Author: Ori Koyama, Mizuho Kuwata, Charles Whipple

Publisher/Date: Kodansha Amer Inc 2005, 1 ed. ISBN: 4770-02950-0

Format/Condition: New hardcover with dust jacket in fine condition. 112 pages.

Description: The intimate relationship between Japan’s traditional crafts and traditional lifestyles has been well documented. What has not received as much attention is the present movement by artists to keep their crafts viable and compatible with modern lifestyles and contemporary aesthetics.

For this book, author and interior décor specialist Ori Koyama searched the width and breadth of the country to find the artists and works most representative of this trend. What she found was truly inspiring; An increasing number of craftsmen, young and old, male and female, were taking on this challenge to bring new ideas and ways of thinking into a harmonious relationship with their traditional labors-and they are having startling results. Some are well known; others have worked in relative obscurity. Their mediums range from bamboo to glass, wood to paper, lacquer to metal and textiles and stone. Their only commonality is their commitment to their work.

Over fifty of the best examples were then transported to a Tokyo studio where they were carefully photographed in exquisite detail. Through her interviews with the artiest, Koyama identified the most pertinent design points for close-ups as seen through the lens of renowned photographer Mizuho Kuwata. We learn much about their work and techniques, and how their relationship with their artistic medium is a product of their attitude toward their culture-at once both ancient and contemporary.