A Basketmaker in Rural Japan

by Louise Allison Cort

Book by Cort, Louise Allison, Kenji, Nakamura

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Tina D · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful tale of the life of Mr Hiroshima a basket maker in the bamboo tradition. The book comes about via a connection with the Smithsonian. Commissioned by a local collector, Mr Hiroshima makes a set of all of the baskets he's learned in his lifetime. He hasn't managed to train an apprentice and his craft dies with him without the basket collection. Plastic has taken overtaken and there is not the same living to be made. The tale describes his lifetime with deftness and beauty and gives hope that someone will be able to pick up the craft again from the collection that's been left. Mr Hiroshima is just a lovely human being. The book includes a catalogue and images. So glad I got to read this.