Interviewee: Ichiro Hirose (Owner of Momoi)
Artists pioneering the art of everyday life
It seems to me that modern Japanese crafts, centered on ceramics, undergo major changes and transitions every 30 years or so."
So says Ichiro Hirose of Tokyo, a pottery store in Nishi-Azabu, Tokyo. Since opening his store in 1987, he has gained the trust of many creators and is a leading voice in the Japanese pottery world, discovering young artists one after another.
"The 30 years preceding the new generation that is currently attracting attention, from the 1990s to the 2000s and 2010s, also saw major innovations in crafts. Let's start by tracing the trends."
Originally, there were two streams of crafts: artistic crafts for the nobility, and everyday crafts for the common people.
"Until the 1950s, crafts were primarily a counter to Western arts and crafts in Japan. Then, a movement arose to seek out uniquely Japanese crafts, and individual artists emerged. The period that followed, from the 1960s to the 1980s, was a time when crafts became an icon of culture and education. Crafts that were separate from everyday life and created by artists who held exhibitions in department stores and galleries, took center stage."
A revolution in "living crafts" that focuses on tableware used in everyday life
"Then came the 1990s. In the fields of literature, contemporary art, and music, a 'new generation' of artists like Haruki Murakami, Banana Yoshimoto, Takashi Murakami, Yoshitomo Nara, and Ryuichi Sakamoto emerged one after another. However, in the world of crafts, where tradition was still very much at the mercy of tradition, a change in the awareness of makers and users came a little later. The bubble economy burst, and the era shifted from an upwardly mobile, growth-oriented era to one of maturity, where people looked down on their feet."
Lifestyle and women's magazines began featuring modern ceramic artists, such as Kuroda Taizo, under the moniker "utsuwa artists," and new cultural figures such as stylists and culinary experts also took the initiative to introduce their pottery. Then, in the 2000s, creators referred to as "living crafts" -- woodworker Mitani Ryuji, ceramic artist Ando Masanobu, lacquer artist Akagi Akito, and glass artist Tsuji Kazumi -- began to attract attention.
Kuroda Taizo (1946-2021). After working under a Canadian potter, he studied under the folk art potter Shimaoka Tatsuzo. Since 1992, he has been creating stoic white porcelain influenced by the Joseon Dynasty. He also worked on tableware until the 2000s, but has since been creating abstract artworks. 
Ryuji Mitani was born in Fukui Prefecture in 1952. After working in art production for a theater company in the 1970s, he set up a studio in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture. Since the mid-1980s, he has been producing wooden tableware, butter cases, and cutlery for everyday use. In 1985, he was involved in the launch of the Matsumoto Craft Fair. 
Masanobu Ando / Born in Gifu Prefecture in 1957. Popular for his Holland series inspired by antiques and pewter plates decorated with silver glaze. In 1998, he opened Galerie Momogusa in Tajimi, Gifu. Studio MAVO, which opened in 2000, has produced many ceramic artists.
"They are creators who chose crafts after working in other fields such as contemporary art, theater, and magazine editing. In that roundabout process, they likely developed their sensibilities not only as creators but also as users. This is the case with Uchida Koichi, who made his debut in his teens, held exhibitions overseas at an early age, and was exposed to the world of antiques. None of them could find anything they wanted to use among the crafts on display in department stores and galleries, so I think they started out with the idea of making something themselves."
What made him significantly different from previous creators was his comprehensive production ability to communicate what he created in his own words.
"Akagi and Mitani have written books and essays. Ando has also begun to create venues to communicate his aesthetic sense, such as Galerie Momogusa."
The magazine featured their lifestyles, including their homes and dining tables, and they became synchronous with users who began to feel a desire to enrich the inner workings of their lives. The curatorial power of pottery galleries like Momoi also strongly supported this momentum.
Akagi Akito / Born in Okayama Prefecture in 1962. After working as an editor for a women's magazine, he studied under a Wajima lacquerware undercoat craftsman and became independent in 1994. He creates bowls with a matte texture that suits modern times while referencing the traditional Wajima lacquerware shapes. He has made a breakthrough in the world of lacquerware. He has written many books, including "The Road Without a Name" (Shinchosha). 
Tsuji Kazumi (Tsuji Kazumi) was born in Ishikawa Prefecture in 1964. In 1999, she opened her glass studio, Factory Zoomer, in Kanazawa City. She gained popularity for her geometrically patterned cups and vessels. While creating product-like vessels by combining shapes, sizes, and patterns, she also works as a contemporary artist. 
Koichi Uchida was born in Aichi Prefecture in 1969. He made his debut as a ceramic artist in his teens. He has a deep knowledge of ancient art from around the world, and incorporates the forms he learned from it into his work. In 2015, he established the BANKO archive design museum in Mie Prefecture, a private art museum showcasing Banko ware.
"I think that at the root of this huge wave was a questioning of the bubble-like atmosphere of the 1980s. You could say that the creators of "Lifestyle Crafts" were originally anti-crafts, antithetical to the crafts displayed in department stores and galleries. Their work is anti-authority, a subculture opposed to the high culture of fine arts and crafts. Over the past 30 years, they have become a big name known to all craft lovers, but their origins lie in the desire to create more free-flowing things and use them freely. That's why it was such a revolution."
After crafts as a subculture, what kind of era of crafts will come next?
Predictions of new crafts for the digital age
"I don't think that large trends are emerging anymore. I feel that we are living in an age where many small clusters of crafts are scattered like island universes in the vast ocean of crafts. When people who are interested in a certain style or artist come together, one small universe is born, but there are also other small universes in distant places, and these exist without any direct connection to each other. I think that this is what crafts in the digital age are like.
When I talk to young creators, some are active without knowing the names of previous artists, while others say they learned their techniques from YouTube. It's a very freeing experience. VR will likely even penetrate the human physicality that has been the foundation of traditional crafts. It wouldn't be surprising to see the emergence of "digital craft" creators who skillfully combine cutting-edge technology with their own physicality to create things.
I can't give them definite names yet, but it's clear that a tectonic shift is beginning to occur in the world of crafts, and I'm really looking forward to it."
