Panel Discussion

Questions and Answers(1/2)

NATSUME(MC) ───── We have now had comments on all the awards. I would like to thank our jury members for their valuable and insightful opinions. As you can see, we have a most distinguished panel of jurors. Since we have this rare opportunity, I would like to take questions from the audience within the time remaining. If you wish to ask a question, please raise your hand from your seat. If there is a specific assessor you would like to answer, please indicate so.

Questioner 1 ───── Thank you for allowing me to participate today. I don’t have anyone in particular in mind, but I would like to ask a question since I have the chance. This year’s winning works are all magnificent, and as someone who also applied this time, I am deeply impressed. Overall, many art-oriented works received awards, but since there is also a Design category, I wonder what you expect from vessels or lacquerware that people generally use, and whether there is anything you would find interesting in the future? I tend to be more towards design than art and submitted such a work, so I would like to hear your expectations or impressions regarding that area. Thank you.

NATSUME(MC) ───── Mr Shinichi YAMAMURA , may we have a brief comment from each of the jurors in turn?
Shinichi YAMAMURA ───── Regarding the state of lacquerware for daily use, there is first the issue of the material. As the other jury members have mentioned, lacquer is a truly difficult material to handle. Compared to modern plastic containers, the processes are numerous, and the material itself is hard to manage. Moreover, the price is rising. In the Stone Age, for instance, lacquer trees must have been growing in abundance around people. It would have been a product made by taking the sap and drying or carving it within pit dwellings. I find it very regrettable that it has become so specialized and that the planting of lacquer trees in production areas has not progressed. Professor OHNISHI is in the enviable position of living among a forest of lacquer trees, and in places like Yamanaka (Kaga City, Ishikawa), the autumn colors of the lacquer trees are truly beautiful. If we could show lacquer as a whole within Japan and establish the beauty and value of the material, I am certain it would be a fine material that people would enjoy even if the price were a bit high.
Furthermore, we shouldn’t just be in trouble the moment imports stop, as happened during the oil shock. It is a sad state that over 90% of lacquer is imported, and we should be proposing lifestyles that bring us closer to lacquer in our immediate surroundings.

Regarding processing, among the many production areas in Japan, Ishikawa is leading the way in nurturing new, young talent. I think this is something that should be expressed more at the Ishikawa International Urushi Exhibition. I believe more items necessary for living could appear in this competition. Among the 215 entries this time, daily-use lacquerware were few in number. We see art being very dynamic, with pumpkin cages from Aesop’s Fables that make one laugh. I think those making daily lacquerware could also have more fun, and perhaps there could be more effort to find users who empathize with products born from the joy of making. It was a bit long, but that is my request.

KAWAKAMI ───── Usually, many daily-use lacquer items are submitted, but this year there were especially few. There were some that were interesting, of course. I feel it would be better if, within items for daily use, especially those used casually and joyfully, there was something that catches the eye or possesses a certain charm, rather than just competing on price while stuck in a rut. To create such things, an abundance of materials is necessary. Most Japanese lacquer is made in Joboji, and while other areas are called ‘production areas,’ they have no raw materials and import lacquer from China. This is likely because it is cheap. However, domestic lacquer has superior qualities, and I believe that if we produced it in large quantities, the price would come down. I feel we should use such richness to cultivate easy-to-use everyday wares.

Also, the occasions for using lacquer in our diet are somewhat limited. We should think with a new perspective about how lacquer can be used not just for Japanese food, but for the various international meals we eat at home. We could even think from the perspective of what food suits lacquer. It would be good to think together not just about the objects, but about designing the eating habits and the systems for using lacquerware. It is difficult for everyday vessels to succeed as a business in the market, but I hope the scale, the numbers, and the people involved will increase dramatically. While the area is currently lacking momentum following the disaster (the January 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake and the September 2024 Noto Peninsula floods), I expect it will recover in due course.