Japanese Traditional Culture

Traditional Culture and Me (Todate Kazuko)

Vice Chairperson of Japan Traditional Culture Testing Association
Kazuko Todate

My name is Kazuko Todate, and I have recently been appointed vice chairperson of  Japan Traditional Culture Testing Association. I usually teach craft theory and Japanese art history at Tama Art University. From now on, I would like to use this column from time to time to tell you about the appeal and current status of crafts and traditional culture.

Over the past 20 years, I have traveled to art museums and universities overseas to supervise exhibitions, write catalogues, and give lectures, as well as serve as a judge for international open exhibitions of crafts and ceramics, and I have felt that Japanese crafts and traditional culture in particular are receiving a great deal of attention.

As a recent example, I wrote an article for the catalogue of the exhibition “Clay as Soft Power" at the University of Michigan Art Museum in the United States. The exhibition focused on the exchange between Japanese and American potters from the postwar period to the present day, and showed how American potters have been influenced by Japanese Yakishime ware, particularly Shigaraki and Bizen. In Japan, “Anagama" kilns appeared during the Kofun period, and even today, when electric and gas kilns are widespread, there are still potters who use wood-fired kilns. It is more difficult to control the temperature than with electric kilns, and the atmosphere of the finished product varies slightly depending on the season and weather at the time of firing. However, the Japanese attitude of facing nature and other things that do not completely obey your will, and coming to terms with them to create the best possible product, resonated with Americans who came to Japan.

The Japanese aesthetic sense, which finds a sense of “Wabi and Sabi” in the simple earthenware of Yakishime pottery and even enjoys the beauty of cracks and distortions, is also deeply connected to the culture of the Tea Ceremony and has had a major influence on ceramic artists overseas. Peter Voulkos, a leading figure in contemporary American ceramics, has said that after the war he was influenced not only by American abstract paintings but also by Japanese Yakishime pottery.

While accepting cutting-edge technology, Japan has not abandoned the merits of older methods and has not forgotten the origins of pottery. This attitude has much to teach foreigners about human activities, which tend to prioritize efficiency above all else. Japanese crafts and traditional culture are packed with the essence of Japanese values, aesthetic sense, and ways of life.

Professor at Tama Art University, Craft Critic, Craft Historian