Master Artisans
Today, together with colleagues from my in-destination partner Windows to Japan, I visited the workshops of two master artisans who are part of the Dento Project. The Dento Project aims to “bring together the visitor with the artisan with the goal of ensuring tourism supports tradition and community.” Through the revenue generated by tourism - studio visits and purchases - the craftsmen receive enough financial support to continue their work allowing the continuation of traditional Japanese culture, crafts and the arts. Dento also seeks to introduce local Japanese artisans to international designers to create and support collaborations inspired by the motto “tradition is continuous innovation.”
The area around Kyoto’s Mibu temple was once populated with traditional dyers, who operated the many small dyeing factories that dotted this area. Nishimura Yuzen-Chokoku was established here in 1938 as a Kyo-Yuzen engraving specialist for these custom-made, Yuzen-dyed fabrics. Takeshi grew up watching his father Tomokichi work, and in 1967 he began a formal apprenticeship in order to master all the techniques of Yuzen stencil engraving, eventually forming his own workshop. At the age of 60, Takeshi was considering closing the family business due to a decrease in demand for Yuzan-dyed fabrics. Luckily he was offered the chance to participate in Kyoto Contemporary, a Kyoto City project with the goal of developing more sales channels overseas. This allowed Takeshi to start making products using his own techniques. With his stencil designs he creates Japanese traditional patterns, landscapes patterns, or imagistic portrayals which inspire a feeling of warmth, peace, and the Japanese spirit.
Our next visit was to Rakunyu, one of the very few makers of the well-known Rakuware pottery in Japan, a tradition with a long history. Besides creating unique tea bowls essential for the tea ceremony, he has begun innovating to bring Raku ceramics out of the tea room, to let people enjoy the charm of heritage in their modern interiors. Born to the family of Rakuware craftsmen he expanded the tradition from traditional teaware to also include various tea utensils and figurines. Rakunyu studied under his father after completing training in two prestigious ceramists’ training institutes. In 2001, he was certified as a highly-skilled traditional craftsman, and in 2004, he inherited the title Rakunyu III, becoming the 3rd generation headmaster. He began studying tea ceremony in his early twenties and has been commissioned as an officer of the Omotesenke Domonkai association for many years.
Each year on February 3 the celebration known as Setsubun takes place across Japan. The festival, whose literal meaning is “seasonal division” and is associated with purification marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. The day is used to drive demons and evil spirits out of one’s home with the help of roasted soybeans. Beans are placed in a bowl and offered at the household shrine. In the evening the windows are opened and the phrase “oni wa soto” (“devils out”) is recited while facing out of the house and throwing/scattering the beans outside. Beans are scattered on the inside with a different phrase “fuku wa uchi” meaning “fortune in.” Since this was the weekend before several of the local shrines were hosting events where people could purchase both the bowls for the beans and the beans themselves while the “bean throwing” was done by local priests. Geishas from some of the local houses also performed.