|
Even a decade or so ago it would have been accurate to say that
there was more handcraft activity in Japan than in any of the
developed countries. Today, the Japanese economy is very different
than it was ten years ago, and though this claim may still be
true, how long it will hold has become a valid question.
Much more than the quantity of handcraft activity in Japan,
what is of interest and value is that Japan has been and still
remains a repository of continental Asian craft techniques,
many of which have disappeared long ago on the continent.
Also of value to the history of technology are Japanese crafts
that developed to high levels, such as the making of carbon
steel for blade tools; the production of a great variety of
fine papers, including gold-decorated papers; the development
of a wide spectrum of shaped-resist (shibori) textile
dyeing techniques, and so on. The use of superlatives in the
description of a number of these crafts is not simply bragging
or cheap PR copy, for indeed they may have been equaled, but
remain unsurpassed elsewhere.
|
Among the many different types of Japanese handcrafts are those
that formerly were important local industries protected and
promoted by the feudal lords. The crafts represented in this
site are the 198 craft industries recognized by the The
Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries,
an organization affiliated with the
government Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
These industries vary greatly in size and organization and do
not represent all the crafts or craft communities in Japan by
any means. Most of the 198 industries are structured around
a cooperative union or association (or sometimes more than one);
not all of the industries utilize handwork exclusively (there
is limited mechanization); and not all are organized in the
same manner. The towns of Wajima (Wajima
Lacquer Ware) and Mashiko (Mashiko
Ware) have many companies, artisans, and artists working
independently, making a very wide variety of things in many
styles, types, and modes--everything from inexpensive trinkets
to major art pieces. Koishiwara
Ware, in contrast, has a small number of producers, making
a "folk pottery" of set style and limited range of types.
|
 METI's
efforts to promote traditional Japanese crafts is done in the
hope that the Japanese people as well as the people of the world
do not forget the quality of handwork and keep a place in their
hearts for the unassuming and innocent products of direct human
effort as well as the products of contemporary technology. Handmade
objects are not a thing of the past, however economic factors
may increase their market price, but are our contact with something
basic and profoundly precious. In recognition of this, and to
help protect the traditions, the nonprofit Association for the
Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries was established in
1974. The Japanese Cultural Agency also has an independent program
of promoting crafts that complements the work of the Association.
|
| The few pages of this site are meant as a brief introduction
to the vast field of Japanese crafts, and, hopefully, will serve
to entertain as well as to whet viewer's interest in at least
one of the numerous crafts represented. Japanese ceramics have
received much active interest from potters and pottery students
abroad, but information about the other crafts remains sparse
in foreign languages, and they do not seem to have the same
"boxoffice" appeal as ceramics. It is hoped that this site may
help to correct this. |
|
|
