Japanese craft
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Traditional crafts (工芸, kōgei, lit. 'engineered art') in Japan have a long tradition and history. Included in the category of traditional crafts are handicrafts produced by an individual or a group, as well as work produced by independent studio artists working with traditional craft materials and/or processes.
History
Japanese craft dates back since humans settled on its islands. Handicrafting has its roots in the rural crafts – the material-goods necessities – of ancient times. Handicrafters used naturally- and indigenously occurring materials. Traditionally, objects were created to be used and not just to be displayed and thus, the border between craft and art was not always very clear.[citation needed] Crafts were needed by all strata of society and became increasingly sophisticated in their design and execution. Craft had close ties to folk art, but developed into fine art, with a number of aesthetic schools of thought, such as wabi-sabi, arising. Craftsmen and women therefore became artisans with increasing sophistication.[citation needed] However, wares were not just produced for domestic consumption, but at some point items such as ceramics made by studio craft were produced for export and became an important pillar of the economy.[citation needed]
Family affiliations or
With the end of the
Although these objects were designated as National Treasures – placing them under the protection of the imperial government – it took some time for their cultural value to be fully recognized. In order to further protect traditional craft and arts, the government, in 1890, instituted the guild of Imperial Household Artists (帝室技芸員, Teishitsu Gigei-in), who were specially appointed to create works of art for the Tokyo Imperial Palace and other imperial residences. These artists were considered most famous and prestigious and worked in the areas such as painting, ceramics, and lacquerware. Although this system of patronage offered them some kind of protection, craftsmen and women on the folk art level were left exposed. One reaction to this development was the mingei (民芸, "folk arts" or "arts of the people") – the folk art movement that developed in the late 1920s and 1930s, whose founding father was Yanagi Sōetsu (1889–1961). The philosophical pillar of mingei was "hand-crafted art of ordinary people" (民衆的な工芸, minshū-teki-na kōgei). Yanagi Sōetsu discovered beauty in everyday ordinary and utilitarian objects created by nameless and unknown craftspersons.
The Second World War left the country devastated and as a result, craft suffered. The government introduced a new program known as Living National Treasure to recognise and protect craftspeople (individually and as groups) on the fine and folk art level. Inclusion in the list came with financial support for the training of new generations of artisans so that the art forms could continue. In 1950, the national government instituted the intangible cultural properties categorization, which is given to cultural property considered of high historical or artistic value in terms of the craft technique. The term refers exclusively to the human skill possessed by individuals or groups, which are indispensable in producing cultural property. It also took further steps: in 2009, for example, the government inscribed yūki-tsumugi into the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists. Prefectural governments, as well as those on the municipal level, also have their own system of recognising and protecting local craft (meibutsu). Although the government has taken these steps, private sector artisans continue to face challenges trying to stay true to tradition whilst at the same time interpreting old forms and creating new ideas in order to survive and remain relevant to customers. They also face the dilemma of an ageing society wherein knowledge is not passed down to enough pupils of the younger generation, which means dentō teacher-pupil relationships within families break down if a successor is not found.[1] As societal rules changed and became more relaxed, the traditional patriarchal system has been forced to undergo changes as well. In the past, males were predominantly the holders of "master" titles in the most prestigious crafts. Ceramist Tokuda Yasokichi IV was the first female to succeed her father as a master, since he did not have any sons and was unwilling to adopt a male heir. Despite modernisation and westernisation, a number of art forms still exist, partly due to their close connection to certain traditions: examples include the Japanese tea ceremony, ikebana, and to a certain degree, martial arts (in the case of swordmaking).
The Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition (日本伝統工芸展) takes place every year with the aim of reaching out to the public.[2] In 2015, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York exhibited a number of modern kōgei artists in an effort to introduce Japanese craft to an international audience.[3][4]
Ceramics
Some of the recognised techniques of Japanese ceramic craft are:
- Iro-e (色絵, colour painting)
- Neriage(練上げ, using different colours of clay together)
- Sansai (三彩, three colours of brown, green, and a creamy off-white)
- Saiyū (彩釉, glaze technique with dripping effect)
- Seihakuji(青白磁, a form of blue-white hakuji porcelain)
- Sometsuke (染付, blue and white pottery)
- Tetsu-e (鉄絵, (also known as Tetsugusuri), iron glazing)
- Yūri-kinsai (釉裏金彩, metal-leaf application)
- Zōgan (象嵌, damascening and champlevé)
There are many different types of Japanese ware. Those more identified as being close to the craft movement include:
- Bizen ware (備前焼), from Imbe in Bizen province
- Hagi ware (萩焼), from Hagi, Yamaguchi prefecture
- Hasami ware (波佐見焼), from Hasami, Nagasaki prefecture
- Kakiemon (柿右衛門), porcelain developed by Sakaida Kakiemon in Arita, Saga prefecture
- Karatsu ware (唐津焼), from Karatsu, Saga prefecture
- Kutani ware (九谷焼), from Kutani, Ishikawa prefecture
- Mashiko ware (益子焼), from Mashiko, Tochigi prefecture
- Mumyōi ware (無名異焼), from Sado, Niigata prefecture
- Onta ware (小鹿田焼), from Onta, Ōita prefecture
- Setoguro(瀬戸黒), from Seto, Aichi prefecture
- Shigaraki ware (信楽焼), from Shigaraki, Shiga prefecture
- Shino ware (志野焼), from Mino province
- Tokoname ware (常滑焼), from Tokoname, Aichi prefecture
- Tsuboya ware (壺屋焼), from Ryūkyū Islands
Textiles
Textile crafts include silk, hemp, linen and cotton woven, dyed and embroidered into various forms—from crafts originating from folk designs to complex silk weaves intended for the upper classes.
Village crafts that evolved from ancient folk traditions also continued in the form of
Traditional craft textiles are typically used primarily for
The different techniques for dyeing designs onto fabric are:
- Yūzen (友禅染)
- Katazome (型絵染)
- Edo komon (江戸小紋)
- Nagaita chugata (長板中形)
- Mokuhan-zome (木版染)
- Tsujigahana
- Shibori
Some weaving techniques are:
- Kasuri (絣織)
- Tsumugi(紬織)
- Echigi-jōfu (越後上布)
- Saga-nishiki (佐賀錦)
Amongst the more well-known regional textiles are:
- Nishijin-ori (西陣織), silk brocade using flosting yarns and gilt paper from the Nishijin district of Kyoto
- Yūki-tsumugi (結城紬), a variety of tsumugi from Yūki, Ibaraki prefecture
- Kumejima-tsumugi (久米島紬), a variety of tsumugi from Kumejima, Okinawa
- Kagayūzen (加賀友禅), a dyeing techniwue from Kaga, Ishikawa prefecture
- Kyōyūzen (京友禅), a dyeing technique from Kyoto
- Bingata, a stencil-dye technique from the Ryukyuan Islands
Other techniques include kumihimo (組紐) braid making, and kogin zashi (こぎん刺し), a form of sashiko embroidery.
Lacquerware
The art of Japanese lacquerware can be traced to prehistoric artefacts. Japanese lacquerware is most often employed on wooden objects, which receive multiple layers of refined lac juices, each of which must dry before the next is applied. These layers make a tough skin impervious to water damage and resistant to breakage, providing lightweight, easy-to-clean utensils of every sort. The decoration on such lacquers, whether carved through different-colored layers or in surface designs, applied with gold or inlaid with precious substances, has been a prized art form since the Nara period (710–94 CE).[citation needed]
Items produced using lacquer are used for daily necessities like bowls and trays, but also for tea ceremony utensils such as
Japanese lacquerware is closely entwined with wood and bamboo work; the base material is usually wood, but bamboo (藍胎, rantai) or linen (乾漆, kanshitsu) can also be used.
The different techniques used in the application and decoration of lacquer are:
- Urushi-e (漆絵), which is the oldest and most basic decorative technique
- Maki-e (蒔絵)
- Raden(螺鈿)
- Chinkin (沈金)
- Kinma (蒟醤)
- Choshitsu (彫漆)
- Hiramon (平文)
- Rankaku (卵殻)
- Kamakura-bori (鎌倉彫)
Amongst the more well-known types of lacquerware are:
- Wajima-nuri (輪島塗), lacquerware from Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture
- Tsugaru-nuri (津軽塗), lacquerware from Tsugaru region around Hirosaki, Aomori prefecture
Wood and bamboo
Wood and bamboo have always had a place in Japanese architecture and art due to the abundance of available materials, resulting in the long tradition of Japanese carpentry. Both secular and religious buildings were and are made out of wood, as well as items used in the household, typically dishes and boxes.
Other traditions of woodwork include yosegi (Japanese marquetry work) and the making of furniture such as tansu. Japanese tea ceremony is closely entwined with the practices of bamboo crafts (for spoons) and woodwork and lacquerware (for natsume).
Types of woodwork include:
- Sashimono (指物)
- Kurimono (刳物)
- Hikimono (挽物)
- Magemono (曲物)
- Amimono (編物)
- Kumimono (組物)
The art of
Other materials such as reeds are also used in the broad category of Japanese woodwork. Neko chigura is a traditional form of weaving basket for cats.
Amongst the more well-known varieties of miscellaneous woodwork are:
- Hakoneyosegizaiku (箱根寄木細工), wooden marquetry from Hakone, Ashigarashimo district, and Odawara, Kanagawa prefecture
- Iwayadotansu (岩谷堂箪笥), wooden chests of drawers, from Oshu, Iwate prefecture
Metalwork
Early Japanese iron-working techniques date back to the 3rd to 2nd century BCE. Japanese swordsmithing is of extremely high quality and greatly valued; swordsmithing in Japan originated before the 1st century BCE, and reached the height of its popularity as the chief possession of warlords and samurai. Swordsmithing is considered a separate artform from iron- and metalworking, and has moved beyond the craft it once started out as.
Outside of swordsmithing, a number of items for daily use were historically made out of metal, resulting in the development of metalworking outside of the production of weaponry.
Traditional metal casting techniques include:
- Rogata (蝋型)
- Sogata (惣型)
- Komegata (込型)
Arguably the most important Japanese metalworking technique is forge welding (鍛接), the joining of two pieces of metal—typically iron and carbon steel—by heating them to a high temperature and hammering them together, or forcing them together by other means. Forge welding is commonly used to make tools such as chisels and planes. One of the most famous areas for its use of forge welding is Yoita, Nagaoka City, located in Niigata prefecture, where a technique known as Echigo Yoita Uchihamono (越後与板打刃物) is used.
To create various patterns on the surface of a piece of metal, metal carving is used to apply decorative designs. The techniques include carving (彫り), metal inlay (象嵌), and embossing (打ち出し).
Amongst the more well-known types of Japanese metalware are:
- Nambutekki (南部鉄器), ironware from Morioka and Oshu, Iwate prefecture
- Takaoka Doki (高岡銅器), copperware from Takaoka, Toyama prefecture
Dolls
There are various types of traditional
There are four different basic types of doll, based on their base material:
- Wooden dolls (木彫人形)
- Toso dolls (桐塑人形), made out of toso, a substance made out of paulownia sawdust mixed with paste that creates a clay-like substance
- Harinuki dolls (張抜人形), made out of papier-mache
- Totai dolls (陶胎人形), made out of ceramic
The painting or application techniques are:
- Nunobari (布貼り)
- Kimekomi (木目込み)
- Hamekomi (嵌込み)
- Kamibari (紙貼り)
- Saishiki (彩色)
- Saicho (彩彫)
One well-known type of ningyō is
Paper making
The
Other crafts
Glass
The tradition of glass production goes back as far as the Kofun period in Japan, but was used very rarely and more for decorative purposes, such as decorating some kanzashi. Only relatively late in the Edo period did it experience increased popularity, and with the beginning of modernisation during the Meiji era large-scale industrial production of glassware commenced.
Despite the advent of wider industrial production, glassware continues to exist as a craft – for example, in traditions such as
- Glassblowing (吹きガラス)
- Cut glass (切子)
- Gravure(グラヴィール)
- Pâte de verre(パート・ド・ヴェール)
- Enameling(エナメル絵付け)
Cloisonné
Techniques of shippō include:
- Yusen-shippō (有線七宝)
- Shotai-shippō (省胎七宝)
- Doro-shippō (泥七宝)
Gem carving
Decorative gilt or silver leaf
Inkstone carving
Ivory carving
See also
- Intangible Cultural Properties of Japan for a full listing of protected crafts on the national, prefectural, and municipal levels
- Meibutsu
- Mingei
References
- ^ "Shippo: Cloisonné Radiance of Japan". 27 July 2013.
- ^ "Four Seasons in Japan: The 63rd Japan Traditional Kogei Exhibition". 22 September 2016.
- ^ http://madmuseum.org/exhibition/japanese-k%C5%8Dgei-future-forward
- ^ "See 11 Exquisite Works by Contemporary Japanese Artisans". 27 October 2015.
- ^ a b "Ceramics art techniques, production, information - Traditional Japanese art - Gallery Japan".
- ^ a b c "Textiles art techniques, production, information - Traditional Japanese art - Gallery Japan".
- ^ a b c "Lacquerware art techniques, production, information - Traditional Japanese art - Gallery Japan".
- ^ a b c "Wood and Bamboo art techniques, production, information - Traditional Japanese art - Gallery Japan".
- ^ a b c "Metalworks art techniques, production, information - Traditional Japanese art - Gallery Japan".
- ^ a b c d e "諸工芸とは - 日本の伝統工芸品 - ギャラリージャパン".
- ^ "Gallery Japan".
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Country Studies. Federal Research Division. – Japan
Further reading
- Kogei Standard
- http://www.veniceclayartists.com/kogei-japanese-art-crafts/
- http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2010/11/05/national/kogei-get-western-art-worlds-attention/