Japan's troubled craft industry pins hopes on 'Japonisme' reboot

by sparking a renewed interest in Japanese art and design

The NHK TV show "Bi no Tsubo", should be translated to English, then put on youtube or another channel to showcase the program's wonderful segments about traditional Japanese arts and crafts. That way a broader audience around the world might be shown how impressive Japanese artisans and craftspeople are.

But the central government's support system for traditional craftworks is said to be less generous than for agricultural products due in part to the stove-piped nature of multiple organizations in charge.

I would far rather the government spent money on crafts than on air-freighting strawberries grown in heated polytunnels to Singapore and Hong Kong.

If you want to buy pottery, my advice is to get yourself to one of the pottery towns instead of buying online. We bought some sinks for our house in person in Shigaraki and they were much cheaper than the ones I'd seen on Rakuten.

While Japanese people will say they like Japanese crafts, the huge fall in spending mentioned here shows how few people are actually willing to spend their money on them. Most newbuilds have no shoji in them, no garden outside, often not even a Japanese coffee cup. They'll drink miso soup out of a plastic thing from Nitori.

There are more affordable Japanese crafts, basketware, textiles like furoshiki, Imabari towels, noren curtains, even simple things like nice chopsticks. Place the emphasis on vase-type pottery or handmade furniture and you'll blow most people's budgets. The simple things I mention can even be used in the grey and beige "Scandanavian" interiors everyone has these days.

If more folks are going to remain childless, you might as well fill your nest with nice stuff. No little ones to break any of it or make you so busy you have no time to look after it. I'd rather drink any coffee from a nice cup than Starbucks super fancy pants limited edition whatever out of a paper one.

best Chinese art is mostly in America and Japan

Taipei, as good as it gets.

Thousands of artists and craftspeople are struggling to maintain their arts and crafts.

According to the Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries, production of Japanese traditional crafts plunged in value to 92.7 billion yen ($645 million) in fiscal 2017 from 328.8 billion in fiscal 1997.

Like no kidding. During the bubble all sorts of "art" had a value placed on it that is no longer seen today.

At age 35 over, i still stuck at collecting Doraemon plush.

I feel most Japanese are loosing the eye of see the real value like this. We want to be a people who can properly discover the essence of value and make the most of it.

That is a beautiful piece of art.

Some fine pottery is quite affordable and appealing to many people (染付 springs to mind) especially foodies who like to cook and match new dishes with aesthetically pleasing plates

There are many tens of periodicals that cater to this crowd available in bookstores. 栗原はるみ is very active in this area and is our favourite.

However, referring to the picture above, I feel many artists price themselves out of the market by making items that are more appropriate for the tea ceremony alcove 床の間, museums or for hanging on the wall.

The best buy we got was a set of 備前 plates that are gorgeous as well as functional.

If artists want to survive they need to make their work useful and affordable. By reigniting a new wave of "Japonisme" will only make the work "exotic" and out of reach or interest of the regular person.

Looking forward to some feedback on my opinion.

Burning Bush -

Agree with your sentiments.

I've found there is a local appreciation of cultural art works, but often these pieces are for "display only".

As you suggested - making more affordable goods that people feel comfortable to use on a daily basis would help to re-vitalize the industry.

Top end collectors and even casual tourists from overseas will always buy pieces, but their numbers would never be huge.

For the average person looking at a Bizen ware bowl for example, they will rarely see any value in spending $100+ for what appears to be a nice piece, but they could buy it from a local potter / shop back home for a fraction of the price.

When my parents-in-law moved into a care facility and the house sold I scored a lovely lacquer ware set from a famous artisan still in it's original 50 year old box with the pieces never having been removed.

I sent it as a present to family in England, explained what it was and how to care for, and said please use often - don't put them in storage.

I was happy to hear the main large bowl is their go to for serving salads.

You can cheerfully park $40m of your assets in a Monet, but contemporary crafts will struggle in comparison. Non-antique 'Art Glass' and other wares are a thing, but they are generally a lifestyle product rather than an investment. The market niche is for rich people to buy them as decorative pieces for their homes, so they can pretend that they had the good taste to choose them. Target high end retailers that sell boutique furnishings or lifestyle influencers.

If you create a rare and exclusive item designed to last for many generations, the market will eventually become saturated,

I get your point, however things go in and out of fashion and can deteriorate over time. Also, most high end stuff is only worth what people will pay. That's the same with art and antiques. The expensive vase people buy will probably drop in value as the cost depends on its desirability.

Businesses long ago shifted to producing extremely cheap, short-term products, and I don’t see any way out of it.

Interesting point. I can remember the vintage Kenwood food mixer we got for our wedding. It was very strong and never broke.

The "way out of it" would be to make things repairable. I can remember bringing the telly to the electric shop on a number of occasions to get it fixed before it became too old.

Before the pandemic I got a large fall themed hanging scroll remounted by a small family run business down around Hyogo. They spoke excellent English which was bonus. It was not that expensive for the first class traditional work to be done on.

That is another way to support Japanese crafts.

Taipei, as good as it gets

Yes. I forgot about there. I was thinking art removed from China, but yes the Taipei museums are excellent for Chinese art. Thank you for pointing that out.

One of the biggest collections of Chinese art is in the British Museum.

Thanks Browny.

I sent it as a present to family in England, explained what it was and how to care for, and said please use often - don't put them in storage.

I was happy to hear the main large bowl is their go to for serving salads.

As you point out, a key tenet to most Japanese craft is functionality. Things are made to be used. Not to be stored in boxes or behind glass all their lives. Most 職人 would be disappointed their work is not living amongst us, but sitting in a storage box.

The collecting and categorising part is a Victorian era invention from around the same time as Japonisme.

The wear and tear that items gather is part of the their character. The art of 金繕い kintsukuroi (also known as kintsugi 金継ぎ a term that I dislike) is testimony of how much Japanese have appreciate the on-going use of porcelain

Chinese sweat-shop factories are able to copy and reproduce Bizen 備前 plates at a fraction of the cost...

I'm not sure about that. Chinese forgers are more focused on high end Chinese wares, which are surprisingly few so conjure very, very high prices because of the impact of the Cultural Revolution and the destruction of the "old ways". A forger would not waste time on small fry Bizen.

Best Chinese art is mostly in America and Japan. If you keep your eyes peeled and know your onions, you can pick up the occasional Chinese antique in shops, in Tokyo anyway

If you create a rare and exclusive item designed to last for many generations, the market will eventually become saturated, and these craftsmen will be left behind. Businesses long ago shifted to producing extremely cheap, short-term products, and I don’t see any way out of it.

what causes "diminishing spending power in their home market" is also nothing but LDP politics that has weakened domestic demands.

The real problem here is the 900-kilogram gorilla in the room, that no-one wants to acknowledge nor talk about...

Chinese sweat-shop factories are able to copy and reproduce Bizen 備前 plates at a fraction of the cost...