Craft Culture in Early Modern Japan: Materials, Makers, and Mastery

Abstract

Christine Guth’s monograph offers a new perspective on craft culture in early modern Japan. Rather than dealing with craft simply from the point of view of those who engage in the craft, and with the subject in a chronological fashion, she deals with “craft culture” in all of its various facets, from the people who engaged in the craft-making, to the networks of knowledge surrounding the craft in questions, to the materials used in craftwork. This method reveals the rich traditions involved in craft culture throughout multiple generations, and also allows us to see how innovation has played a major role in craft production, from import substitution to new techniques imported from abroad and developed domestically. Guth begins with some preliminary observations on craft culture in early modern Japan noting, for example, that the distinction between craft and fine arts in Europe did not hold in Japan until the Meiji period, although there was a rough hierarchy of craft with gold leaf and silvered lacquer at the top followed by silk crafts and porcelain production and so on. She also notes that there were, broadly speaking, two categories of craft: one was craft produced for the burgeoning early modern urban elite, often by celebrity craftspeople, and the other produced in the rural areas of Japan and intended mainly for local use, a distinction that Guth calls “art craft” versus “folk craft”. And finally, Guth notes that even though early modern Japan restricted its interactions with foreigners, there were nonetheless robust interactions with the Asian continent through Chinese contacts in Kyushu as well as with European culture through Dutch merchants in Nagasaki. These formed part of what Guth calls a network of knowledge that made the Japanese craft scene vibrant and innovative.