CRAFT
LEADERS
Japan Traditional Craft
Revitalization Contest
JapanCraft21, based in Kyoto, is devoted to revitalizing traditional Japanese crafts, identifying the challenges faced by Japanese artisans, and implementing solutions for the 21st Century. As part of our mission, we hold an annual Japan Traditional Craft Revitalization Contest, which aims to discover exceptional project ideas from individuals with outstanding talent, track records, and passion; and provide them with a broad and significant support package. Rather than our deciding which crafts to assist, we gather proposals from highly motivated crafts people from all over Japan and choose the 10 most compelling candidates or teams. Enjoy your time exploring the remarkable work of our Craft Leaders.
2022 Craft Leaders
ABOVE 2022 Craft Leaders ❶ Hiraku SUDO - Metal, ❷ Naruhito TOKUMARU - Woodworking, ❸ Toshihiko INOUE - Paper Mounting, ❹ Yasuhiko KUSUNOKI - Silk, Leather, ❺ Noriko TSUIKI - Texiles (TEAM), ❻ Yang Hen CHEN - Architecture (TEAM), ❼ Yuriko TOKUNAGA - Furniture, ❽ Shogo AKASHI - Textiles, ❾ Toshiharu HISATSUNE - Dye, Textiles, ❿ Kazuya NANJO - Bells, ⓫ Junji KAGATA - Bamboo. ❺ and ❻ won together as a team.
Unlike 2021 Craft Leaders below, here I use "black" numbers and craft names. Which do you like better?
EXPERIMENTING WITH VISUALS
↓ 2021 Craft Leaders
ABOVE 2021 Craft Leaders ① Kohei MURATA, ② Masakuni SEKI, ③ Takuya TSUTSUMI, ④ Ryuta FUKUDA, ⑤ Sachi KITAGAWA, ⑥ Asako TAKEMI, ⑦ Tohru TSUJI, ⑧ Katsumi KAKO, ⑨ Tomoya HYODO, ⑩ Kenta HIRAI
Unlike 2022 Craft Leaders above, here I use "white" numbers and craft names not given. Which do you like better?
EXPERIMENTING WITH VISUALS
BELOW. I cut the image in half, so there are actually two photos below. On smart phone, they appear as two separate images, but on Desktop / Laptop, they appear as one seamless image.
Testing Different Designs
2022
Craft Leaders
2021
Craft Leaders
3 Takuya TSUTSUMI - Surfboards
5 Sachi KITAGAWA - Silk, Kimono
❶ ❷ ❸ ❹ ❺ ❻ ❼ ❽ ❾ ❿⓫
① ② ③ ④ ⑤ ⑥ ⑦ ⑧ ⑨ ⑩ ⑪
