Textile magicians, Kyoto's unique veggies, religious ritual crafts
This post, for Japan private tour planners and independent FIT travelers, starts with an introduction to five Kyoto textile masters, and then delves into Kyoto's unique kyoyasai vegetables. The post ends with a look at the Buddhist and Shinto ritual crafts used in Japanese homes and temples and shrines across Japan. [The photo shows a snapshot from a Shinto wedding at Izumo Grand Shrine, which is full of ritual Shinto crafts like the giant woven rice ropes in the background.]
I came across the following March 2002 Kyoto art exhibit publicity announcement in my files. It is about five so-called Kyoto textile magicians. And what is really interesting is the additional information about these artists and images of their work at the Conneticut Brown/Grotta Gallery, which continues to represent all five artists. Today, more than 20 years later, all five are even more famous. See gallery details below.
The five textile magicians of Kyoto by style and theme:
Chiyoko Tanaka wants to show space and time in her textile works. Her textile hangings begin as she dyes the thread and weaves the cloth. She then she goes outside and places the woven textile on a stone bigger than she is. She scrubs the cloth with a brick. Later she work on the cloth with pebbles or mud. In her words, "This work expresses the passing of time" she says. And she's right: time make things and then destroys them.
Masakazu Kobayashi has been working one single thread for years. He wraps threads around thin sticks and then turns them into bow shapes. These bows are then 3D layered to make a very complex and colorful textile structure. shape of bows. Much of his work is themed by his (and our) natural surroundings.
Naomi Kobayashi literally weaves her message. To begin with, she applies sumi ink to washi paper. Then she cuts the message on the washi paper into long slender slices. Then she adds moisture and turns the slices into koyori paper threads. Finally, the koyori are woven into a natural thread warp. The hidden message and the invisible use of it in her work is a theme in itself. She says, "My work is influenced by natural cycles, the air or wind. I couldn't produce my work in a big city" and so she lives in the countryside surrounded by rice paddies.
Jun Tomita dyes his threads with carefully made dyes. These dyed threads are then super tightly stretched on a loom and painted over with other colors. A sense of tension and silence emanate from his stretched dyed thread "paintings".
Hiroyuki Shindo worships the god of indigo, Aizen Shin. And Aizen Shin is enshrined in his workshop. He weaves his soon to be "indigoed" cloth and then layers the entire cloth across a bed of arranged pebbles, Then he pours liquid indigo into the valleys of the cloth. In other works, he wraps torn pieces of cloth around a hard central core to form spheres of sorts. Each fabric wrapped ball is carefully indigo dipped and, when read, rinsed in a mountain stream..
The various textiles created by these contemporary textile magicians are each different. Their common ground is a respect for nature, for the simple thread and for Japanese culture and spirit. The "Textile Magicians: Japan" video, featuring all five artists above, can be ordered from the Brown/Grotta Gallery, 39 Gruman Hill Road, Wilton CT 06897 ; https://browngrotta.com/ .
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Content by Ian Martin Ropke, owner of Your Japan Private Tours (est. 1990). I have been planning, designing, and making custom Japan private tours on all five Japanese islands since the early 1990s. I work closely with Japan private tour clients and have worked for all kinds of families, companies, and individuals since 1990. Clients find me mostly via organic search, and I advertise my custom Japan private tours & travel services on www.japan-guide.com, which has the best all-Japan English content & maps in Japan! If you are going to Japan and you understand the advantages of private travel, consider my services for your next trip. And thank you for reading my content. I, Ian Martin Ropke (unique on Google Search), am also a serious nonfiction and fiction writer, a startup founder (NexussPlus.com), and a spiritual wood sculptor. Learn more!
Kyoyasai: Kyoto's unique & pricey vegetables
For dedicated creators of Japanese traditional cuisine, especially kaiseki (Kyoto haute cuisine), ingredients made or grown in Kyoto are the best. The two things that Kyoto ‘exports’ most are tofu and Kyoto vegetables.
Kyoto vegetables or kyoyasai are a group of vegetables that are unique to Kyoto. According to historical research, kyoyasai have been cultivated in the Kyoto valley, originally settled by farmers from Korea and China, since the Nara period (710-784). Naturally [sic], kyoyasai are not the same as their distant ancestors in Korea and China. They have different shapes. Sometimes they are bigger. Sometimes they are smaller. They are, for lack of a better phrase, ‘one of a kind’.
With the exception of myoga (a kind of ginger) and seri (a water plant), nearly all domesticated varieties of vegetables came to Japan from Korea and China between the 5th and 12th centuries. Western-vegetables, such as tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage and bell peppers, were only introduced to Japan at the end of the 19th century, primarily from the USA.
Today, there are 34 varieties, from 17 different species, of kyoyasai. The best known are: 1) ebiimo, a large taro-type potato which curves like a shrimp (ebi) tail at the tip; 2) kujonegi, a variety of long onion with tender greens grown in south of Kyoto, near kujo-dori (`ninth street`); 3) shogoin kabura, a turnip about the size of a large grapefruit, associated with Shogo-in Temple (a little south of Kyoto University’s main campus); 4) also from the same area: shogoin daikon, a giant version of Asian radish; 5) kamo nasu, a large, round eggplant, about the size of softball, commonly grown along the upper reaches of the Kamogawa River, north of Kamigamo Shrine; 6) shishigatani kabocha, a gourd-like squash or pumpkin-like vegetable, grown in the Shishigatani Valley area along the eastern ridge south of Ginkaku-ji (The Silver Pavilion); 7) kyo-takenoko, a mild-tasting bamboo shoot harvested from the huge bamboo groves on the southwest side of the city, directly south of Arashiyama.
There are two main reasons why these varieties developed in Kyoto: the local soil and the local climate. The up-river areas of Kyoto’s three large rivers—the Kamogawa, Takanogawa and Katsuragawa—have excellent soil, lots of rain, mild temperatures, and high humidity. Since the Old Capital is surrounded on three side by mountains, but not on the south end, the winters are very cold as it is hard for the air to escape. This too has added to the flavor of the vegetables, especially the winter ones.
Given the deep, true flavor of kyoyasai, the chefs of top-class traditional-style restaurants throughout Japan order their best vegetables from Kyoto. The finest vegetable-based pickles, which end a traditional meal also come from Kyoto. They are called kyo-tsukemono. The most famous of these are senmai-zuke (made with shogoin kabu), suguki-zuke (Kyoto sugukina turnip) and shiba-zuke (kamo nasu).
Kyoyasai are also very healthy. For example, kamo nasu and katsura uri, have up to 12 times the cancer-fighting properties of the common varieties found in supermarkets.
Nishiki Market Street: Kyoto's energetic, busy kitchen for more than 400 years
Just one block north of bus-car-crazy Shijo, lies Kyoto’s famous Nishiki market street. Today, this covered 400-meter-long, stone paved lane is home to nearly 150 shops selling every conceivable Japanese food item you could imagine: everything from fresh fish, vegetables, tofu (all kinds) and dry goods, to boiled fish paste, pickled vegetables, sweets and seaweed. The exotic foods displayed in traditional style, the incredible aromas, the colorful faces of the merchants and their ringing shouts of welcome and promotion all make a stroll down Nishiki a market adventure.
Kyoyasai vegetables: For the finest Japanese cuisines like kaiseki, vegetables grown in Kyoto are the best you can buy! Kyoto vegetables or kyoyasai are a group of vegetables that are unique to Kyoto. The chefs of top-class traditional-style restaurants throughout Japan prefer to order their best vegetables from Kyoto.
Tsukemono pickles: In Japan pickles (tsukemono) are pickled in salt. Japanese pickles are made with a wide range of vegetables and every region has its specialty and unique styles. Kyoto is famous for several varieties of pickles, including a year-round favorite called shiba-zuke or senmai-zuke (thin slices of fat, round white radishes).
Buddhist & Shinto spirit homes and ritual tools
The Buddhist altar, which can be found in most Japanese family homes, functions as the most important part of a family's religious and spiritual life. Since the time when Indian Buddhist philosophy and Chinese ancestral worship beliefs combined to form Chinese (and consequently Japanese) Buddhism the idea of an altar to house the spirits has been a primary distinction. And with the elaborations that arose though time the Buddhist altar and ritual accessories developed and multiplied. These include the formal, ornate door enclosed altar, candle stands, metal vases, symbolically designed metal lamp shades, power objects (such as the varja), and a wide assortment of smaller objects, vessels and tools. If the altar set up in the home is considered to be sophisticated then the seemingly endless craftwork (and expense) represented by the Buddhist accessories used as both ceremonial tools and decorations in temple altars are fantastic to say the least. Such objects and accessories make full use of nearly all traditional Japanese craft techniques. All these techniques — such as woodwork, lacquerwork, metalwork, gold plating, painting, and textile technology — require great skill and extensive knowledge based on many, many years of training. In the bright, often garish light of modern Japanese civilization, the world of Buddhist crafts and artwork remains a necessity. And this in itself makes these things so unique and so exclusive in this fast changing, modern society.
Buddhist accessories were first manufactured in Japan in the 8th century, when founding Buddhist priests like Saicho and Kukai began introducing the new religious concepts they had brought back from China to Japan. In the 11th century, purely Japanese Buddhist crafts made with precise Japanese techniques and characterized by outstanding quality rapidly developed. In Kyoto a group of famous craftsmen, including Jocho, established a Buddhist craft guild on Shichijo street in the southern part of Kyoto. As it was previously a center for blacksmiths, silversmiths, and goldsmiths, the Shichijo Street location was chosen to demonstrate the strong connection between Buddhist crafts and metalwork. Today, Buddhist craftsmanship and manufacturing still thrives in Japan, and Kyoto is considered one of the main centers for this.
Kyo-Butsudan Production Processes
1. First, various woodworking skills are used in the construction and sculpturing of the altars. And, just like a full-scale temple, a Buddhist altar is built without nails or glue.
2. Second, lacquer application, which requires an environment in which there is no dust or wind, is carried out. Lacquer affixes itself to wood not by oxidation but through a special combination of temperature and humidity.
3. After the initial lacquer process is completed, another kind of special lacquer is brushed on the wood for adhesive purposes. Immediately after application gold paper foil is applied to certain parts.
4. Finally, using pigments which consist of a mixture of lacquer and gold, silver, and mother of pearl powder, the altar paintings, called maki-e, are added. Sometimes these paintings are also done using special mineral colour pigments.
5. Metalwork is also an important process for carving and cutting the metal parts which are used for ornamentation. These copper or bronze parts are also usually covered in gold paper foil.
Kyo-Butsugu production materials
Woodwork: Statues are often created with special woodworking techniques which use select grades of pine, hinoki, cherry, and sandalwood.
Metalwork: Many Buddhist accessories are produced using a range of special metalwork techniques (moulding, casting, and carving).
Painting: In addition to maki-e paintings, Buddhist images are also created on silk coated with a resin-glue treated using special mineral pigments.
Kyo-Butsugu Kobori: Buddhist ceremonial production open to the public
As one of the largest makers and repairers of and dealers in Buddhist altars and accessories, Kyo-Butsugu Kobori has continued to maintain a high standard of quality and an impressive reputation for more than 200 years. Kyo-Butsugu Kobori employs a large number of artisans and craftspeople at its extensive Yamashina production center, where nearly every type and style of Japanese Buddhist religious object is made and repaired. The work carried out by Kyo-Butsugu Kobori covers every traditional artistic process everything from woodcarving and joinery to lacquering and special metal work.
Kenichi Kobori, the president of Kyo-Butsugu Kobori, is well known within the Butsudan, Butsugu industry for developing a unique way of introducing highly traditional Buddhist altars and religious works into modern environments. His recently established factory (in Yamashina) is open to the public. Visitors are given a chance during their visit to observe how Butsudan and Butsugu are created. In an industry made up mainly of private family-run operations, where each artistic process is handled by a single family, the Kobori factory is quite unusual. His new promotional style has proven to be a turning point for his business, which dates back to 1775.
The new factory is not only a showroom for viewing finished pieces. Instead, this factory offers the visitor a chance to actually observe craftsmen at work, both producing new items and repairing old items (such as precious temple altars). In all, the Kobori factory is sure to leave the visitor with a very realistic and lasting impression.
The factory facilities are modern, clean and efficient, with the work space divided according to each process: a woodworking area, lacquering area, gold-plating area, assembly area, etc.
After you finish your tour, be sure to have a look upstairs at the information center where all Kobori's outstanding altars and accessories are one display. You'll also get to try your hand at gold-plating technique on a little sake cup that you can take home as a souvenir! The Yamashina factory is open from 10 am to 5 pm; courses are held at 10 am, 1 pm and 3 pm daily for parties of up to 30 people. To make a reservation call the main Kyoto shop (address and phone number below). Translation or interpretation services are not part of the tour.
The Kyoto shop is located on Karasuma, north of Shomen, in front of Higashi Honganji Temple. Open 9 am - 7 pm; Closed from Dec. 30th to Jan 4th Tel: 341-4121.
Shinto spiritual & ceremonial crafts
Shinto, the official religion of Japan, is strongly connected with Japanese celebratory events such as marriage, births, and the New Year. Shinto shrines and ceremonies make use of a great number of different ceremonial crafts. Kyoto, which produces about 90% of these crafts, has long been the center of Shinto-related items for all of Japan. Most Shinto crafts are produced in small quantities by hand using traditional methods.
Commonly used Shinto crafts include such things are traditional wedding ceremony accessories and gifts, wooden headpieces used in Shinto dances like the lion dance, trays for religious offerings, mirrors, ceremonial bamboo blinds, ceremonial costumes for Shinto priests and assistants and musical instruments used for imperial court music (gagaku).
In addition to the comprehensive Shinto craft display at the Fureaikan, Kyoto Museum of Traditional Crafts, the Yamada Gagaku Museum is highly recommended. It is the only private museum in Japan devoted to gagaku imperial court music, a tradition that has more than 1,500 years of history. The Yamada Gagaku Museum is located near the intersection of Nishioji and Oike. Advanced reservation by phone required. Tel: 802-2505.
And never forget the all important Shinto god shelf or spirit shelf known as the kamidana. These miniature household altars enshrine a Shinto kami or spirit or god. The kamidana is usually placed high on a wall and holds a variety of items related to Shinto-style ceremonies. Worship at a kamidana includes the offering of simple prayers, flowers, and food (rice, water or fruit) and flowers. Any interaction with the kamidama is preceded by washing ones hands and mouth (purification ritual #1 in Shinto!). Kamidana can also be seen in certain types of Japanese martial arts practice halls.
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Content by Ian Martin Ropke, owner of Your Japan Private Tours (est. 1990). I have been planning, designing, and making custom Japan private tours on all five Japanese islands since the early 1990s. I work closely with Japan private tour clients and have worked for all kinds of families, companies, and individuals since 1990. Clients find me mostly via organic search, and I advertise my custom Japan private tours & travel services on www.japan-guide.com, which has the best all-Japan English content & maps in Japan! If you are going to Japan and you understand the advantages of private travel, consider my services for your next trip. And thank you for reading my content. I, Ian Martin Ropke (unique on Google Search), am also a serious nonfiction and fiction writer, a startup founder (NexussPlus.com), and a spiritual wood sculptor. Learn more!