Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: VHS Tape EAN: 9786304475270 Format: Color, NTSC ISBN: 6304475276 Label: Nat'l Geographic Vid Manufacturer: Nat'l Geographic Vid Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Nat'l Geographic Vid Release Date: July 08, 1997 Sales Rank: 12993 Studio: Nat'l Geographic Vid
Description: Amid the clamor of technological and economic success, a reverence for age, custom, and tradition endures in Japanese culture. The honorable title, "Living National Treasure", is the highest award that can be achieved in the Japanese arts. Some seventy master craftsmen and performers are bestowed with this title and are charged with passing on the country's artistic heritage to future generations. LIVING TREASURES OF JAPAN takes you into the homes and workshops of the remarkable people who quietly keep Japan's most precious creative traditions alive.
Amazon.com: Timeless profiles of nine of Japan's most revered artists are included in this thoughtful presentation, Living Treasures of Japan. The government of Japan selected 70 craftspeople and performing artists for their preservations of ancient arts. In return for the honor and a small annual stipend, they continue their work and teach apprentices. Among the artists profiled are a sword maker who designs according to a secret ritual; a potter who revels in deliberate irregularities; a doll maker who insists on giving each doll a unique personality; the only puppeteer to receive the title of living treasure; a man who makes handmade paper that was once used for imperial correspondence; a woman who has been teaching Koto playing to young women since 1917; a kabuki actor; a bronze bell maker; and, perhaps most lovable, a woman who has been weaving indigo since she was 14. At 90, she is the oldest in this video and, in fact, she died soon after it was made. Not only does the video succeed in creating excellent portraits of each artist, but it takes viewers to unique and remote regions where the artists live, where we can witness a creative process that is as beautiful as the finished product. --Cristina Del Sesto
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Excellent introduction to Japan!
Recently, I showed this video to my 6th grade world cultures students and they were really captivated by it. I wasn't sure how they would like it, but they loved seeing the crafts and various artists of Japan. The video is great, because it gives you short pictures of different important people and a real overview of all of Japan's amazing talent. My students particularly liked the fighting puppets.
It was a BIG hit. I would definitely recommend it. We are watching it again next year without a doubt.
Rating: - This viedo is a beatifully filmed informative documentary.
I saw this beatifully filmed piece on PBS. It selects several artists, ranging from weavers to dancers to sword makers, who have been designated by the Japanese government as "Living Treasures." This documentary describes the artistic tradition each Treasure practices, showing the traditions of some of Japan's near-lost arts. The information presented includes how the art is practiced, the traditions behind it, and some minutes of comment or interview from the Treasurers themselves. I would recommend this video to anyone who is interested in arts, history and tradition, or Japanese culture. ... Read More
