Traditional craft, crisis or ...?
As a worker in the field of traditional Japanese
crafts, one of the most common things I hear from visitors to my
workshop is, "Isn't it a pity that wonderful crafts like this are
dying out nowadays." We sometimes tend to view traditional crafts as
being superior to modern ways of doing things, but I have to wonder
about this. I am sure that the craftsmen of old did not view their
work in special terms. I think that they were simply people 'doing a
job'. Whether they were potters, straw sandal makers, temple
carpenters, or even woodblock printmakers like me, they simply got up
each morning, had their breakfast, and started work, just like we do
today. They made products needed by their society. But over the
course of the years, as times changed, demand for various commodities
fell, and that for others rose. The wheel turns - it never stops
turning. Various ways of doing things arise, flourish for a time, and
then fade away - naturally.
If this is indeed the normal course of events,
then we should not really be so concerned with the passing of
traditional crafts. We should not cry, "It's such a shame!" when we
hear of a master craftsman with no apprentices by his side learning
the trade. The young people who could have been his apprentices are
all off busy creating new ways of doing things, as young people
should. Edo-era crafts cannot possibly have much relevance in a
Heisei-era world.
Even as we accept this though, another point of
view remains. Think of our musician friends, busy creating modern
forms of music: rock, jazz and pop, but also still making room for
listening to Mozart. In this case, the modern has not displaced the
old, but simply stands beside it. It seems that our society is quite
capable of sparing some of its resources for the purpose of
preserving these traditions.
But this can only be true for as long as there is
an audience for them. If people continue to buy recordings of
Mozart's music, traditional musicians will continue to play it, thus
preserving the tradition. As long as people choose hand-made dishes
for their table, potters will be happy to continue to create them. It
comes down to a simple equation: if you value such things, then you
must make use of them in your daily life. If you do not, then the
wheel will indeed turn full circle, and they will disappear as a
matter of course.
The choice is yours to make. It is not we the
craftsmen, but you the consumers, who will decide which crafts will
survive. We are waiting, our skills ready to be at your service. Our
future is in your hands.