＜Hakata doll made by Takashi Miyake 博多人形　　三宅隆作＞

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As I mentioned at the beginning of the president’s greeting,when I was  selecting products to display as gift for lawyer in her  office ,I became aware of the existence of HAKATA DOLL(traditional craft dolls of painted on unglazed pottery).
This led me to develop an inquisitive mind about Japanese history ,classical literature,traditional things(performing arts, clothing,hair style,manner,interior and exterior decoration ,and  crafts)and even East Asia’sversion of  these things.


＜ Hakata doll (creator unknown)作者不明博多人形＞

First I’ll tell you story about dolls

For amateurs like us, the statues (made of bronze,marble,wood , etc )in the high-class art world ,have no color,and we don’t understand the superiority or inferiority of their three-dimensional expression or technique and judge them simply based on whether or not we like the person who is the subject.
On the one hand,dolls don’t have a background, but they have colors,so we can get a more direct feel about the person’s appearance  than a two-dimentinal photograph or paintings.


＜Doll of clay in Tianjin 泥人張　天津＞

Unlike expensive works of art,they are commercially produced to meet the demand for displaying and enjoying the image  of  a specific person,and can be obtained at a relatively reasonable price.
In ancient Europe and East Asia ,there wasn't customs of displaying human-shaped object at homes.
This is probably because in Europe where Christianity is strong, human figures are limited to statues of Christ, Maria ,  saints worshiped in churches. 
No replacements for those statues were provided in the homes of believers other than  used to proselytize to  foreign contries outside of Europe  where Christianity had not yet spread.


<Chinese porcelain doll(creator unknown)>



<Chinese porcelain doll(Bantaoyao, Chayi, Taiwan) 中国の磁器人形（板陶窯,嘉義,台湾）>

In East Asia ,(Buddhists,like Christians ,go to the temples in their communities to worship statues of Buddha ,and do not worship them at their own home), since ancient times, anything shaped like a human has been considered a thing that  brings misfortune.
For example ：items used to transfer disaster for themselves ,or put  curses on others,grave goods that can be used as servants when a privileged person is resurrected in the after life.


＜China goods doll 中国の商業品の人形＞

However ,East Asia was finally able　to　abandon　its　superstitions,lagging　behind　Europe,which　had　developed　scientific　thinking through the industrial Revolution . The famous Empress Dowager Cixi(西太后) in Qing dynasty in China loved Tanjin’s dolls of clay as well as the Peking Opera.

＜‘‘Bunraku’’(traditional puppet theater of West Japan)doll 文楽（上方の伝統芸能である人形浄瑠璃）の人形＞


<Chinese puppet theater Anping Taizhong Taiwan 中華圏の人形劇、台湾、台中、安平>

Next I‘ll　talk about ceramics

Before the early 18th century when kaolin (material for porcelain)was discovered in Europe,Chinese porcelain dominated the world market.
``China ’’the English word for porcelain became the later English name for successive generation of China.(This is similar to fact that lacquerware(SIKKI：漆器) exported to Europe by the Dutch East India Company around the same time was called `Japan‘ (this name given by Marco Polo))Later, many luxury tableware brands such as Meissen ,Sabel ,Wedgewood  etc  were born, and their elegant products are sold at specialty stores in department shops in major cities in Japan.
If I have a chance someday, I would like to take a trip(canceled  due tothe  new corona outbreak) to the four cites(Yixing宜兴，Jingdezhen景德镇，Liling醴陵，Hanzhou杭州)in Middle China where the ceramics industry is thriving.

＜Dolls representing Michizane Sugawara’s　life (created by Yoichi Kojima(legendry doll creater )　Osaka tenmangu MInamimorimachi)     南森町　大阪天満宮　伝説の博多人形師　小島與一氏作成の菅原道真の一生を表わした人形＞

Furthermore,I ‘ll talk about Japanese paintings and oriental classical paintings

It is a technique used in paintings up to the Middle Ages in Europe,and is drawn without expressing any sense of three-dimensionality or  perspective.
In Japan ,the subjects of paintings(UKIYOE) are for entertainment and thesubjects are the daily life of the common people ,while in China and Korea、the subjects that boast of their loftiness.This difference seems to be closely related to the differences in the each country’s political system and culture.

＜Foshan Shiwan porcelin dolls Guangdong province China 仏山石湾公仔　広東省　大陸中国＞

Finally I ‘ll talk about  traditional Japanese garden

Currently,private houses in urban areas in Japan cannot be sold without lowering contruction costs due to the high land prices ,so housing manufactures are supplying standardized,stylish western-style houses.Japanese people often think that Western-style things are nice and traditional Japanese things are seen  as  outdated and unsightly,so they became unpopular,demand decreases,and it costs more to make.
As a result,it is no longer supplied to anyone other than custom orders from rich people.
In Europe ,there are enthusiasts of Japan due to SAMURAI culture and  cuisine of eating raw fish.
Especially in Eastern Europe,there seem to be many people who are interested  in Japanese traditional gardens and BONSAI(Growing miniature trees in pots in attractive shapes ),as well as the Japanese language.


＜European porcelain dolls(manufactured  by Royal woster etc)ヨーロッパの磁器人形(ロイヤルウースター製など)＞