TRADITIONAL GLASS HANDICRAFT EDO KIRIKO - THE WORLD OF AKIO KUROKAWA
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In the Edo period, the Japanese craftsman called “Kyubei Kagaya” started engraving glasses with emery powder, fascinated by the gorgeous glasses brought into from Europe. It is said that this was the origin of Edo Kiriko. In contrast to Satsuma Kiriko which has been produced as one of the industrial products under the patronage of the Satsuma Clan, Edo Kiriko has been made by the hands of private citizens. In the Meiji period, the government decided on a policy to introduce western culture into Japan, and making glassware also became one of the national industries. Western style grinder took the place of hand-cutting process which was used to be the main current of making Kiriko. Furthermore, a technical factory of Kiriko with the power of oil engine was established and the technique made rapid progress. Kiriko can be classified into 2 types, Suki-glass (transparent) and Kise-glass (covered with colored glass). Edo Kiriko is characterized by its slightly colored glass with sharp cut, and Satsuma Kiriko has thick colors on semitransparent glasses. There are many kinds of cutting designs for Kiriko such as Nanako(fish eye), Kagome(basket stitch pattern), Asanoha(hemp leaf), Kiku(chrysanthemum), Koushi(lattice), Kaben(petals) and so on. Nanako was also a typical cutting design in England and Ireland during 18th-19th Century.
When the World War I broke out in Europe, the imports of glassware from Europe stopped. Consequently the domestic demand for glassware increased, and a lot of glasses and tableware were produced and came onto the market. In the Showa period, owing to the World War II, the number of glass factories gradually decreased. After the war, glassware was mass-produced by machines and the situation got worse for Kiriko. However, the guild of Kiriko craftsmen was formed and Edo Kiriko was authorized as the traditional artistic handicraft by Tokyo. Its tradition has been handed over to the next. |
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