Steve Beimel presenting on “JapanCraft21: Saving Japan’s Master Crafts— Making Progress!” at a presentation on Japanese Culture as World Heritage. Image courtesy of Masashi Nakamura.
Guest Blog by Steve Beimel
Founding Director, JapanCraft21 I have lived in Kyoto for many years, and have often attended events during the month-long Gion Festival held annually in July. Like so much in Japan, the history, cultural significance, and folklore behind the festival are both broad and deep. Like most of my fellow Kyoto residents (including native and foreign), I knew very little about the festival until I read The Gion Festival: Exploring its Mysteries, Catherine Pawarasat’s definitive book on the subject.
Last year, I had the special treat of spending a whole day with Catherine at the Gion Festival. She guided me through neighborhoods that I thought I knew until Catherine opened “many paper doors,” allowing me to enter the world of the people who actually produce the festival.
I was also fascinated by the numerous master crafts involved in the festival. What I learned that day helped broaden the foundation for my work with JapanCraft21: The crafts of Japan is a very broad based subject, consisting of literally thousands of skills. Gaining an understanding about the “micro” community surrounding the Gion Matsuri allowed me to see parallels with other crafts. In other words, the Gion Festival is a focused way to see many things going on in the world of Japanese crafts.
Catherine left Kyoto a number of years ago, and now only returns on occasion, so walking with her in Kyoto was like spending the day with “everyone’s returning cousin.” Wherever we went throughout the Gion Matsuri neighborhoods, Catherine was greeted with huge smiles and warm invitations to enter homes and shops.
Steve admired the joinery and woodwork of new yamaboko wheels at Ofune Boko
She introduced me to people who have volunteered their hard work for over a month every year, for decades. I listened in as they updated her on the goings-on with the festival as well as with their mutual friends who support it. During that day, we saw traditional art displays in private homes and festival-related crafts, as well as beautiful items that had been restored, and heard stories about the dedication of the people behind the restorations.
In the evening, we visited a display of one of the festival’s major floats as guests of a friend of Catherine’s and, coincidentally, my friend, too. Within a few minutes after arriving and finding our seats, we were joined, one by one, by many festival-related people who had come to see Catherine and welcome her back to Kyoto. It turned out that they had all participated in an event at the Portland Japanese Garden a few years ago, introducing the Gion Festival to the people of Portland and performing the ancient and iconic music for which the Gion Matsuri is well-known. Catherine had assisted them in Portland, and the meeting that night was a warm reunion for all.
JapanCraft21 and project partner, Gion Naito Komuten, are building the first authentic Kyoto machiya to be built in 90 years, It uses only joinery, no nails in construction. Image courtesy of Steve Beimel.
All during that day and evening, Catherine made a point of introducing me and JapanCraft21 to everyone she knew. It was obvious that we all have a deep appreciation for a part of the Japanese culture that might be described as living life through the spirit of takumi, a deeply rooted Japanese ethos characterized by unwavering focus, humility, and a lifelong commitment to excellence in craftsmanship. It embodies skills that are meticulously honed and passed down through generations, a profound respect and connection with nature, and a dedication to working collaboratively with others for the greater good. Catherine and I and many others agree that this ethos is worth preserving for present and future generations. Please join us.
The iconic Gion Matsuri paper lanterns are a traditional craft that the festival helps preserve for future generations.
Steve and Catherine toured the historic Sugimoto home together at Hakuga Yama. How many traditional Japanese crafts can you see in this image of a scholar’s study and garden?
Everyone I met at the Gion Matsuri expressed their sincere appreciation for JapanCraft21 and our efforts to save the rapidly disappearing master crafts of Japan through our apprentice support program, our joinery school for young working carpenters, our research program, and our annual contests, which showcase talented craftspeople with brilliant craft revitalization projects.
Writing this in mid-June, when the city of Kyoto is already showing signs of the upcoming July events, it is hard to believe that a year has passed since Catherine led me on a personal tour of the Gion Festival, which she has so thoroughly researched and shared with the world with her book and this website. Thank you, Catherine! It was a pleasure to share the conviviality with your friends.
I learned a lot that day: In addition to technical facts about processes, I came to appreciate the Gion Matsuri more than ever for the way its participants give so much of themselves to an event that they hold dear. There is no financial gain for them. It actually costs them in lost work time, but what they gain from supporting something so beautiful and meaningful can be felt in the warmth and camaraderie they share.
In the Gion Matsuri’s Byobu Matsuri (Folding Screen Subfestival), historic families and businesses, like these in traditional machiya, display heirlooms for the public to enjoy. How many Japanese crafts can you identify in these images?
I am sure that Catherine’s adopted family of festival supporters here in Kyoto appreciates how she brings the story of their magnificent 1,150-year-old celebration to the world as a testament to the longevity of the spirit of the people of this city.
Steve Beimel
Founding Director
JapanCraft21
www.japancraft21.com
Steve Beimel has presented together with GionFestival.org creator Catherine Pawasarat at events she organized, on the themes of Generative Tourism and Japanese Culture as World Heritage (co-organized with Masashi Nakamura of Research Center for Japanese Culture Structural Studies).
Images by Catherine Pawasarat unless otherwise noted.