伝統文化を知る

宙ちゃんの「伝統文化一直線」　第１５回　貧しい国

近藤宙時＝日本伝統文化検定協会理事

世界を魅了した明治期の銀製ケース（左：藤井美豊作、右：池戸民国作）

戦争は技術を生み出し、平和がそれを進化させるといわれます。日本でも、戦を生業（なりわい）とする武士階級が支配した鎌倉時代から戦国時代にかけて、今に続く工芸の多くが鎧（よろい）兜（かぶと）、刀剣といった武具から起こり、平和な徳川の治世になって美をまといました。例えば、印伝（鹿の皮に漆などで模様を付けた工芸品）は武士が身に着けるすね当てや小手、陣羽織などの戦装束から、また簪（かんざし）などの装飾品は鍔（つば）や目貫（めぬき）、笄（こうがい）、小柄（こづか）などの刀装具から生まれ、極めて高度な技術に発達したものです。

江戸から明治への時代の転換は、工芸の世界に大きな衝撃を与えました。とりわけ深刻な影響を受けたのが、刀剣や鎧兜などの武具の制作に携わっていた金工師たちです。武士階級という唯一の顧客を失った彼らは、路頭に迷いながら、シガレットケースや名刺入れ、コンパクトケースにカフス、ペンダントなどの装身具、花瓶や香炉などの家庭用品の制作に活路を見いだしていきました。

明治政府は当時、工芸品を輸出の主力と位置づけ、その伝承、発展を推進していました。２０円金貨や１円銀貨の原型制作で知られる加納夏雄や、重要文化財「蘭陵王置物」などの作品を残した海野勝珉（うんの・しょうみん）ら、帝室技芸員に指定された工芸家たちの経歴や業績はインターネットで簡単に調べられます。

しかしながら、それ以外の工芸家となると、全くと言っていいほど記録が残っていません。金工の正阿弥勝義や牙彫（げちょう）の安藤緑山（ろくざん）、陶芸の宮川香山（こうざん）など、ごく一部の人物に関しては、近年、京都の清水三年坂美術館の努力によって業績が研究され、記録も整ってきましたが、その他の工芸家については手付かずのままです。

写真左の銀製ケースを制作した藤井美豊は、１９１０年にロンドンで開かれた日英博覧会で金賞を獲るなど数々の展覧会で受賞。天皇お買い上げの栄誉にも浴したほか、象嵌（ぞうがん）技法に関する特許を得て２００人以上もの職人を雇って工房を運営し、多くの作品を輸出しました。写真右の銀製ケースの作者である池戸民国は刀剣の鍔や目貫の制作で名声を得ていましたが、明治維新後は装身具や香炉などの民生品に転じ、その技術力の高さと芸術性からボストン美術館にもブースが設けられているほどです。ただ、両人の名前をネットで検索しても、ヤフーオークションの出品物が出てくるくらいで、生没年すら載っていません。

ところが、「Ｆｕｊｉｉ　Ｙｏｓｈｉｔｏｙｏ」「Ｉｋｅｄｏ　Ｍｉｎｋｏｋｕ」で検索すると、英文では生没年はもちろんのこと、上記の事績を含め、かなり詳細な情報が表示されます。工芸の中で主流の位置を占める金工の世界でさえこの状況ですから、他のジャンルも似たようなものでしょう。思えば、この国は北斎、広重から白髪一雄、草間彌生、村上隆に至るまで、自分たちでは評価すらできず、他国にその素晴らしさを教えてもらってきた国でした。

工芸の世界は、油絵や日本画などの芸術系以上に、より日本の伝統文化、日本という国の個性・魅力に深い関わりを持っています。本来は国立の博物館・美術館、あるいは文部科学省に少なくとも明治以降の工芸を網羅したリストがあるべきです。残念ながら、日本の伝統工芸を包括的に研究し、工芸家やその作品のリスト化はもちろん、彼らの技法・技術について映像も含めたアーカイブを作って次の時代に伝える機関はどこにもありません。これではとても文化的に豊かな先進国とは言えず、「貧しい国」と言わざるを得ません。あまりにも寂しい話です。

手をこまねいているうちに失われてしまった貴重な技法・技術も少なくありません。失ってしまってから、それらを「幻の技法」と呼んで尊ぶ状況は、本来あってはならないことです。国が何もせず、江戸時代に失われた志野焼を長年の努力で再現した荒川豊蔵のような稀有な人物の出現を神頼みしているようでは、世界の笑いものになるだけでしょう。

伝統工芸は、この列島に人が住み始めて以来、生々流転しながら、日本という国を日本らしく魅力的なものにしてきた伝統文化を目に見える形で今に伝えてくれています。いわば、日本の華です。花に水の一つもやらない国であってはなりません。伝統工芸・伝統文化に関する情報の発信だけでなく、その継承・発展に日本伝統文化検定協会が少しでも寄与できたらと切に思います。

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【English version】

Chu-chan's “Traditional Culture in a Straight Line” No. 15 Poor Country
Kondo Chuji = Director, Japan Traditional Culture Certification Association

Meiji era silver cases that fascinated the world (left: by Yoshitoyo Fujii, right: by Minkoku Ikedo)

It is said that war creates technology, and peace evolves it. In Japan, from the Kamakura to the Sengoku periods, when the warrior class, whose livelihood depended on warfare, dominated the country, many of the crafts that continue to this day originated in armor, helmets, swords, and other armors, which became beautiful in the peaceful reign of the Tokugawa shogunate. For example, inden (deer skin with lacquer patterns) came from war costumes worn by warriors, such as shinpatsu, kote, and jinbaori, and ornaments such as kanzashi came from sword accessories such as tsuba, menuki, kougai, and kogara, and developed into extremely advanced techniques.

The transition from the Edo period to the Meiji period (1868-1912) had a profound impact on the world of crafts. Particularly severely affected were the goldsmiths who were involved in the production of swords, armor, and other armors. Having lost their only clientele, the samurai class, they found their way to the streets, producing cigarette cases, business card cases, compact cases, cufflinks, pendants, and other accessories, as well as vases, incense burners, and other household items.

The Meiji government at the time considered crafts to be the mainstay of exports and promoted their transmission and development, and the careers and achievements of craftsmen designated as Imperial Household Artists, such as Natsuo Kano, known for his prototype production of the 20 yen gold coin and 1 yen silver coin, and Shomin Unno, whose works include the important cultural property “Ornament of the King Lanryo” can be easily found on the Internet. The biographies and accomplishments of craftspeople designated as Imperial Artists, such as Unno Shomin, who produced works such as the important cultural asset “Lanryo Royal Ornament.

However, for other craftspeople, there are almost no records at all. In recent years, thanks to the efforts of the Kiyomizu Sannenzaka Museum of Art in Kyoto, the achievements of a small number of craftsmen, such as Shoami Katsuyoshi (metalworker), Ando Rokuzan (carver), and Miyagawa Kozan (ceramic artist), have been studied and documented, but other craftsmen remain untouched.

Fujii Yoshitoyo, the creator of the silver case on the left, won numerous awards at exhibitions, including a gold medal at the 1910 Anglo-Japanese Exposition in London. He was also honored by the Emperor of Japan with a purchase order. He was granted a patent for his inlaying technique, employed over 200 craftsmen to run his workshop, and exported many of his works. Ikedo Minkoku, the maker of the silver case on the right of the photo, gained fame for making sword tsubas and menuki, but after the Meiji Restoration, he turned his attention to consumer items such as ornaments and incense burners, and even has a booth at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, for his high skill and artistic merit. However, when searching for the names of both artists on the Internet, only Yahoo! Auctions items come up, and not even their dates of birth and death are listed.

However, if you search for “Fujii Yoshitoyo” or “Ikedo Minkoku,” you will find quite detailed information in English, including the birth and death dates as well as the above achievements. Since this is the situation even in the world of metalwork, which occupies a mainstream position among crafts, other genres must be similar. Looking back, this is a country that has been unable to even appreciate its own works, from Hokusai and Hiroshige to Kazuo Shiraga, Yayoi Kusama, and Takashi Murakami, and has had to rely on other countries to teach it how to appreciate them.

The world of crafts is more closely related to traditional Japanese culture and the individuality and charm of Japan as a country than to oil paintings, Japanese-style paintings, and other art forms. Originally, national museums and art museums, or the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, should have a comprehensive list of crafts from at least the Meiji period onward. Unfortunately, there is no institution that comprehensively researches traditional Japanese crafts and creates a list of craftsmen and their works, as well as an archive of their techniques and skills, including videos, to pass them on to the next generation. This is not a culturally rich developed country, but rather a “poor country. It is a very sad story.

There are many valuable techniques and skills that have been lost because we have not done anything about it. It is not right to call them “phantom techniques” after they have been lost. If the government does nothing, and instead relies on the emergence of a rare person like Toyozo Arakawa, who worked hard for many years to recreate Shino Yaki that was lost during the Edo period, it will only become a laughingstock of the world.

Traditional crafts have been a part of the traditional culture that has made Japan attractive and unique since the beginning of human habitation in this archipelago, and they have been passed down to us in visible form. They are, so to speak, the flowers of Japan. Japan should not be a country that does not water its flowers. I sincerely hope that the Japan Traditional Culture Certification Association can contribute not only to the dissemination of information on traditional crafts and culture, but also to their inheritance and development.