Japanese craft & Japanese art
Japan has a very rich heritage of craft of highest quality. Centuries-old crafts long extinct in the West still flourish in Japan with many beautiful handmade objects. From lacquered wooden chests and intricately woven baskets to refined kimono and chiseled stone lanterns, articles of old are lovingly produced by skilled craftsmen and women in a manner perfected generation by generation.
The Japanese government helps promoting these old crafts. Traditional crafts and the craftsmen and women who make them are recognized and promoted in different ways, including the National Living Treasure program which honors craftspeople and performing artists since 1950. The purpose of the National Living Treasure Award is to recognize and encourage exceptional craftspeople and to provide them with incentives to carry on their craft and hand it down to others. With an annual stipend and national acclaim comes the responsibility of teaching, lecturing, and appearing throughout the country at special exhibitions aimed at promoting an interest in Japan’s artistic heritage.
NIHON ICHIBAN promotes the following traditional crafts on this website:
