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Tag: craft show

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.

Visiting the Old Pottery Town of Bizen and Kurashiki Craft Show in Okayama

By:
Ai Kanazawa
July 3, 2012Bizen Travels

If you are a traveler interested in Japanese crafts and like to visit places that are not major tourist destinations, we suggest that you travel to Okayama prefecture in Western Japan. In May, Studio KotoKoto visited Okayama, home to the famous Bizen pottery and also known for glass, Japanese paper, and other local crafts.

Bizen vases filled with water to test for leakage
Ichiyo Gama Bizen

You can get to Bizen from Okayama station by taking the Japan Rail (JR) Ako line and getting off at the sleepy station of Imbe, about 40 minutes east of Okayama. We were excited to visit this famous pottery town with more than 1000 years of history because we have great respect for what Bizen stands for: crafts that are close to the earth. We also love the natural and modest beauty of these unglazed and unadorned pots.

The starting point for any visit is the Bizen Pottery Art Museum where many Bizen masterpieces and works of art from Japanese artists deemed to be living national treasures are on display. After feasting your soul on this splendid artistry, walk around the streets to see how pottery is at the core of this town’s life and identity.

We strolled along the main street and noticed that many pottery shops are right in front of the kilns that produce their wares. While visiting one of the most established kilns in Bizen called Kimura Ichiyo-gama, we had the fortune to meet its owner, Mrs. Kimura, who gave us a thorough tour of her studio and noborigama kiln (“climbing” kiln.)

Woodstack for firing the noborigama
Bizen greenware
Noborigama at Kimura Ichiyo gama
Matcha tea served in a Bizen tea bowl

Kurashiki is another delightful town in Okayama that we were able to spend time to uncover its charms. The town is dominated by stunning old wooden storehouses (or Kura) built in the 17th century with white plastered walls and black tiles. The storehouses are built along a beautiful canal where you can watch colorful Koi fish swimming gracefully.

Kurashiki Bikan Chiku and canal by night
Kurashiki Bikan chiku and canal by day

Some of these storehouses have been converted into museums. The most famous is the Ohara Museum of Art, the first-ever Western art museum in Japan. But our favorite was the Japan Folk Toy Museum where hundreds of handmade and antique toys from different parts of Japan are displayed in a converted rice storehouse. The museum’s owner Ohga Hiroyuki is listed in the 1983 Guinness Book of World Records for spinning a large handmade top for an hour and 8 minutes!

Japan Folk Toy Museum
Kurashiki, Okayama

 

Photos: Ohga Hiroyuki spinning a top; A top on a tightrope, Folk Toy Museum, Kurashiki, Okayama

We enjoyed wandering around the back alleys of Kurashiki, especially in the Honmachi and Higashimachi districts that are full of old houses, cute shops, and wonderful sake shops.

Back alley
Kurashiki, Okayama
A sake shop
Honmachi Kurashiki, Okayama

If you are going to Kurashiki, we highly recommend going in May when the town hosts one of Japan’s best annual craft shows called “the Field of Craft Kurashiki”.  This high-quality show is hosted by the town and features more than 70 artists. This year’s event took place on 12-13 May and we had a fascinating time enjoying and being impressed by the rich offerings on display!

Our Itinerary

  • Day 1 Tokyo-(3hrs 30mins)-Okayama-(40 mins)-Imbe-(1 hr)-Kurashiki
  • Day 2 Kurashiki craft show
  • Day 3 Kurashiki museums and sights-(20 mins)-Okayama-(3hrs 30mins)-Tokyo
A Potter’s stall at the Field of Craft Kurashiki
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