Panel Discussion

Comments on the Jurors’ Special Prizes Winners (seven works)(2/7)

NATSUME(MC) ───── Next is the Shinichi YAMAMURA Prize:Kansitu kabotyagata musikagobako (ari to kirigirisu)/Kanshitsu (dry lacquer)Pumpkin-shaped Insect Cage (The Ant and the Grasshopper) by Mushu YAMAZAKI. Mr Shinichi YAMAMURA, could you provide your comments on this work?

 

Shinichi YAMAMURA ───── This is truly endearing work. It is based on the nostalgic Aesop’s Fable,The Ant and the Grasshopper, and was created while remembering the insect cages children used to make by carving out pumpkins. Using the minute techniques of takamaki-e (raised maki-e lacquer), the insects inside the cage are vividly depicted. The cross-section of the pumpkin forms the front of the cage, and it is a pumpkin-shaped kanshitsu (dry lacquer) work that makes it look as if the charming insects are actually moving inside.

The exterior looks exactly like a pumpkin, and the cross-section is finished in a delicious-looking pumpkin colour. Looking at the ants and the grasshopper inside makes me smile and brings me back to my childhood. In an era filled with complex terms like IT and AI, the fact that such a gentle work was produced is a testament to Mr YAMAZAKI’s wonderful imagination and energy. I appreciated it for this simple recreation of an Aesop’s Fable. It is a magnificent work. Congratulations.

NATSUME(MC) ───── Thank you, Mr Shinichi YAMAMURA.