Katsuyama Bamboo Basketry Working with splendid "madake" bamboo Farming families in Japan have always used bamboo baskets of all shapes and sizes for different tasks. Over the years Katsuyama craftsmen have turned this functional craft into a splendid art. Atmospheric old street in Katsuyama Katsuyama's long association with bamboo Katsuyama is a quiet town about two hours from Okayama City in the north of Okayama Prefecture. No records remain as to who first devised the techniques for the craft that have been passed down to today, but basketry is known to have persisted here for at least 160-170 years. It is recorded that Katsuyama's main industry by the end of the Edo period (1600-1868) was bamboo craft. Products for every aspect of life Four types of Katsuyama baskets are officially designated as "Traditional Japanese Crafts," all of them used in daily farming life for the carrying of grains, vegetables, or soil and sand. In addition to these four, local craftsmen make fan-shaped baskets, loach-catchers, fish traps and fishing creels, wastepaper baskets, bread baskets, fruit and vegetable baskets and, of course, bamboo flower containers for the tea ceremony. Each is designed in keeping with the age. Katsuyama's bamboo baskets are widely distributed in the five prefectures of Chugoku, central Japan, where the products are well known for their usefulness and durability. Finished Katsuyama bamboo baskets Bamboo grew well There is a bamboo grove right behind the workshop. Thick trunks reach to the sky. The bamboo is cut after three to five years when the trunks have developed optimal flexibility and sheen. The quality of basketry obviously depends to a large extent on the quality of the bamboo itself. Madake (common Japanese bamboo -- Phyllostachys bambusoides) is the bamboo of choice in Katsuyama, not only because of its flexibility and sheen, but also because there is a good distance between joints, it has a thick base, and very straight trunks. Conditions in Katsuyama are ideal for cultivating high quality madake bamboo. But the craftsmen must cut it at the right time -- in November or December -- or risk poor quality and insect damage. The cut bamboo is seasoned in the shade where there is good air circulation and used throughout the year. They have a saying in Katsuyama: "Choose good bamboo and cut it when the time is right." Home-made measuring sticks and madake trunks Bamboo grove behind the workshop When bamboo meets a skilled hand The wonderful fragrance of freshly cut bamboo greets you as you enter the workshop of Mr Buju Kawamoto, a bamboo craftsman of 50 years. Both Mr Kawamoto's father and grandfather were bamboo craftsmen, so it was only natural that he also enter the trade. He thinks it takes five years to be able to do the basics well and another five to make products "that no one would be ashamed of." Mr Kawamoto's hands are surprisingly big and rough, making me wonder how he could manipulate the delicate strips of bamboo to make such finely worked craft. But these are experienced hands, indeed. "I am happiest when I am making things that I like," confessed Mr Kawamoto. "And it is even more special when I find someone far away who is enjoying my baskets." As he tells me this, the stern face of the craftsman breaks out into a broad smile. "The hardest part of the job," he tells me, "is washing the bamboo in the river in winter: It's so cold it hurts and your hands can even get cut by the cold!" But any hardship is offset by the sheer satisfaction of seeing a job well done. Looking at the elegant lines of Mr Kawamoto's baskets I could tell that bamboo is like putty in his hands. And feeling the strength and flexibility of his baskets it was obvious that he never compromises on sturdiness or quality. Katsuyama bamboo ware seemed to me to be the perfect meeting between a superb bamboo and a skilled hand. Mr Kawamoto has an amazingly sure and swift hand. The patina of age Mr Kawamoto uses four different types of knives and axes for splitting the bamboo. His measuring is all done with a bamboo measuring stick of his own making. This made me realize that Katsuyama baskets have been passed down using the craftsman's intuition without reliance on regular scales and measures. Newly cut green bamboo products have a special fragrance, but aged bamboo, which turns brown, has its own special beauty because it develops a beautiful sheen with use. It seems the longer you live with a bamboo product and use it, the more attached you become to its growing beauty. The best sheen comes from the best bamboo combined with the skill of an experienced craftsman to which is added the tender care of the owner. Profile Buju Kawamoto A veteran of 50 years in the trade. Manager in charge of sales for the Katsuyama Basketry Association.