Editor's Column "Craft Production Regions"

Yamanaka Onsen (hot springs) is said to have been discovered by Gyoki, a renowned monk of the Nara period (710-794). It is a picturesque town nestled in the bosom of the Hokuriku Mountains (a region west of Tokyo on the Japan Sea side of Japan), with onsen ryokan (inns with hot springs) scattered along a valley with beautiful bridges. The famous poet Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) visited the area and w...

Shigaraki is a town rich in nature and surrounded by mountains on all sides. Located south of Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture, it is a highland area at an altitude of about 300 meters, with cool summers and very cold winters. One can see tanuki or ‘raccoon dog’ figurines lined up here and there all over the town, and it is no wonder that tanuki have become a synonym for Shigaraki ware in general. Ho...

In Japan, crafts such as ceramics, lacquerware, textiles, wood and bamboo products, and metalwork are produced in many different locations across the country, and each region has its own unique style of craftsmanship. For example, within Japanese ceramics, Karatsu ware from Kyushu and Ohori-soma ware from the northeastern Tohoku region differ greatly in terms of their materials and color expressio...