To Facilitate the Inheritance and Development of Traditional Industries

ページ番号305719

2022年11月28日

Kyo Kumihimo(Traditional textile code)

Through more than a millennium of history, the traditional industries of Kyoto have continued to refine and develop their products, including tools indispensable in citizens’ daily lives, implements for religious rituals, and items used in hobbies and leisure, through mutual inspiration between artisans and users at the times. Kyoto is still a major production center for many traditional crafts. Kyoto is currently home to 74 types of traditional industries, 17 of which are designated as Japan Traditional Crafts by the Government of Japan. Kyoto traditional crafts planned and made in Kyoto, called “Kyo-mono,” have been highly evaluated.

Kyo-mono have been produced and processed with high-quality raw materials collected from various areas, leveraging advanced technologies and skills developed by guilds and excellent taste and aesthetics, which have become even more sophisticated throughout the city’s long history. Those products have been popular among not only the machishu (citizens) of Kyoto but also connoisseurs around Japan.

These various products support traditional culture, represented by tea ceremony, flower arrangement, incense ceremony, Noh, and Kyogen. They are also an integral part of citizens’ lives in various aspects, including housing, food and clothing, thereby contributing to the abundant lifestyle culture of citizens in Kyoto. Moreover, these days, sophisticated techniques used in the traditional industries have been applied to advanced industries, playing an essential role in developing the culture and industries of Kyoto and Japan. Under the spiritual influence of various traditional art forms, such as tea ceremony, flower arrangement and Noh, citizens in Kyoto have preserved and inherited their ancestral tradition, instead of simply working only for profits. Meanwhile, with the enterprising spirit, Kyoto has produced many leading entrepreneurs in Japan and provided inspiration to world-class business people as well.

Kimono(Traditional Japanese Clothing)

To conserve and develop these traditional industries of Kyoto, the Kyoto City government implement initiatives to trigger innovation in traditional industries with a view to encouraging motivated young artisans to take a further leap, to reconstruct the value of traditional industries from the perspective of tourism and create opportunities for people to rediscover the charms of those industries, and to enable children to become familiar with traditional industries with the aim of handing down Japanese lifestyles unique to Kyoto to future generations.

Rapid declining birthrate and aging population in Japan has resulted in a high percentage of aged workers in traditional industries and a decrease in the overall number of workers. Furthermore, lifestyle changes have made traditional industries more distant from citizens’ daily lives, leading to a year-by-year reduction in shipments of traditional crafts. Therefore, traditional industries have faced a harsh situation. It will be difficult to restore advanced skills and the great spirit supporting traditional industries once they are lost. The Kyoto City government hope to hand down the traditional industries of Kyoto and the spirit developed in them to future generations, because they are the origin of Japanese culture and industries. Achieving this requires support from as many people as possible. We look forward to receiving your warm support for our initiatives to support techniques, the traditional spirit and workers themselves in the traditional industries of Kyoto.

Funds from your donations will be used for the following initiatives

Creation of the future of traditional industries

Kyo-yaki and Kiyomizu-yaki art created in collaboration with a Parisian lacquer artist

To hand down traditional industries of Kyoto, which deserve worldwide fame, to future generations and develop them with a view to constructing a sustainable society, the Kyoto City government promotes initiatives to create new value free from any conventional framework with the aim of helping young motivated artisans take a further leap. The Kyoto City government also promotes initiatives to assist workers in traditional industries in developing and producing products that match contemporary lifestyles and the lifestyles and tastes of people abroad, exploring sales channels for such products and repairing production facilities. Moreover, it implements initiatives to reconstruct the value of traditional industries from the perspective of tourism and create opportunities for people to rediscover the charms of those industries, and to enable children to become familiar with traditional industries, develop their sense and appreciation for traditional crafts, and become future users of Kyo-mono with the aim of handing down Japanese lifestyles unique to Kyoto to future generations.