VOA文化艺术2024--Artists Keep Ancient Japanese Craft Alive

Eiko Araki is an expert of the Sanuki Kagari Temari, a Japanese traditional craft. The craft has been passed down for more than 1,000 years on the island of Shikoku.

Araki is at the center of a small circle of women who are working hard to make "temari." These balls are small artistic¹ objects that have colorful designs. They can take weeks or months to finish. Some cost hundreds of dollars although others are less costly².

The balls are not for sports. They are created as special objects, carrying prayers for health and goodness. They might be treasured like a painting in a Western home.

"Out of nothing, something this beautiful is born, bringing joy," said Araki about the temari. "I want it to be remembered there are beautiful things in this world that can only be made by hand."

Creating the balls

The area where temari began was good for growing cotton. The round creations continue to be made out of that material.

At Araki's studio, which also serves as head office for temari's preservation³ society, there are 140 colors of cotton thread.

The women dye them by hand, using plants, flowers and other natural ingredients. Outside the studio, cotton thread, in different colors, hangs outside in the shade to dry.

The lengthy⁴ process starts with making the basic ball. The careful work with thread called stitching is done on the ball. The outer covering of rice grains, called husks, are cooked and then dried and placed in a piece of cotton. Then the materials are wound with thread, over and over, until, almost magically, a ball appears.

Then the stitching begins.

The balls are surprisingly hard, so each stitch requires a careful, almost painful, push.

New generation

These days, temari is getting new recognition among Japanese and foreigners as well. Caroline Kennedy, for example, took lessons in the ball-making when she was United States ambassador to Japan 10 years ago.

Yoshie Nakamura promotes Japanese handcrafted art in her shop at Tokyo's Haneda airport. Nakamura says she features temari there because of its complex designs.

"Temari that might have been everyday in a faraway era is now being used for interior decoration," she said.

"I really feel each Sanuki Kagari Temari speaks of a special, one-and-only existence in the world."

Araki has come up with some newer designs that feel both modern and historical. She is trying to make the balls more available for everyday life. For example, some of the balls can be used to beautify Christmas trees.

Araki often travels to Tokyo to teach. But mostly she works and gives lessons in her studio.

She started out as a metalwork artist. Her husband's parents were temari masters who worked hard to bring back the artform when it was at risk of dying out.

They were not emotional people. They rarely gave praise and instead always scolded her, she remembers. It is a "tough love" teaching method that is common in many Japanese traditional arts, from Kabuki acting⁵ to hogaku music. These art forms demand a lifetime of selfless devotion.

Today, only a small number of people, all women, can make the temari balls to traditional standards.

Araki said that the most difficult issue is training the next generation. She added that it usually "takes over 10 years to train them, so you need people who are willing to continue the craft for a very long time."

But, she explained, "When people start to feel joy along with the hardship that comes with making temari, they tend to keep going."

Words in This Story

studio -n. a building or room where artists work

preservation -- n. the activity or process of keeping something alive

thread - n. a continuous strand⁶ formed by spinning and twisting short textile fibers⁷

dye -v. to put on or apply a substance that colors cloth

era -n. a period of time in the past

interior decoration - n. the job of adding objects and furnishings to a room or home that do not involve its structure or utilities

scold - v. to criticize sharply

devotion - n. the act of dedicating something to a cause or activity

standard - n. something set up and established by authority as a rule for the measure of quality

tend - v. to continue development or movement in a particular direction

1 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

2 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

3 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

4 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

5 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

6 strand   

vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地）

参考例句：

• She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.她把一缕散发夹到了耳后。
• The climbers had been stranded by a storm.登山者被暴风雨困住了。

7 fibers   

光纤( fiber的名词复数 )； （织物的）质地； 纤维，纤维物质

参考例句：

• Thesolution of collagen-PVA was wet spined with the sodium sulfate as coagulant and collagen-PVA composite fibers were prepared. 在此基础上，以硫酸钠为凝固剂，对胶原-PVA共混溶液进行湿法纺丝，制备了胶原-PVA复合纤维。
• Sympathetic fibers are distributed to all regions of the heart. 交感神经纤维分布于心脏的所有部分。