1 Exhibition information

The 73rd Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition

 

Kyoto Exhibition

Period: Oct 7 (Wed) – Oct 12 (Mon), 2026

• Open:　 10:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
• Final day:　 10:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
• Admission Fee:　500 yen
• Exhibition Venue:　 Kyoto Takashimaya S.C. 7th floor Grand Hall

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Osaka Exhibition

Period: Oct 14 (Wed) – Oct 18 (Sun), 2026

• Open:　 10:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
• Final day:　 10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
• Admission Fee:　500 yen
• Exhibition Venue:　Osaka Takashimaya 7th floor Grand Hall

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2 Concept

Japan has one of the world’s greatest traditions of craftsmanship. Tradition is alive; while maintaining the intrinsic qualities, it undergoes an unceasing evolution. Traditional Art Crafts are not mere copies of previous works made faithfully following the existing techniques. Tradition is the basis of art craft, and it is our duty to learn it well, further refine the excellent skill which has been handed down through many generations, and create new works suitable to the modern living. In 1950, the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties came into being, and since then the Japanese government has been protecting craft techniques of particularly high historical and/or artistic value. In accordance with this policy, the Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition has been held annually since 1954. The exhibits, classified into 7 categories of ceramics, textiles, urushi work, metalwork, woodwork and bamboowork, dolls, and various works, are selected through rigorous examination from the works submitted by many artists. We are pleased to present the 73rd Exhibition (for the year 2026) in the hope that it will be enjoyed by many people and make contribution to the progress of art craft techniques of Japan.

cited from Exhibition catalog  ”The 73rd Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition”

 

3 Other information

The Kinki Branch of the Japan Kōgei Association has been involved in numerous workshops and video productions with the aim of nurturing the next generation of artisans and promoting our culture. A selection of these materials is available on this website.

 

YouTube

4 Handbook for the Appreciation of Japanese Traditional Crafts

 

The Japan Kōgei Association is pleased to be able to include on its website this English version of its Nihon Dentō Kōgei Kanshō no Tebiki (Handbook for the Appreciation of Japan Traditional Art Crafts). The Nihon Dentō Kōgei Kanshō no Tebiki was published in 1999 and the English translation was originally prepared in 2003 to celebrate the staging of the 50th Nihon Dentō Kōgeiten (Japan Traditional Art Crafts Exhibition).

While the 2003 English text uses ‘Crafts’ as a translation of the Japanese term 工芸, in this introduction we have used the transliteration ‘Kōgei’ instead. The reason for this is that in 2013, when preparations were being made for the 60th Nihon Dentō Kōgeiten, it was decided that ‘Crafts’ was an inappropriate way of describing the types of work shown in the exhibition and that it should be replaced by the Japanese term ‘Kōgei’ or, when unavoidable, the English expression ‘Art Crafts’.

We very much hope that these English pages on our website will help foster a broad and global appreciation of Japan’s Traditional Kōgei.

Ceramics　Textiles　Urushi ｗork

　Metal ｗork 　Wood ｗork & Bamboo ｗork

Dolls　Various ｗorks

 

https://www.nihonkogeikai.or.jp/en