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Energy from within
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Bamboo has been used in Japan since the Jo¯mon period (10000 BC to 300 BC). Rantai shikki was developed in that era, an advanced braiding technique which consists in a woven bamboo body coated with layers of lacquer, of which rare finds have been excavated in archaeological sites. From the end of the Middle Ages to the beginning of the early modern period, during which the Tea Ceremony has become popular, bamboo, with its unique style and natural simplicity, became the material of tea utensils: tea scoop, bamboo whisk, tea caddies and flower vases. Bamboo craft developed into a modern art in the Showa era (1926 to
IN 2012 HE WAS APPOINTED LIVING NATIONAL TREASURE BY THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT
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1989), corresponding to the reign of Emperor Hirohito. Noboru Fujinuma was designated as a Holder of Important Intangible Property in 2012 by the Japanese government for his bamboo craft (Chiku kogei in Japanese). He is one of the six bamboo artists to be named Living National Treasures since 1967. He was born in Otawara, Tochigi Prefecture, in 1945 and started to study bamboo art in 1975, at the age of 30. Fujinuma presented his work mainly through the Nihon Kogeikai, the Japanese Art Crafts Association, which awarded him first prize at the 27th Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition in 1980. In 1984 he was certified full member of the Association and in 1986 he won the “prize of the chairman of the Japan Art Crafts Association” at the 33rd edition of the exhibition. In 2004, he was awarded the Medal of Honour with Purple Ribbon by the Government of Japan. The first time I saw his work was in the Japanese Galleries of London’s British Museum. “Spring Tide” is an overwhelming work of art, a large basket measuring 67cm by 36.5 cm, alive with the strength of nature, its beauty and warmth irradiating a large amount of energy in the glass showcase. I then had the opportunity to meet Noboru Fujinuma at the exhibition “Four National Living Treasures” held in London in November 2013. Like his work, Fujinuma was full of bright energy. He told me he changed the direction of his career after he went to Paris in 1972. He was impressed by the massive scale of culture in Europe. He realized that Japan’s was just as extensive and important: “I wanted to convey to the world the wonderful culture of Japan. I was thinking what and how I should do it. When I returned to Japan, I started to study the history of our Japanese heritage.” He studied the writings of the master Sen no Rikyu, who set down the rules and codes of the Tea ceremony, Cha-no-yu in Japanese. Then he learned the ceremony itself, to experience in full its philosophy and spirituality. He explains: “Through the ‘Way of Tea’ you have a better understanding not only of the Japanese culture but also of the ten special art crafts (Sen-ke Jissoku in Japanese) involved in the making of all the special utensils used in the ceremony, of which bamboo is one.” At the same time, he came across the collection of works by Sho¯unsai Sho¯no, a bamboo artist designated Living National Treasure in 1967. Fujinuma was really inspired and says the book is still now his bible for this form of art. There were very few Bamboo artists in the mid 1970s. Therefore Fujinuma chose to learn this art craft to pass it to future generations and to introduce its beauty to the world. By a coincidence, his hometown, Otawara, is where bamboo crafts flourished for
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