[VILLAGE Report vol.22] An Exceptional Number: 17 Items | Kyoto Prefecture

Kyoto Prefecture has 17 items. That is among the highest of all prefectures.

In this series, we have looked at Kochi’s 2 items and Wakayama’s 3 items. That is more than 5 times as many.

Lining up the 17 items

Nishijin-ori, Kyo-yuzen, Kyo-komon, Kyo-kanoko shibori, Kyo-nui embroidery, Kyo-kuro-montsuki-zome, Kyo-kumihimo, Kyo ware and Kiyomizu ware, Kyo lacquerware, Kyo Buddhist altars, Kyo Buddhist fittings, Kyo joinery, Kyo folding fans, Kyo round fans, Kyo stone crafts, Kyo dolls, and Kyo mounting.

What you notice when you line them up is that “wearing,” “decorating,” “worshipping,” and “welcoming guests” they fall neatly into these four categories.

Why did they gather here?

There is one reason. Because demand was right nearby.

There was the Imperial Court, there were nobles, there were temples and shrines, and there was the tea ceremony. The makers and the users were in the same city.

Many of the other production areas we have seen in this series were built on “shipping goods far away”. Nagasaki porcelain and Kagawa fans both had customers far away.

Only in Kyoto were the customers right in front of the makers. That is why orders became detailed, and the number of types increased.

A name that came from war

Nishijin-ori gets its name from the place where the western army set up camp during the Onin War, and where the weavers returned after the war.

The city burned, the artisans scattered, and still they came back. The name of that place became the name of the textile itself.

Kyo-yuzen is said to originate in the patterns of the fan painter Miyazaki Yuzensai, who was active during the Genroku period. Originally, he was someone who painted pictures on folding fans.

That person’s name remains today as the name of a kimono technique.

Folding fans and round fans

Kyoto has both Kyo folding fans and and Kyo round fans.

In vol.14, we wrote that Kagawa’s Marugame fans produce 83 million fans a year, 90% of the national total.

Kyo round fans cannot compete at all in volume. But they have a structure called sashie, in which the handle is inserted afterward, making them closer to decorative objects than tools.

Even when items share the same name, their purpose changes when the production area changes. This is something that has appeared again and again in this series.

Another meaning of the number

The number 17 is not just something to boast about.

It also means that 17 production areas must each be maintained.

Every production area faces issues of successors and demand. Having many of them also makes the weight heavier.

The next issue takes us to Osaka. Its strength is that “the users are professionals.”

References: Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry “Designation of Traditional Craft Products,” Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries

—The Value Village Editorial Team