Regional Crafts

Michel BRAS ブランドの manufacturer KAI Group は、1908 年に岐阜県関市で創業した。 関は日本刀製造 700 年の歴史を誇る刃物の町。昔から町中研いで来たし、今でも研いでい る。関のある美濃地方は、1300 年の歴史を持つ美濃和紙、陶磁器などの産地でもある。和 紙は日本三大産地、陶器は日本最大の産地である。現代に継承される工芸の歴史文化が豊か な日本でも屈指の集中度を誇る region だ。

 

The Savini family business has always been tightly linked with truffles in Tuscany. It is a passion that began in the early 1920’s and that has been transmitted over four generations. Today, they still gather fresh truffles every season just like they used to, and they personally follow each step of the production cycle, from the gathering of the truffles to the selection process, from the cleaning to the creation of products and from the packaging to the sales and delivery.
Cheese production in Aubrac region dates back to Antiquity. In the 12th century, monks founded the Dômerie monastery in Aubrac village, initiating cow herding along with making a hard type cheese that would later become the Laguiole. Named after the eponymous village, its complex flavor is popular among French gourmet. Early stage Laguiole cheese known as tome fraîche, is the main ingredient to prepare aligot, a tasty local dish made with potatoes. It also has a smooth elastic texture that stretches endlessly. Maison Bras has been serving this aligot as a side to the main course since the early days, as a tribute to Aubrac culture.
Takanori Senda, a paper craftsman and Japanese paper artist living in Mino City, Gifu Prefecture. He works in a papermaking village called Warabi in Mino City. Here, he is simply continuing the act of creation. Expose the act of creation. Dirty things, beautiful things. Sometimes it's a fine line. Because people are with nature, they just expose themselves without any reason. Experience the world of Japanese paper, where nature's bounty and human activity interweave. That's one way nature and humans re-merge. From the kozo fields to the hand-made washi paper, there are the pure water that springs from the mountains, the 1,300-year-old technique of Mino hand-made washi paper, and the kozo stalks that are harvested and sprouted and grown and harvested every year. The earth that nurtures All of that is essential. Steamed and boiled, the trees become ash, and the ash is used in the simmering, the power of the fire to keep it going. Paper is created through interaction, interaction, and interaction between nature and people. Papermaking is a job that has lived close to nature. Through this work, people and nature get along well, and it is an opportunity to live comfortably. The history of paper-making will continue into the future. Takanori Senda would like to convey the voice of the mountains so that the paper-making village can continue to exist.
Mino Washi’s history began about 1300 years ago. Mino was a suitable land for the production of Washi because it has an abundant supply of “raw materials” and “quality cold water” necessary for the production of Washi, and it was close to the capital. In the Edo period, Mino Washi was recognized as a paper for the shogunate, and the town of Mino has flourished as a production area for Washi. Washi made in Mino is not only the quality of paper that is thin and sturdy, but also its elegant color and durability, and its beauty when seeing through to sunlight, its texture hasn’t changed between now and the past.
幸兵衛窯は1800年、初代加藤幸兵衛が美濃国一の倉郷に創業し、たちまち江戸本丸や西御丸に染付食器を納める御用窯となった。優美で精緻な染付磁器を生み出した二代目・五代幸兵衛(1893~1982)、玄徳中国染付の研究に没頭した三代幸兵衛、そして四代幸兵衛を継いだ五代幸兵衛(1893~1982)、 青磁、金襴手、染付、赤絵、天目などの中国陶磁から乾山、李朝の陶磁まで、幅広い技法を駆使して数々の名品を生み出し、幸兵衛窯の礎を築いた。幸兵衛窯の礎が築かれた。
六代加藤卓男(1917-2005)は、長年の研究の末、ペルシャ陶磁と正倉院三彩の技法を復元し、光沢物、青釉、三彩、ペルシャ色絵など、伝統と独創の融合を生み出した。これらの功績により、人間国宝に認定された。
現在の当主である七代目・加藤幸兵衛は、独自の現代的な作風をはじめ、桃山陶、ペルシャ陶など幅広い作風で活躍している。七代目幸兵衛の指導のもと、窯元には20人を超える熟練の職人がおり、優美な和食器づくりを目指している。