Japanese Traditional Culture

Chu-chan’s “Go Straight Towards Japanese Traditional Culture” 【Part 6】 Thoughts on the AKARI series

Kondo Chuji = Director of Japan Traditional Culture Testing Association

“AKARI" floor lamp

More than 70 years ago, the “AKARI" series of lighting was created through a collaboration between Gifu Lantern and artist Isamu Noguchi*, and there are over 200 variations of the series, from pendant lights and stand lights to table lamps. All of them are perfectly suited to Japanese-style rooms, Western-style rooms, and even large halls in high-rise buildings. They exude an avant-garde atmosphere that could be used in a movie depicting the near future, and at the same time, they exude the right amount of warmth like human skin and a nostalgic feeling that brings you back to childhood.

What is the secret? Perhaps the timeless form is due to the traditional techniques used in making Gifu lanterns, which were used by the Shogunate and the inner palace of the Edo period as the finest lanterns.

Gifu lanterns are characterized by the fact that the bamboo sticks used for the frame are thin, that the frame is made by winding them in a spiral shape rather than overlapping rings, and that the frame is covered with Mino Washi-paper. Of course, all steps are done by hand by craftsmen.

What's even more surprising is that the “AKARI" series has the greatest function of a lantern. That is, it can be folded. Made from bamboo sticks and Mino Washi-paper, it is much lighter than it looks and is easy to carry. The “AKARI" series is packed with all of Gifu Lantern's core competencies (strengths that competitors don't have).

Without losing even a little of the essence of traditional crafts born from Japan's history and climate, these light sculptures will continue to envelop people in warm light, from private Japanese-style rooms to public halls, and not just in the present but also in the future. I believe that the “AKARI" series shows the way forward for traditional crafts, which are often thought of as outdated and a thing of the past.

Looking back into history, there are many examples that are similar to the way Isamu Noguchi breathed new life into Gifu lanterns. Furuta Oribe, a feudal tea master from the Sengoku period to the early Edo period, produced Oribe ware that was similar to the art of Dali, by turning the previously beautifully round tea bowls and pots into hyōge (funny and deformed shapes). Oribe ware still adorns Japanese dining tables today, and Ogata Korin, Sakai Hōitsu and Katsushika Hokusai also used it to draw the sketches for ceramics and lacquerware.

I look forward to seeing the next generation of Isamu Noguchi and Furuta Oribe update traditional crafts.

*Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988)： One of the leading sculptors of the 20th century. Born in Los Angeles to English literature scholar and poet Yone Noguchi and writer Leonie Gilmore, he spent his childhood in Japan. The site of his studio in Mure-cho, Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture, is now the Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum.