Combining different materials: A time of trial and error

It took nearly two years of painstaking repeated trial and error to produce the prototypes. The project firstly began with artisans visiting each other's production area to understand their history, skills, and the current situation of their craft. A common theme in all regions was the shortage of successors, naturally giving rise to apprehension about the future, but at the same time, project members came in touch with the living "skill" history and the strong "determination" of artisans to keep their beloved crafts alive today. It was an opportunity for creators to reflect on their own environment, and discover how fellow artisans are meeting the challenges of modern society. Each artisan also faced the challenge of working in a completely new medium and dealing with such different materials as fabric, glass, metal, or lacquer. Slowly ideas for new products started to take shape: "Echizen Washi diffuses light beautifully," "Let's apply a simple ikat design to the blue-and-white porcelain," or "The seven jewels of Edo Cut Glass can also be seen on Nabeshima porcelain, but the hemp leaf pattern, that is something different"; the artisans really enjoyed discovering the techniques of different disciplines. The possibility of presenting new innovative products suitable for the "tea ceremony (movement)" was also discussed. Later in the brush-up stage of the development process, graphic and sales-promotional designers joined with industrial designers, and played a key role in solving such problems as moving from small batch production to bulk production in the studio. A new concept was also incorporated into some products, namely, meeting the challenge of selling overseas where lacquerware is not typically used as tableware.

Completed products to be announced in September: Brush-up is now in the final phase

Hiroshige Akase, the representative of the Made in Japan Project company, and the coordinator of the Production Centers Collaboration Project commented: "The regions who collaborated with Arita, in the first place, had a strong commitment, 'If Arita's in, we're in.' In the first year, artisans exchanged visits to their production centers and experimented with prototypes, and as a result of their efforts, in the second year, designers joined in to help solve any remaining problems. The production areas are grateful for these collaborative opportunities and looking forward to making the products available. This year is the final chapter of the project, and I will continue to focus on the success of Arita." Naturally some of the eight regions are further down the road to brushing up their work than others, but we will be presenting the completed products to the public in September. The day when we take these traditional crafts from the Imari and Arita region and dispatch them out across Japan and the world is fast approaching.