Workshop: Traditional Craft Industries and Their Markets in 21^st Century Japan - Historical Trajectories, Common Challenges, and Survival Strategies

 

Organizers: 'Research Group on Traditional Japanese Craft Industries' at Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf, Germany

(Prof. Harald Conrad, Dr. Shilla Lee, Adrian Gärtner, MA)

 

Place:           German Institute for Japanese Studies

Jochi Kioizaka Bldg. 2F
7-1 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku

Tokyo 102-0094

 

Date:             18^th September 2025

 

Time:             9:00 - 17:00

 

Languages:  English or Japanese (no interpreting)

 

Abstract:

 

The 'Research Group on Traditional Japanese Craft Industries' at Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf in Germany is currently investigating the social and economic (re)organisation in traditional craft industries and their markets in contemporary Japan. Despite its rapid development as the fourth largest industrialised country, Japan has managed to maintain various crafts and craft districts with distinct regional characteristics into the present. While research has cited demand- and supply-side factors for the 'success' of Japanese crafts, it remains unclear to what extent these explanations are still relevant today and how the crafts have evolved since the early 1990s. Around the world, the middle classes are showing a growing preference for handmade products, which play an important role in discourses on sustainable production, ethical living, consumer values and authenticity. In the wake of this development, the new Western crafts entrepreneurship has also received academic attention. However, the current reorganisation of existing craft districts in Japan is poorly researched. Our analysis of recent changes in Japanese crafts focuses not only on the specific Japanese dynamics of organising in craft districts, but hopes also to contribute to broadening our basic understanding of the structural foundations for a possible revitalisation of communities and regional development through craft production in industrialised countries. In doing so, the project takes an economic sociological approach. In order to identify commonalities and differences in structures, practices, problems and problem-solving mechanisms, three types of contemporary crafts are compared in three different Japanese craft districts - silk weaving in Kyoto (Harald Conrad), lacquerware in Fukui (Shilla Lee), as well as ceramics in Seto and Tokoname (Adrian Gärtner).

 

The purpose of this workshop is to discuss research findings and future directions with researchers and practitioners of Japanese traditional crafts more widely. The workshop will be an opportunity for interested speakers to present ongoing or finished research and will allow a lot of time to discuss and reflect on findings, research approaches, as well as commonalities and differences in various sectors of Japanese crafts. Among other topics, we are interested to learn about a) the changing social and economic structures of the respective organisational fields, b) the role of expert knowledge and training systems and their respective effects on entry barriers and generational renewal of the organisational field, c) discourses about the relationship between craft and machine production, d) the influence of national craft policies and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

If you have been working on aspects of Japanese traditional crafts in contemporary Japan and are interested in presenting and discussing your research at our workshop, please send a short abstract (up to 500 words) and mini-bio by 15 July 2025 to Harald Conrad at harald.conrad@hhu.de

 

The workshop will be small-scale and by invitation only (no online participation). It aims to connect people with related research interests and will create a platform to discuss finished, ongoing, and planned research in a relaxed, pressure-free atmosphere. Initial presentations should last no longer than 30 minutes.

 

Financial support:

 

Funding from the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft - DFG) allows us to support your participation financially. In particular, we can offer the following support:

-For participants from outside the Tokyo area: two nights hotel accommodation including breakfast arranged and paid for by the organizers in the proximity of the German Institute for Japanese studies (in 17^th September, out 19^th September)

-Reimbursement of public travel costs within Japan (including shinkansen, local trains, buses, but no taxis / however, no overseas travel) based on the submission of receipts (please note that DFG rules do require actual receipts!)

-Refreshments, free lunch and a simple dinner buffet

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

With kind regards,

Harald Conrad

-- Prof. Dr. Harald Conrad Chair of Modern Japanese Studies II Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf デュッセルドルフ大学 現代日本研究所 Universitätsstr. 1 40225 Düsseldorf Germany Tel: ++49(0)211-81-11693