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Japanese Craft
Traditional 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 to when 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. 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 , arising. Craftsmen and women therefore became artisans with increasing sophistication. However, ...
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Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in the south. The Japanese archipelago consists of four major islands—Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu—and List of islands of Japan, thousands of smaller islands, covering . Japan has a population of over 123 million as of 2025, making it the List of countries and dependencies by population, eleventh-most populous country. The capital of Japan and List of cities in Japan, its largest city is Tokyo; the Greater Tokyo Area is the List of largest cities, largest metropolitan area in the world, with more than 37 million inhabitants as of 2024. Japan is divided into 47 Prefectures of Japan, administrative prefectures and List of regions of Japan, eight traditional regions. About three-quarters of Geography of Japan, the countr ...
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National Treasure (Japan)
Some of the National Treasures of Japan A is "Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan, Tangible Cultural Properties designated by law in modern Japan as having extremely high value." Specifically, it refers to buildings, arts, and crafts designated as especially valuable from among Important Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan, Tangible Cultural Properties, as determined and designated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (a special body of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology). A Tangible Cultural Property is considered to be of historic or artistic value, classified either as "buildings and structures" or as "fine arts and crafts". Each National Treasure must show outstanding workmanship, a high value for world cultural history, or exceptional value for scholarship. Approximately 20% of the National Treasures are structures such as Japanese castle, castles, Buddhist temples in Japan, Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, or residences. The other ...
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Ikebana
is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. It is also known as . The origin of ikebana can be traced back to the ancient Japanese custom of erecting Evergreen, evergreen trees and decorating them with flowers as yorishiro () to invite the gods. Later, flower arrangements were instead used to adorn the (alcove) of a traditional Japanese home. is counted as one of the three classical Japanese arts of refinement, along with for incense appreciation and for tea and the tea ceremony. Etymology The term comes from the combination of the Japanese and . Possible translations include and . History The pastime of viewing plants and appreciating flowers throughout the four seasons was established in Japan early on from the aristocracy. poetry anthologies such as the and from the Heian period (794–1185) included many poems on the topic of flowers. With the introduction of Japanese Buddhism, Buddhism, offering flowers at Buddhist altars became common. Although the l ...
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Japanese Tea Ceremony
The Japanese tea ceremony (known as or lit. 'Hot water for tea') is a Culture of Japan, Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of , powdered green tea, the procedure of which is called . The term "Japanese tea ceremony" does not exist in the Japanese language. In Japanese the term is ''Sadō'' or ''Chadō'', which literally translated means "tea way" and places the emphasis on the Tao (道). The English term "Teaism" was coined by Okakura Kakuzō to describe the unique worldview associated with Japanese way of tea as opposed to focusing just on Tea ceremony, the presentation aspect, which came across to the first western observers as ceremonial in nature. In the 1500s, Sen no Rikyū revolutionized Japanese tea culture, essentially perfecting what is now known as the Japanese tea ceremony and elevating it to the status of an art form. He redefined the rules of the tea house, tea garden, utensils, and procedures of the tea ceremony with h ...
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Tokuda Yasokichi
Tokuda Yasokichi I (20 November 1873 – 20 February 1956)(徳田八十吉) was a Japanese potter. He was born in near present day Kaga City, Ishikawa Prefecture. The area was made famous by the Kutani mines, the source of the clays utilized to make kutani ware. At the time of his birth, Kutani ware was the leading export of ceramic items from Japan; however, the quality had dropped since it was first produced in 1655 during the early Edo period. Older, kutani ceramics, termed ko-kutani, was painted in great detail using five bold colours called the five colours of ko-kutani. These colours, dark green, deep blue, red, yellow, and purple made it stand out from other ceramic wares. Further, ''Yoshidaya'' style, renowned for its use of translucent pigment and delicate painting style, had been abandoned after only a brief flourish from 1824 to 1831. This style never contains the color red. Tokuda Yasokichi I began his studies in Japanese-style painting under Tannrei Kano in 18 ...
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Meibutsu
is a Japanese language, Japanese term most often applied to regional specialties (also known as ). can also be applied to specialized areas of interest, such as , where it refers to famous tea utensils, or Japanese swords, where it refers to specific named famous blades. Definition could be classified into the following five categories:According to a paper by Laura Nenzi cited by Jilly Traganou in ''The Tokaido Road: Traveling and Representation in Edo and Meiji Japan'' (Routledge, 2004), (72) * , regional Japanese food specialties such as the roasted rice cakes () of Hodogaya, and the Yam (vegetable), yam gruel, ''Tororo (food), toro-jiru'' of Mariko; * Japanese crafts as souvenirs such as the swords of Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura or the shell-decorated screens of Enoshima; In the past, also included: * Supernatural souvenirs and wonder-working panaceas, such as the bitter powders of Menoke that supposedly cured a large number of illnesses; * Bizarre things that ad ...
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UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists
UNESCO established its Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage with the aim of ensuring better protection of important intangible cultural heritages worldwide and the awareness of their significance.Compare: This list is published by the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, the members of which are elected by State Parties meeting in a General Assembly. Through a compendium of the different oral and intangible treasures of humankind worldwide, the programme aims to draw attention to the importance of safeguarding intangible heritage, which UNESCO has identified as an essential component and as a repository of cultural diversity and of creative expression. The list was established in 2008 when the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage took effect. , the programme compiles three lists. The longer Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity comprises cultural "practices and expre ...
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Yūki-tsumugi
is a variety of silk cloth produced in Japan, chiefly in in Prefecture. It is designated as one of the Important Intangible Cultural Properties of Japan, and has also been inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. History The traditional history of traces its origin to a crafthouse known as during the reign of the legendary Emperor . Knowledge of the method of silk production, developed by its founder, , was said to have immediately spread out to the district and beyond. Another account identified the period (14th–16th century) as the period when was developed. It is said that the feudal lord of a farmer family in the Hitachi Province sent fabric to a governor called every year as a gift. Developing from earlier silk techniques, the name was adopted in 1602. Weavers were invited from Castle and the cloth, at first plain, was used as a gift for the . In 1873, was exhibited at the 1873 Vienna World's Fair, and b ...
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Cultural Property (Japan)
A is administered by the Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), and includes tangible properties (structures and works of art or craft); intangible properties (performing arts and craft techniques); folk properties both tangible and intangible; monuments historic, scenic and natural; cultural landscapes; and groups of traditional buildings. Buried properties and conservation techniques are also protected. Together these cultural properties are to be preserved and utilized as the heritage of the Japanese people. Not all Cultural Properties of Japan were created in Japan; some are from China, Korea or other countries. See for example the letter from Duarte de Menezez to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, pictured above, a National Treasure originating in India. In total, some 857 Important Cultural Properties are Chinese in origin, 96 from Korea, 27 from the West, and three from elsewhere. To protect Japan's cultu ...
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Intangible Cultural Property (Japan)
An , as defined by the Japanese government The Government of Japan is the central government of Japan. It consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and functions under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan. Japan is a unitary state, containing forty- ...'s Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties (1950), is a part of the Cultural Properties of high historical or artistic value such as drama, music, and craft techniques. The term refers exclusively to human skills possessed by individuals or groups which are indispensable to produce Cultural Properties. Items of particular importance can be designated as . Recognition is also given to the owners of an item to encourage its transmission. There are three types of recognition: individual recognition, collective recognition, and group recognition. Special grants of two million yen a year are given to individual holders (the so-called Living National Treasures of Japan, Living National Treas ...
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Living National Treasure (Japan)
is a Japanese popular term for those individuals certified as by the MEXT, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology as based on Japan's . The term "Living National Treasure" is not formally mentioned in the law, but is an informal term referencing the cultural properties designated as the National Treasure (Japan), National Treasures. The Japanese government provides a subsidy of 2 million yen per person per year for Living National Treasures. The total amount of the subsidy is determined by the national budget, and since 2002 it has been 232 million yen. Therefore, the number of Living National Treasures in existence is a maximum of 116, and if there are 116 Living National Treasures, no person with any outstanding skills will be newly designated as a Living National Treasure unless a vacancy occurs due to death.
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Yanagi Sōetsu
, also known as Yanagi Muneyoshi, was a Japanese art critic, philosopher, and founder of the '' mingei'' (folk craft) movement in Japan in the late 1920s and 1930s. Personal life Yanagi was born in 1889 to Yanagi Narayoshi, a hydrographer of the Imperial Navy and Katsuko. His son, Sori Yanagi, was a renowned industrial designer. His great grandnephew Shinya Yanagi is a renowned weaver, and the third generation of the Yanagi family of weavers. Career In 1916, Yanagi made his first trip to Korea out of curiosity about Korean crafts. The trip led to the establishment of the Korean Folk Crafts Museum in 1924 and the coining of the term ''mingei'' by Yanagi, potters Hamada Shōji (1894–1978) and Kawai Kanjirō (1890–1966). Yanagi was not an artist or craftsman himself. His theory of the in Korean art has been said to have influenced the development of the Korean idea of '' han''. Following the March First Movement, Korea's independence movement in which thousands of Ko ...
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