Japanese Traditional Culture

Chu-chan’s “Go Straight Towards Japanese Traditional Culture” 【PART 5】 Shocking Price Data

Kondo Chuji = Director of Japan Traditional Culture Testing Association

Photo: Mino ware cup

There is a statistic that I have not been able to forget for nearly 40 years. During my time working at the Gifu Prefectural Government, I was in charge of promoting the cities of Tajimi, Toki, and Mizunami, which are known as the production areas of Mino ware. In a column written in a newsletter or something by the then head of Nagoya customs, he introduced the import and export prices per kilogram of major ceramics both in Japan and overseas. It's an old story, so there may be some inaccuracies, but as I recall (※), Mino ware was 390 yen per kilogram, Seto ware (so-called chinaware) was 640 yen, Arita ware was 950 yen, Kyo ware was 1,450 yen, and German Meissen was 4,500 yen.

Meissen originally started out as a copy of Japanese porcelain, especially Arita ware. I was shocked and frustrated to see that it was selling for nearly five times the price of the original Arita ware and more than ten times the price of Mino ware. And this is not limited to ceramics.

Now, in Ginza, Tokyo, where I walk every day, there are a large number of shops of famous international brands, and long lines form outside the stores. On the other hand, there are only a few shops of traditional Japanese industries that have a longer history than these international brands. The most recent annual sales of LVMH, the French conglomerate that manages famous brands such as Louis Vuitton, are said to have exceeded 13 trillion yen, but the total sales of all Japanese traditional crafts is less than 100 billion yen.

“What is this difference?" “What has caused this difference?" I have always wondered in the back of my mind. One reason is that it is the result of the imported supremacy and praise of Europe and America since the Meiji era, the reactionary disregard for traditional Japanese culture, and the uniquely Japanese attitude of belittling oneself and being humble about those close to oneself, such as family and hometown.

So, I thought that first of all, it would be best to get Japanese people themselves to know and understand the greatness of Japanese traditional culture, which may seem like a roundabout way of doing things, but in fact it would be the most fundamental promotional measure that should be tackled first and foremost. Just like how Utsunomiya gyoza became a national brand because the people of Utsunomiya love it so much. If the people who make it don't know about it, there's no way it will be accepted by the world.

150 years have passed since the Meiji Restoration and nearly 80 years have passed since the end of the war, and it seems that even among the overly humble Japanese, there is finally a growing momentum to rediscover the good things about Japan. With the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) being called for, and the number of inbound tourists (foreign tourists visiting Japan) who are interested in Japanese culture increasing, I believe that now is the time for Japanese people to turn their attention to Japan's traditional culture.

*According to Gifu Prefecture's industrial statistics, the shipping value of Mino ware per kilogram in fiscal year 2022 was 442 yen. The shipping value of tableware in Japan as a whole was 584 yen per kilogram, driven by Mino ware, which accounts for nearly 50% of the production share. My memory seems to be roughly in line with the actual situation.