CNN's 'Artisans' explores how the millennium-old Japanese craft of woodworking is being preserved in the 21st century

HONG KONG, Nov. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CNN's 'Artisans' meets the dedicated craftspeople who hope to preserve the traditional art of woodworking, where Japanese heritage and innovation coexist in harmony, for generations to come.

Osaka's Danjiri festivals are thrilling processions where hundreds of men haul intricately handcrafted wooden floats through city streets at breakneck speed. Though sometimes dangerous, it is a great honor for both participants and the craftspeople who spend years carving elaborate myths and magical creatures into the wood. CNN meets Akihiko Maeda, an Osaka-born artisan dedicated to preserving this craft by training young artisans and collaborating with foreign designers to create contemporary pieces.

In Kyoto, Buddhist sculptor Yozan Miura has found a unique way to merge his faith with his craft. Miura places his sculptures on drones where, during prayer services, they are programmed to descend in formation, to bring to life a Buddhist teaching about the arrival of the Amida Buddha to welcome the spirits of the dead. He still carves the original designs out of traditional Japanese cypress, but to make the statues light enough for flight, he digitally scans his wood-carved designs and 3D-prints hollow resin replicas just a few inches tall.

A miyadaiku, or temple carpenter, is responsible for maintaining Japan's temples and shrines, while also renowned for producing some of the world's longest-surviving wooden structures. In Osaka, Kojiro Kitada, a trained miyadaiku, has mastered the art of carving from a single block of wood, a skill he now applies to crafting furniture in his studio. One hour west of Osaka, Yuriko Tokunaga, a second-generation woodworker, is reviving the traditional technique of finishing wood with a kanna, or Japanese plane, rather than the sandpaper typically used in modern furniture-making. Tokunaga believes using a kanna allows her to connect more deeply with the material and to feel the life story of the rare, locally grown trees. Together, these artisans are bringing Japan's ancient woodworking traditions to contemporary furniture design.

Finally, the classical Japanese theater, Noh, performed since the 14th century, is getting an update. The skill of carving and painting the distinctive wooden masks worn by Noh performers was historically passed down from father to son. But today, female artisans are at the vanguard of the craft, like Kanagawa-based playwright, Lilico Aso, who carved a series of masks reimagining pop stars like Rihanna and Ariana Grande as mythical goddesses from Noh dramas, while Shuko Nakamura uses paper and modelling clay to create fantastical, sometimes comically oversized designs. These mask-makers are helping preserve one of the world's oldest surviving theatrical arts, while challenging Noh's traditionally conservative culture.

Artisans trailer: https://bit.ly/3O0ileT
Artisans images: https://bit.ly/4fgZDvh

Airtimes for 30-minute special:

Saturday, 16^th November at 1:30pm HKT
Sunday, 17^th November at 7:00pm HKT
Monday, 18^th November at 2:30am HKT

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source: CNN International