taught Japanese artist carves, sculpts and paints delicate lollipops into intricate edible sculptures. Amezaiku dates back hundreds of years, but today there are only two artists left in Tokyo. Tezuka hopes his elaborate goldfish, frog and octopus designs will inspire the next generation of candy crafters to keep the tradition alive.

Check out the video “Keeping the Japanese Art of Candy Sculpting Alive” here.