Comments on Award Winners

Ohnishi : I would like to make some comments on the Grand Prize and the Gold Prize winners. My comments might be different from the other panelists, comments. I think it is important to honestly express ourselves.
The black work in front of you has received the Grand Prize. (“Sailing of Time” by Takeshi Igawa, Japan) The work’s simplicity makes you feel the ultimate form of Urushi. It reminds me of the beauty of a Japanese Samurai sword which is also an ultimate form of another example of arts and crafts. Transparency of black Urushi goes with its perfect form. This particular point makes the work truly beautiful. It does not have any fuzzy emotional wavers, which means he has pursued Urushi as a coating material.
The Gold Prize winner is a big vermillion container (“Lapping container ~A baby bath or crib~ by Yoko Toda, Japan) This work is also simple but it has naïve warmth and we feel that it is created from women’s intuition. It cannot be ignored. It can be used as a container as well as a baby bath. In Japan we have had tradition that they give a new born baby its first bath in the Urushi bathtub. Today the baby is usually born at a hospital and not many parents use the Urushi bathtub for their babies. Giving a new born baby its first bath in the Urushi bathtub has been handed down from generation to generation because Urushi kills germs and keeps the baby skin clean. I think that this work has profound insights into the difference between life today and life in the past and that it expresses the origin of Urushi.
The newly established Advanced Design Prize winner is to promote industry (“Clothes (Jinbaori, half coat, skirt) Mikio Shina, Japan) Its proposal is interesting although some jurors have pointed out the problems in wearing them.
I have made my own comments on the award winners. I would like each panelist to make some comments.
First Mr. Yamamura, please.

Yamamura : Good morning ladies and gentlemen. This time I was invited as a juror for this International Urushi Competition for the first time. I was surprised to see a variety of applied works from small jewelries to large interior parts and even monuments.
I am impressed by the fact that the Advanced Design Prize was newly established and that it is valued the same as the Grand Prize. I asked the reason why this new prize was established. The answer was “To select the work which will be able to promote product development or industry development”. I think it is a wonderful idea.
When we judge the applied works at the various competitions, it sometimes happens that not so excellent works are selected or marvelous works are not selected. This Advanced Design Prize has a significant meaning in promoting new possibilities of Urushi not only in Ishikawa but also in Japan as well as in the world. Usually the Special Prize comes at the end of the list of the prizes, but this Advanced Design Prize comes just next to the Grand Prize, which will change the significance of this exhibition.
Prof. Ohnishi has already made comments on the Grand Prize winner. He said just what I would like to say. The work makes me imagine the Stone Age when people hunted animals with a stone arrowhead or a volcanic glass knife. For me it is not only an object but also a beautiful platter. The Gold Prize winner is a vermillion Urushi baby bathtub. Today we have faced the problem of declining birth rate and the so-called kids design has drawn the public attention. Some artists have wondered what they can do for children today. The applied works include toys for babies and items for kids. This work has a gentle form which is perfect for a baby who soaks in a hot bath for the first time after getting out of the amniotic fluid.
Lastly, I would like to talk about the Advanced Design Prize. Quite a few challenges to utilize Urushi for textiles have been conducted. For the first time I have come across the product which holds possibilities of Urushi. This includes a western jacket and a Jinbaori. When you wear the jacket you will realize the interesting combination of soft material and hard part coated with Urushi. When you wear the Jinbaori, you will feel as if you were wearing a formal Sumurai outfit.
I think this product will help you utilize Urushi for an apparel industry. Unlike smaller Urushi works, these products are close to our everyday life because we can wear them. So this time the Advanced Designe Prize has played an important role in stimulating Urushi related industries.

Kopplin : I would like to make some comment on the Advanced Design Prize winner, so that this symposium will be more active.

Ohnishi : Please go ahead, Dr Kopplin.

Kopplin : I think the Advanced Design Prize is a good example. When we decide the award winners, all the members of the assessment panel discuss them a lot by exchanging various opinions. Some agree and others disagree and the panel gets to the conclusion. This is how the assessment is conducted.
I must say that in our discussion yesterday I had some problems with this award. We discussed it for a long time and we took out the pieces to try them on. They are to be used in our daily life, not an art work, and put on the body. When I put it on, my feeling was hard and coarse and also Urushi makes noise while wearing it. This is not comfortable. And I am afraid I will have difficulty in washing. So I have many questions in imagining myself wearing them in my practical life. So I am a little bit afraid that this objcet has a good idea to use water resistant for clothes but it is not yet developed enough to get the prize. I am so sorry that I still have this opinion even though the majority of us agreed to give the prize to this very interesting object.

Yamamura : Yes, we had a lot of discussion on the Advanced Design Prize winner. Some important factor of assessment includes product possibilities or new challenges.
The more you use Urushi ware, the better it adapts to your everyday life. For example, a leather coat is getting more and more comfortable while wearing it. So I think this Urushi jacket will also be more comfortable while wearing it. I agree to her opinion that this product needs improvement so that it can be more practical by using something like Inden techniques to apply Urushi to the fabric. You can apply Urushi to leather in the shape of dots. There will be various techniques to apply Urushi to the fabric. We had very active discussion on this award. I myself recommended this work for this new award.