Skip to main content
Entoten
FacebookInstagramPinterestYouTube

Menu

Skip to content
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • Artists
  • Places
  • Press
Sign In Search

Recent Posts

  • Eat, Sleep, Shave Wood: The Extraordinary Life of Woodworker Okubo Kotaro November 24, 2023
  • Hyakunin Isshu Karuta No. 23 by Chieko October 30, 2023
  • Four Tea bowls by Satoshi YOSHIKAWA: A Japanese Potter in Toronto October 20, 2023
  • Kikusumi: Chrysanthemum Charcoal by Kotani Yoshitaka August 19, 2023
  • The Saint John’s Pottery in Minnesota: An American Pottery Tradition August 1, 2023
November 2012
M T W T F S S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930  
« Sep   Dec »

Top Posts & Pages

  • Guide to Choosing Your Tea Whisk for Matcha
    Guide to Choosing Your Tea Whisk for Matcha
  • A Tour of the Pottery Towns of Southern Japan: Part I: Karatsu
    A Tour of the Pottery Towns of Southern Japan: Part I: Karatsu
  • Kintsugi: An Ancient Japanese Repairing Technique Using Urushi Lacquer
    Kintsugi: An Ancient Japanese Repairing Technique Using Urushi Lacquer
  • Basket Weave Patterns: Kikko, Ajiro, and Mutsume
    Basket Weave Patterns: Kikko, Ajiro, and Mutsume
  • Revisiting the Pottery Village of Onta: The Resilience of Natural Rhythms
    Revisiting the Pottery Village of Onta: The Resilience of Natural Rhythms

Categories

  • 72 Seasons Essays
  • Events, Workshops and Webinars
  • People
    • Ayumi HORIE
    • Bill GEISINGER
    • Chieko (Calligraphy)
    • Floresta Fabrica
    • Hanako NAKAZATO
    • HARADA Fumiko
    • HASHIZUME Reiko
    • HASHIZUME Yasuo
    • HORIHATA Ran
    • HOSHINO Gen
    • IKUSHIMA Harumi
    • INOUE Shigeru
    • ISHIDA Tami
    • Jarrod DAHL
    • Kazu OBA
    • Kenneth PINCUS
    • KIKUCHI Yuka
    • KITAMURA Tokusai
    • KOBAYASHI Katsuhisa
    • KOJIMA Yosuke
    • KOTANI Yoshitaka
    • KUBOTA Kenji
    • KURIYA Masakatsu
    • MAEDA Mitsuru
    • Marshall SCHEETZ
    • Mike MARTINO
    • Mitch IBURG
    • MURANAKA Yasuhiko
    • NAKAYA Yoshitaka
    • Naru (INOUE Naruhito)
    • NITTA Yoshiko
    • OKUBO Kotaro
    • Ontayaki
    • SAKAI Mika
    • Samuel JOHNSON
    • Sarah NISHIURA
    • Saratetsu
    • SASAKI Shoko
    • Satoshi YOSHIKAWA
    • Shumpei YAMAKI
    • Style Of Japan
    • TAKAHASHI Nami
    • TAKAMI Yasuhiro
    • TANIMURA Tango
    • WATANABE Ai
    • YAMADA Yutaro
    • YAMAUCHI Takeshi
    • YOKOTSUKA Yutaka
  • Baskets
  • Ceramics
  • Design
  • Glass
  • Kintsugi
  • Metal
  • Textiles
  • Urushi
  • Wood
  • Mingei
  • Research
  • Food and Craft
  • Topics
  • Tea (Chado)
  • Travels
    • Minnesota
    • Arita
    • Bizen
    • Hagi
    • Karatsu
    • Kuroe
    • Kyoto
    • Matsumoto
    • Mino / Tajimi
    • Onta
    • Shigaraki
    • Shizuoka
    • Sonoma County
    • Tokoname
    • Vietnam

A Short History of Craft Shows in Japan and Their Surprising Origin

By:
Ai Kanazawa
November 20, 2012Travels

I was traveling in Japan over the past few weeks and one of my destinations was to visit an open-air craft show in Sakai, a suburb of Osaka, called Tomoshibito-no-tsudoi. This well-curated show, held in a quiet park, features 100 artists from all over Japan and takes place annually at the end of October.

Panoramic view of the Sakai craft show on a sunny Osaka day

The Sakai show attracted large crowds of people from the surrounding areas. The atmosphere was festive and family-friendly. Besides the many rows of artist booths, there were also plenty of delicious food stalls to feed the hungry masses.

Helped by the excellent weather (at least for the day I was there), the show was packed. Some artist booths had long lines of people waiting to get their hands on the creations of their favorite artists. It is hard to believe that this show was only in its fourth year.

A crowd waiting to meet their favorite artist

Craft shows are fun occasions for the artists too. These venues are opportunities for the artists to get out of their studio, meet their fans and the general public, other artists, and people like me who want to spread the word about them outside of Japan. Few if any of them are known or sell their wares outside of the country.

When I go to these shows and meet the artists, I always think about how tough an occupation it is to be an artist. They spend the vast majority of their working hours in solitude, and we have the privilege to enjoy the results of their hard endeavors.

A glass artist happily chats with some admirers

There are more than 300 craft shows held around Japan every year. To put this in perspective, imagine 300 of these shows taking place within the state of California, which is roughly the same size as Japan, in one year!

You might also be surprised to find out that these very popular shows only began in Japan in 1985 with Craft Fair Matsumoto. The artists who organized the Matsumoto show saw some outdoor craft shows in the U.S. and Britain and wanted to start something similar in Japan. So these shows have their origins from the West.

Before these shows became popular in Japan, artists were limited to showing their work at galleries and department stores. It appears that there has been a renaissance in the popularity of handmade craft and tradition in the last 5 years in Japan that has been helped by these shows that provide venue for artists, especially promising younger artists, an outlet to show their work.

A potter’s booth at the Sakai Craft Show

In the coming months, I will update information about Japanese craft shows on our “links” page that will be accessible from the navigation button at the bottom of our homepage. If you are visiting Japan, there is an excellent chance that one of these shows is taking place during your stay. If so, I highly recommend that you visit the show if you can.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
大阪 craft show 灯しびとの集い glass wood metal osaka sakai tomoshibito young artists クラフトフェア Japan 堺 textile

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy & Security
  • Contact Us
  • ✉️ Newsletter Archive
  • About
  • えんとてんJapan

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Our Mailing Address is

Entoten LLC
c/o The Den on Laurel St.
205 Laurel St. Suite 104
San Diego CA 92101

E-mail: hello@entoten.com

Copyright © 2023 ENTOTEN LLC

Studio Kotokoto is now closed. Thank you for your support over the years!
You have been redirected to Entoten, an online blog and shop that was created by one of Studio Kotokoto’s founders.
All orders received until Dec. 15th will be shipped promptly. I will close for the Holidays on Dec. 16th Thank you! -Ai