【明報專訊】Last time, I talked about the fact that by wearing eyeglasses we build new stories on our own faces for others to read. Today, many of us associate fine handcrafted eyewear with Japan's eyewear culture, aesthetics (美學) and industry, especially in the city of Sabae (鯖江市), Fukui Prefecture (福井縣). In the 1980s, craftsmen working in Sabae were the first in the world to develop the technology for producing frames with titanium (鈦), which is light but sturdy. Titanium frames are not only light and durable but also much less likely to cause metal allergies than those made of conventional materials. Soon they became the international standard. Sabae produces a remarkable 96% of the eyeglass frames produced in Japan.