archipel

NEW | The Call of a Craftsman - Shigeru Kancho (Patreon)

Published:

2021-11-09 13:02:01

Imported:

2026-06

haven't archived this post yet. have a subscription? use the importer!

Content

Hi everyone,

As briefly shared yesterday, we just posted a new video on the Archipel channel. While we were in Wajima, located in Ishikawa prefecture for a project, we met with Shigeru Kancho, a 5th-generation artisan specialized in wan-kiji, a bowl cutting technique which initiates the process of the traditional Wajima lacquerware creation.

With an accelerated population decrease in rural regions and less interest from younger generations to pursue Japanese traditional crafts, artisans are facing a crisis, with techniques disappearing, lacking successors to take over. Shigeru Kancho shared to us a message on the current state of craftsmen and how he foresees the future of traditional techniques.

While our documentary on non-mainstream mangaka is still in the works, we thought we would share Kancho's message with this video.

We hope you'll like it and thank you for your support.

- the Archipel team

Files

Previews only

The Call of a Craftsman - Shigeru Kancho

While we were in Wajima, located in Ishikawa prefecture, we met Shigeru Kancho, a 5th generation artisan specialized in wan-kiji, a traditional bowl cutting discipline and first step of the renown Wajima lacquerware creation process. He shared a message on the current state of craftsmen in Japan, and their grim future, as they struggle to find successors to transmit over their ancestral techniques to future generations.