Trades and Crafts of Old Japan

Leaves from a Contemporary Album

This very rare series of Japanese paintings depicts everyday artisans in feudal Japan. Extensive commentary provides insight into the historical and cultural context of the scenes.

More than three centuries ago, not long after Japan had entered the period of seclusion decreed by her Tokugawa rulers, an unknown artist, or perhaps a group of artists, painted a series of pictures for an album portraying contemporary trades and crafts. In creating the scenes that compose this rare relic from Tokugawa days, the anonymous painter left for later ages an invaluable record of everyday human activity in the utilitarian arts for which Japan has long been famous. It is these pictures, carefully reproduced in collotype and color and accompanied by Eric Kaemmerer's perceptive comments, that make up the present volume.

These scenes of Japanese life in the early 17th century introduce a variety of craftsmen ranging from needlemaker to swordsmith, from fanmaker to carpenter, from the creator of fragile lacquer ware to the fashioner of sturdy barrels. Their trades and crafts, many of which are still carried on with little change in present-day Japan, are portrayed with painstaking attention to detail and with a decided feeling for human interest.