Our Mission 

Revitalize traditional Japanese master crafts (dentō kōgei 伝統工芸) by identifying issues faced by artisans and implementing solutions for the 21st century.

What We Do

JapanCraft21 aims to reverse the rapid decline of traditional Japanese crafts. In addition to helping to create a school of advanced traditional building skills, we are leveraging our resources by launching a series of Traditional Craft Revitalization Contests, each aiming to revive an old craft so it may flourish in the 21st century.

Traditional Craft Revitalization Contest

IDEA CONTESTS: Each year, we search for exceptional project ideas from individuals with outstanding talent, track records and passion, and provide them with a broad and significant support package. To explore the remarkable work of past winners, please see 2021 Craft Leaders. Six highly respected professionals, academics, and artists act as JUDGES for the contests.

① Yuji AKIMOTO ② Shihoko FUKUMOTO ③ Eriko HORIKI

④ Tsutomu HORIUCHI ⑤ Masamitsu SAITO ⑥ Reiko SUDO

School of Traditional Building Arts

We co-founded the School of Traditional Building Arts (Shin-Machiya Juku 新町屋塾) in Kyoto to teach rapidly disappearing building skills. Our intensive yearlong courses are held on Sundays to accommodate young working building trades people. We have taught joinery to carpenters and bamboo mud wall construction to plasterers. In 2022, we held an advanced course in Japanese garden building and maintenance as well as a training course in the application of natural lacquer. Our school fulfills the growing demand for fine quality traditional construction by teaching nearly forgotten skills and giving young tradespeople a direct path to mastery. We provide full scholarships to all students.

Education

JapanCraft21 is committed to educating young up-and-coming crafts people in such projects as our School for Traditional Building Arts, and to educating the public about the value of fine Japanese Master Crafts through social media and our online magazine. Also, in order to maximize our effectiveness in achieving our craft revitalization vision, it is imperative that we educate both our staff and our membership. We accomplish this with regular online lectures for all of our members and private cultural events for our patrons.