Akeppiroge
Craft and community in Shiga
What would inspire a person to forgo the dream of a sleek, urbanized
existence by moving into what many Japanese consider to be
the 'damp, dark, buggy, and dirty' countryside? And why would
they give up the quest for salaried employment to lead the relatively
insecure life of an artisan? Reasons include the innumerable
joys of a "simple and slow lifestyle," says 59-year-old textile artist
Ayako Kobayashi, and that satisfying sense of "independence"
a person gets from creating and selling her own work, continues
56-year-old ceramic artist Kiyomi Yamaguchi. Kouichi Yamaguchi,
a 53-year-old metalworker, believes Japanese have been separated
by materialism from "the world of the heart" he is able to find in
both nature and craftsmanship.
 These artisans belong to Akeppiroge, a crafts collective which
began in 1998 and whose 13 members all choose to live in Takashima,
a small scenic city on the western shore of Lake Biwa. The
Japanese word akeppiroge can be written by using the characters
"open" or "bright" with "wide." Hiroko Noguchi, a 53-year-old
quilter, says, "the basic point of Akeppiroge is to open our homes
and studios to visitors," this year from May 11th to May 13th. Crafts
on display will include a variety of ceramics, natural dying and
textile arts, woodworking and lacquer ware, calligraphic arts,
metalwork, and glass.
Most members of Akeppiroge are nationally-exhibited craftspersons
in their own right. Visitors enjoy viewing not only the
crafts them-selves, but also the artists' homes, which range from
thatch-to tile-roofed to prefab, and the natural environment around
them. A guest could, for example, reach down to pick some mugwort
along the lane leading to a studio. Inside the studio, that mugwort
may already be bubbling in a pot alongside some handmade felt
to create a beautiful new shade of green wool.
37-year-old woodworker Keiichiro Odagiri reiterates the sentiments
of other Akeppiroge members when he states, "I want to
create works that become the foundation for one's soul." In addition
to achieving these more spiritual goals through their crafts,
the artisans have also reached out towards the conservative
community around them. Over the years, the locals, many of
whom are farmers, have not only increased their support for the
open studio event, but also become more positive towards timeconsuming,
traditional craftwork itself - work which they and
other members of Japanese society have sometimes dismissed
as impractical.
Yoshiki Tateishi, a 54-year-old ceramic artist, says that nowadays
life is becoming uncomfortably extreme for both wealthy
and poor in Japan. He feels that the independent, nature-loving
lifestyle of Akeppiroge members, however, provides a healthy
counterpoint as an expression of "the true meaning of richness."
Text: Gwyn Helverson
Photos: Akeppiroge Crafts Collective
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