Living Arts of Japan

“Living Arts of Japan“ is a film about seven distinguished and prominent Japanese artists of the 20th century, each working in a different medium: Shoji Hamada, potter Kenkichi Tomimoto, ceramic art Kako Moriguchi, Yuzen dyeing (for kimonos) Gonroku Matsuda, lacquer art Chikuunsai Tanabe, bamboo weaver Shiko Munakata, woodblock artist Seison Maeda, traditional painter Some of these men, including Hamada, Tomimoto, and Moriguchi, were designated Living National Treasures of Japan. All are seen in the act of creating a piece of work. The music score, consisting primarily of strings and woodwinds, is somber and sometimes eerie. The film speaks of Tomimoto in the present tense, even though he died in 1963, so I’m guessing the film is quite a few years older than I thought it was. It was sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and produced by Sakura Motion Picture Co., Ltd., Tokyo. If you want to see more films like this, please subscribe to the Art of East and W