MADE IN JAPAN — Ishikawa and Gifu Craftsmanship Film

Japan. Famous for advanced technological growth married with a deep-rooted culture of traditional precision and quality. It's no secret that I love Japan. I love spending time there getting to know the culture, the ins and outs of everything that unifies it and makes it tick. Recently I had the opportunity to work with the Ishikawa and Gifu prefectures to explore the area and meet some artists behind some of the greatest handcrafts of Japan. Ishikawa and Gifu are known as the central artisan hub of Japan. Located in the Chubu area they produce some of the most iconic pieces in Japanese craft. Our journey started in Ishikawa in a city called Kanazawa. Kanazawa is the capital of Ishikawa and is known as one of the most prestigious cities in the history of Japan. The city's beauty is reflected in the premium feel to it and bespoke nature of the place with amazing streets to wander and fantastic food to eat. There are also gardens with pristine quality to lose yourself and gain inspiration from. Known as the town of gold leaf and making over 99% of all gold leaf products in Japan, Kanazawa is undoubtedly the place to experience this delicate art. Multiple sheets of gold are pounded together to an impossibly thin one ten thousandth of a millimeter before being applied to various kitchenware and products around the home. The raw nature of the gold leaf can only be described as magical, just a small breath of air or even the heat from your hand is enough to move it. When traveling around Japan you're sure to find many gold leaf products and there's a high chance that it originated in Kanazawa. Along the northern peninsula of the Ishikawa prefecture you'll come to a city called Wajima. Famous for Wajima Nui, a particular type of lacquerware. We were introduced to the process of the lacquerware in a workshop situated at the back of a master's home. Upon entering his home we realized that this was a workshop with many years of experience. We later found out that actually most of the lacquerware is produced by a commissioned basis rather than as items for sale. The craft of making these products can take over a year to produce with up to 124 different processes along the way. It's clear that this is a craft that has been passed through generations with over a hundred years of experience in this house alone. It's extremely humbling to be able to experience someone's home and their craft in the same space and be able to distinguish the differences between work and life but also the balances that marry them together. The time and experience involved in making each of these items adds up exponentially. We ate from bowls that were well over 60 years old yet they still felt like they were only brand new items. I tried my hand at carving a design into one of the bowls and through my experience as a designer working with craft knives and packaging prototypes I thought this was something I was going to be fairly adept at but I was pretty wrong. I really struggled with the precision involved to engrave and etch my artwork into this bowl but with a little bit of help from our sensei we were able to finalize the product into something that I'm actually pretty happy with. This definitely set the tone for the skill required for each of the hand crafts we were about to experience on this trip. In traditional ceremonies and formal events around Japan it's common to wear kimonos. Up until only a couple of hundred years ago these were pretty plain designs and fairly simple in their structure but at the beginning of the 18th century Miyazaki Yuzensai developed the silk dyeing process. Yuzen refers to the process of applying illustrative and decorative artwork to silk. Kaga Yuzen is one of the most famous versions of this depicting real life illustrative elements based on kaga gosei literally meaning kaga five colors. Ellie had a go at some of the stencil dyeing process on a small canvas bag, definitely looked pretty therapeutic. Japan is world famous for food, it literally is the epicenter of the culture. Families, homes, everything revolves around food so it's no doubt that so much care and attention is not only placed into making the food but also the items you eat the food off. Upon entering the Kutani-yaki kiln museum it was immediately apparent that the craft today is still performed in pretty much the same manner as it always has been. Using natural paints I designed some artwork to go on a small cup. The surface of the pottery is pre-applied with a special coating that helps the paint adhere to the surface. It actually makes the whole process incredibly difficult because you can't touch the surface that you're actually painting on. It was mesmerizing to see the paint applied to the pottery creating designs literally in seconds. As soon as I had a go at doing it myself things weren't quite as easy. I kind of struggled with the natural paints on the ceramic. It's great to come away with a cup that I've personally painted and every time I look at it I can remember the whole experience of producing it. This is another hour towards the 10 000 of becoming a master. Only 9 990 more to go. From Ishikawa we traveled through to Gifu. Populated with an incredibly patient, trustworthy and very punctual people this is the metaphorical and physical heartland of Japan. It's no surprise that this is an area synonymous with manufacturing and is famous for some of the most traditional handcrafts of Japan. On our journey we passed through Shirakawago, a UNESCO world heritage site. We'd previously visited in the winter and saw it in a beautiful snowy landscape. This time around things were a lot hotter and very luscious and green. The houses in the village are made from very traditional techniques with a lot of timber and tying processes. It has a great community presence and you can really feel that everyone there plays a part into maintaining it. It was great to experience this unique village in another season and you can definitely tell that the personality adapts and changes with the weather. Taking the Nohi bus from Shirakawago we ended up in Takayama, one of my favorite cities in all of Japan. A city nestled amongst woodland, Takayama is a source of the finest timber and highest quality carpenters. This is a region vastly proud of its woodworking abilities and you can see it through the timber on the facades of the buildings aged with natural texture and weathering for a unique aesthetic. I love the premium feel to the area and the natural textures mixed with the straight lines of handcraft and architecture really add to a unique vibe about the place. There is an old town popular with tourism but it's the residential areas that really stood out to me. You can see how the woodwork just intertwines throughout every element of the design and you can really feel it as an extra family member to the whole region. It's abundantly evident that woodworking skills are highly regarded here. Gujo Hachiman, a town famous for its pristine and clean waters, is the home of azome, the indigo dyeing process that creates the Japanese blue fabric. Indigo blue is iconic across all of Japan, you can see it in popular fashion, amongst official garments and even in history from the samurai era. I was surprised to learn that to create this blue is actually a process of fermentation, using a living body of various different plants and organisms in a liquid substance. The process of dyeing the fabric isn't actually based on how long it spends in this liquid but when it oxidises and mixes with the air. It's a chemical reaction that over a period of multiple applications can create this deep and vivid indigo blue. Watanabe-san was a true master of his craft and very humble in his process. As the last producer of azome in the Gujo Hachiman area, he is the stronghold for this traditional blue fabric. His opening and welcoming nature was evident throughout all of his work and his studio. I love the graphic styles and the detail to some of the illustrations applied to the blue. You could really tell just how eager he was to share the process of making these products and to continue the tradition for many years to come. Indigo blue has been one of the most noticeable things I've seen when walking around Japan and I'm so happy to have been able to experience the production of it and learn the process of how this subtly iconic feature is produced. In Tajimi city we met with Aoyama-san, a master of kusano kashira gama, famous for his mastery of shiro tenmoku, the white style tea bowl. Walking through the studio we were met with hundreds of examples of bespoke pottery and again upon immediate reflection you can tell that there are thousands of hours of experience here. Having learned the history behind his style and how it's evolved over the years, we saw Aoyama-san produce some pottery right in front of us. It was amazing to see just how fast he could work. He's been making pottery since he was a very young boy and you can clearly tell from when he started producing things right in front of us he could literally spawn off plates bowls and cups in a matter of minutes with seemingly no effort at all. Just the process of how his hands were molded around the clay you could really tell that this was a muscle memory hard at work. I was mesmerized to watch the pottery being made right in front of me. I feel very lucky to have been able to witness another master at work producing some great handcrafted products. Being able to see everything being manipulated so seemingly easy was just utterly awe-inspiring. During the process of making the pottery I was amazed to see that there weren't really any modern tools involved. Everything was all done with his hands. In fact probably the only modern thing available in sight was the bucket to hold the water. Even the tool he used to spin the potter's wheel was just a branch found out in the garden. When making my own cup I failed multiple times. As soon as I put my hand to the clay everything just started to fall apart. It seemed I could build it up to about 50% of the way there and then within a second bring it crashing back down to 10%. So with quite a lot of help from Aoyama-san I was eventually able to get to a level of a cup that I was pretty happy with. What struck me most was how open he was for teaching other people but also how he actually thought about the products that he was making. Offering insight into thinking more deeply about who you're making the product for. Whether that's thinking of your wife, your children or the company who've commissioned it you can create a deeper connection into the product. What struck me as most impressive was how he was able to replicate the same cup over and over again even to the same size and volume. So once again thanks to his patience and thank you for the cup that I eventually made. I think I did about four percent of this. One of Japan's strongest assets is its steel. Historically from sword making and now into knife making Seki city is known as the city of blades and is one of the origins for this long-standing history. I had the pleasure of making my own kitchen knife something I've wanted to do for a very long time. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to produce from the very very outset of the steel so we started with a basic structure and I took time to buff it and sharpen it into a working finished product. I absolutely adore the damascus pattern on the knife it just glimmers so much in the light. It's definitely a product that I'm so happy to have as my own. What's made even more special about it is the fact that I worked on it to get it to where it is today. In difference to the other handcrafts we experienced on this trip this was by far the most industrial. It didn't have as much of a delicate approach to the others but the actual product itself in the end is very very delicate. This just shows a complete other side to the craftsmanship in Japan through strength and power from the samurai era of swordsmanship. It takes a lot of work to sharpen a blade to Japanese standards but I was insanely impressed by how sharp it was against a sheet of paper something you wouldn't normally use a blade on. Again the openness to being taught how to produce something was so evident here. I really am truly thankful for being shown the processes and being given the time and patience to actually make something. Our last chapter in our tour of craftsmanship across Japan was to experience the production of masu, the small wooden box originally used to measure rice and even as a form of currency now more commonly known for drinking sake. Similar to the knife making this also had a very industrial feel to it but the smell was what hit you immediately. You could almost taste the flavor of the hinoki wood. Hinoki is one of the most prized types of wood in Japan. With a water repellent surface it's perfect for making masu. There was so much activity happening around the workshop I was completely fascinated watching all the different elements coming together but it was the efficiency and the accuracy that really stands out here. Ohashi Ryoki is known as the masu company. It produces over 90% of all masu in Japan and they've held their name based on their quality and attention to detail and accuracy. A very simple box but there's actually a delicate nature into the way that it's produced with a very systematic process. It's why it's actually common for it to be used in ceremonial purposes because there's deeper meaning to it just being a simple box. It's also a perfect souvenir to take away from Japan. From the many experiences I had in Gifu I definitely came to understand the truth in the trustful and patient and very punctual personalities of the people there. Even in the depth of what we saw for all of these handcrafts in Japan I still feel like we only scratched the surface of what this culture can do. As a creator one of the most inspiring aspects of all of the places that we visited was just the setup and the workspace. The lighting, the layout and the visually evident characters of each of the workspaces is so memorable to me. Through my many trips to Japan I've always appreciated the culture and the attention to detail and the mastery but having experienced time with these artists directly my appreciation has been elevated immensely. The thing with arts and crafts is that technique and process can be taught but perseverance, patience and determination to master a skill is down to personal priority. I have no doubt the artists we've encountered have been truly successful and very well respected within their communities for maintaining traditions and adding their own creativity but I also expect many of these artists have also suffered from times of low business or difficult decisions both financially and emotionally. It's a process all artists go through and their passion and determination to continue is what commands my highest respect. This is the epitome of art in the heart. It's been an absolute pleasure to experience all of these craftsmen and to see their work firsthand but one of my biggest cherishes is being able to take home some of the products I've actually had a hand in making myself. So I want to thank all of the artists and producers involved for giving their time for making this happen. It's definitely been one of the most memorable trips to Japan I've ever had. This only has me further excited to experience more arts and crafts in other regions.