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| Traditional Craft Industries in Japan |
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The association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries
Chairman Takao Watanabe
I am Takao Watanabe, the chairman of The Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries.
Today, I feel very grateful and honored to have the chance to participate in ¡§APEC Development of Regional Industry Market Forum¡¨ to deliver a speech to all of you and I also feel the profound responsibility I have in today's participation.
As previously introduced, I am here on behalf of Japanese Traditional Craft Industry and first of all, I would like to begin my speech by presenting you with some basic knowledge on the traditional craft in Japan in these days.
In Japan, for a craft item to be designated a Traditional Craft Product under the Law for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries, which was promulgated in May, 1974, it must satisfy the following criteria.
1. The article must be used mainly for everyday use.
2. The article must be primarily manufactured by hand.
3. The article must be manufactured using traditional techniques.
4. The materials should be mainly those which have been traditionally employed.
5. The industry must be of a regional nature.
In other words, though Japanese traditional craft products of every region are manufactured by hand using traditional techniques for over a century, they are still widely used in daily life in the present day.
The reason that the products used in everyday life are designated, protected and promoted by law is that after the World War II, industrialization in Japan had made rapid progress along with high economy growth.
In Japan, from 1970, environmental pollution and urbanization had caused an increasing problem, and people started to consider the problems of mass consumption and mass disposal socio-economic system. This reflection has led to the return to the traditional Japanese style, and the reform of traditional craft industries has become a trend. On the other hand, the lack of successor for traditional techniques and difficulties in the acquisition of raw materials had become an increasing problem in every region. In addition, fearing that the slump of the traditional craft industries, which has always been the core of local industries, would place a bad influence on the regional economy, the law for the ¡§Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries¡¨ was thus established.
Presently, there are 207 items designated Traditional Craft Products including textiles, ceramics, woodcraft, metalwork, Washi paper and dolls, among others.
I am from Kyoto. In fact, Kyoto produces the highest number of Traditional Craft Products, which are 17 out of 207 items.
Many tourists visit Japan for sightseeing every year and you might have already known that Kyoto is the center of Japanese culture. There are many temples, shrines and Japanese assets such as a Noh and Kabuki drama as well as the tea ceremony and the art of flower arrangement. Hence Kyoto is the region with the most number of Traditional Craft Products designated by the government. The fact that there are great numbers of traditional craft items in Kyoto also has something to do with its cultural background. Culture and traditional industry are closely related.
Today, I am invited to deliver a speech about the ¡§regional cultural industry.¡¨ Since the traditional craft industry in Japan is originated from regional culture, it is indeed the ¡§regional cultural industry.¡¨
However, it is a pity that the basis for the traditional craft industry is declining each year. According to our association, in 2004, the number of employees was about a hundred thousand, the number of enterprises was about 17,793, and the production yields about 194.2 billion. This indicates that the size of the traditional craft industry has reduced more than half compared to the peak from later 1970's to the beginning of 1980's.
There are various reasons for the decline such as the establishment of the mass- production and mass-consumption economy system resulted from the innovation of the technology, the revolution of industrial materials and the development of mass media. Also with the mass production of standardized and low-price daily goods, the traditional craft items have difficulty competing with the modern industrial products in the market, thus the share of the market decreased.
Additionally, with the development of economy, employees expect more from their jobs and this delivers another problem. The small-scale traditional-craft-related enterprises, of which the conditions of employment such as salary, holidays and a welfare program are still inadequate, were unable to attract the young employees.
As you can see, today I am wearing Japanese kimono. Kimono is the traditional Japanese clothing and is made by using traditional techniques designated as Traditional Craft Product by law.
When wearing Kimono, you put on a robe and tie it by a sash around waist called ¡§obi.¡¨ In fact, the basic idea of the traditional clothing of ancient China, Mongolia, Nepal and so on is much like Kimono. However, as far as I understand, there are less and less chances to wear it in the everyday life.
People have been more reserved toward wearing Kimono because it is ¡³1 costly, ¡³2 troublesome to put on and ¡³3 troublesome to fold a kimono after taking them off. However, people's attitude toward kimono is starting to change.
For instance, in recent young women's magazines, intellectual career women wearing kimono are introduced as a symbol of social status. Also, in the summer festival, it has become a standard for a couple to wear yukata (informal summer kimono) for a date. As you may see, people are more willing to wear kimono and it has become a trend to appreciate kimono once again.
I think the maturity of Japanese culture has set the background for kimono, the Japanese traditional clothing to be reevaluated. That's why even in the globalized society, Japanese are willing to take a new appreciation of its own culture and integrate its elements into the everyday life and I am very grateful of it.
Regarding Japanese Traditional Craft Products in general, when they start to fulfill the four criteria listed below, we could be confident that we are heading toward the true rich life as opposed to rapid and homogenized consumer life. In making this change we can call ourselves true members of the international society.
Ć An increase in the necessity for high-quality products that enriches life.
Ć The increasing movement in reevaluating the regional culture.
Ć Reevaluation of the traditional Japanese lifestyle and crafting.
Ć Traditional craft industry to be evaluated as the embodiment of recycle-oriented society.
¡§APEC Regional Cultural Industry Internet Exhibition¡¨ held in Taiwan aims at introducing crafts of the regional characteristics to the world via internet and open up an international market for them. In Japan, the number of users of internet at the end of 2003 is 77.3 million and the estimated saturation level of internet is about 60.6%.
I suppose you are also experiencing the rapid increases of internet users in the recent years in your countries. In order to expand the demand, it is essential to introduce the crafts that are still not well-known to many people. Certainly, we need to find out an appealing manner of introducing these. In this case, it is important that the culture of the country or the region be recognized and to raise the evaluation of its traditional crafts. It is for sure that from now on, the international societies will have more chances to cooperate and respect each other's culture.
In recent years, a word ¡§kakusa¡¨ meaning a differential or gap is often used to refer to social phenomena for example, an earning differential, an education gap and the gap between city and country. In the world of economy and industry, the ¡§virtual economy¡¨ or the risky business is taking place at stock exchanges and we have to be cautious that it is surpassing the so-called conventional business such as manufacturing and commercial distribution, and creating a gap.
Unsurprisingly, the traditional craft industry is a conventional business that originated from regional culture. I hope Japan can run the country valuing the conventional business and the people related to it because the people who participate in the conventional business consider that acquiring the reward that reflects the work they do and enjoying the cultural life that has its basis in the regional characteristics the most important for human happiness.
¡§Economy¡¨ in Japanese is called ¡§Keizai,¡¨ which the original meaning means to rule a country and work for the welfare of people. In other words, it was closer to the meaning of ¡§politics¡¨ we use nowadays. In order for the traditional craft industry to contribute to the welfare of people living in the region as the economic activity, there is no other way other than tightly connecting the traditional craft industry with the people¡¥s lives and start lively economic activities.
One of the Japanese ancient rulers had made a ¡§tanka,¡¨ a traditional Japanese poem describing that when he climbed up to and looked down from a roof, he witnessed every household was busy cooking and smoke was rising up from the stove.
The significance of smoke rising up from the stove is to show that in the country that he ruled, people were all having affluent lives and enough food to eat.
Needless to say, the original purpose of politics was to create a society where safe and comfortable lives were to be provided to all people. And since the cultural industries in the region is most closely related to the regions, I hope that the traditional craft industries in each country and region would have close connection with people's daily life and be developed with pride as well as the culture of one's own country.
Thank you very much for your attention.
Č Mr. Takao WATANABE
Chairman,
Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries,
Japan
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