柴田 玉樹
博多曲物
18th generation Artisan . Hakata Bentwood Craft
Tamaki Shibata
400 years of Makers' Heritage
in Maidashi
Tamaki's bentwood-maker lineage traces back 400 years when the Hakozaki Shrine's doctrine designated Shibata as one of the 3 families in Maidashi to produce fine ritual wares for the shrine.
Tamaki Shibata's family's bent-ware was also highly praised by Mingei Movement founder Soetsu Yanagi and British potter Bernard Leach for its functional beauty in the early 20th century. Her predecessors' work was recognized by Japan's Omotesenke tea ceremony practitioners as first-class tea ceremony wood vessels.
15th Generation Shibata Kichiemon, Great grandfather of Tamaki (Mariko) Shibata
A Story of Resilience of a female artisan
Tamaki Shibata
An empowering story of a female artisan working in traditional Japanese craft.
Against all odds, Tamaki Shibata took over a 400-year-old family craft business and spent a decade to build respect and recognition for her effort.
Tamaki Shibata
18th generation bentwood artisan at Tamaki Magemono
Traditionally, women in the craft families were assigned duties in running errands, cleaning the workshop, stitching the bentwood boxes and painting decoration motifs. Heritage techniques and tools were passed down only to the eldest male heirs.
Tamaki (birthname Mariko Shibata) was born into a magemono bentwood craft family in Hakata. She was always eager to learn the craft and started learning stitching wood boxes since elementary school years. But women were expected to work only until they get married, so there is no reason for her father to pass down his skills to the daughters. However, Tamaki insisted on returning to help her aging father at the wood-shop even though she wasn't officially receiving any training. She would learn from observing and imitating. It takes at least 10 years to master just the basics.
For a long time (even as of now), some Japanese craft industry and Shinto rituals forbid women's participation.
"If I couldn’t do anything about it, then it couldn’t be helped… but I kept thinking, ‘I have to see this through to the end,’ so I keep pushing forward. Well, I guess I just really love my work."
Rebuilding a family business from scratch,
vowing to guard and continue Hakata bentwood heritage.
Tamaki's father suddenly passed away at age 64. As a guarantor for an affiliate's debt, his passing has bankrupted the family business, resulting in the lost of the shop and their house. The 400-year-old business could end at that point.
At the time, Tamaki just bore her eldest son and she was determined to take over her family business as the 18th generation. Starting from scratch, she found a space couple miles from Maidashi, hung an amulet from the Hakozaki Shrine and set up a new workshop. Working against pessimistic comments from relatives and trade afflilates, she realized she had a long way to go to become a true bentwood artisan. It takes 10 years just to learn how to read the wood grain. As a woman with damaged family business credibility, she could not even get wood suppliers to sell her raw material. She focused on practicing and polishing her skills, remembering the way her father works and looking forward to the day she can manuever naturally like an artisan.
That day happened 14 years later, when her work was accepted by Japan Mingei Exhibition in 2007. She pronounced herself as 18th generation bentwood artisan, formally under the artisan's pseudonym of Tamaki. And everyone started praising her for "resembling her father".
Maidashi used to have 20 some families making bentwood objects. The main street was lined with artisan shops. Shibata Tamaki's shop was located right next door to Shibata Toku's shop.
After the foreclosure of Tamaki's old shop, she set up a new wood shop a mile away from Maidashi, embarked a new journey for a 400-year-old family business.
Maidashi used to have 20 some families making bentwood objects. The main street was lined with artisan shops. Shibata Tamaki's shop was located right next door to Shibata Toku's shop.
