About Tottori Craft

Tottori Prefecture

Although it is the least populous prefecture in Japan, Tottori is home to a unique, bustling craft culture.
Remote, isolated location and legacy of Shoya Yoshida, one of leading figures in Mingei movement, have given rise to an incomparable craft culture—loosely characterized by a large number of diverse individual producers and its proximity to everyday life.

Tottori Craft History

In addition to generations of craftsmanship nurtured in this remote land where many elements had to be self-supplied, a crucial element in the development of Tottori’s craft is Mingei. The Mingei Movement, which started about 100 years ago, rediscovered and adovocated the beauty of everyday items ordinary people use, and it still widely fascinates many people. Shoya Yoshida, a doctor in Tottori, was an important part of this movement. He visited Tottori’s craft studios that were on the verge of closing down and he helped them develop new Mingei items that suited the rapidly westernizing lifestyles at that time. He shared old mingei items around the world as models for artisans, taught them the proper approach to produce crafts, ran a craft store himself to help sell their items, elevated the quality of crafts and established a more stable production system. Yoshida’s in - fluence is still firmly rooted in Tottori, with a flexible network among the community and artisans. In Tottori, which is blessed with rich nature, artisans live at their own pace, producing their works through contemplation of their materials, emboding Mingei’s crucial concept of “yonobi” or the beauty of functionality born out of the local soil and rooted in its culture.

Shoya Yoshida

Crafts

Inshu Washi

Inshu is an old name of east part of Tottori.
The history of Inshu washi (因州和紙) dates back to 1,300 years ago. The most well-known type is Gasenshi (画仙紙), a textured drawing paper that is perfect for calligraphy and ink painting, and it has the biggest share in the domestic market. Each washi studio possesses a distinct hue, thickness and texture that varies according to different workshops’ papermaking techniques. This makes Tottori a place that can respond to diverse washi needs, ranging from simple, functional paper to lighting equipment, interior uses and art conservation paper.

See Studios

Textiles

Tottori has a rich culture of textiles with both unique material and technique, the former being Hakushu Cotton, a high-quality cotton locally grown on Yumigahama’s sandy soil, and the latter being Yumihama Gasuri (絣) - formerly known as hamagasuri - in which strings are dyed for the desired design before being woven into fabric.
Hamagasuri was on the verge of extinction, yet it was revived through an encounter with Shoya Yoshida and the Mingei Movement, in which he was one of the leading figures. In the past, Hakushu Cotton was so integrated into the locals’lives that individual families used it to craft their kimono and futon fabrics. Indigo dyeing is also actively practiced, with designs that match contemporary lifestyle, in places such as the mountainous community of Chizu

See Studios

Inkyuuzan-yaki

Ceramics

With over 30 kilns dotting across the prefecture, Tottori has a diverse, lively ceramic-making culture.
The traditional workshops harvest local clay and glaze materials as well as fire their pots with the traditional method of climbing kilns.
Meanwhile, young artists combine ancient methods with modern designs to create their distinct ceramics. In many kilns, the heritages of Mingei and Shoya Yoshida is quite visible in their emphasis on restrained aesthetics and practical beauty

See Studios

Rattan items by Jumpei Kawaguchi

Wood, Bamboo, and Rattan Works

With forest covering 74% of the prefecture’s land, Tottori is endowed with bountiful plant resources, and it once created a prosperous culture of woodworking, furniture making and bamboo crafts such as baskets and Japanese umbrellas (wagasa, 和傘). Another remarkable strand is rattan craft that came from neighboring Izumo region. It has been using rattan imported from Southeast Asia as its traditional material for more than 200 years since the Edo period and boasts uniquely exquisite skills. Today’s artisans inherit their spirit and techniques, producing items that blends traditional techniques and their own sensibility,
designed to work well in today’s homes.

See Studios

Metal Works

For a long while, Tottori has been a prime place for the tatara smelting of iron and steel, thus, it is renowned
for its blacksmiths as well, producing knives and tools for agriculture.
These traditions continue today, along with a new generation metal work artists.

See Studios

Knives by Yashima Iron

Masks by Yanagiya Reproduct

Folk Toys

Being a remote land, Tottori is home to many unique traditions and rituals, and folk toys are integral part of it; being more than mere toys, the works embody people’s prayer. They are crafted from various materials such as wood, paper, and straw, serving as a vehicle to reflect Tottori’s fascinating folklore, customs, and culture.

See Studios

Chinese Zodiac Dolls by Shinobu Kogeiten

International Activities

Pop-up at Dejima Store in Paris (January 2024)

In recent years, Tottori craft studios have opened up to international activities, both expanding into international markets and accepting overseas artisans, shops and journalists into Tottori for deeper exchange and collaboration. Without losing their core charms in Tottori, these studios aim to build an international ecosystem, which is believed to be something necessary for the craft tradition to have a sustainable future.

Booth at Habitare 2023 in Helsinki, Finland (September, 2023)

Pop-up at St. Vincents in Antwerp (September 2023)

Finnish textile designer and ceramicist visiting Tottori to learn about crafts (February 2024)

Copyright © Tottori Prefecture (Tottori Prefectural Government) All Rights Reserved.