KANAZAWA CRAFT TOURISM ー Visit the City of Crafts and Folk Art ー
Kanazawa has been called the city of artisanship. In March 2009, Kanazawa established “manufacturing basics regulations”, the first regulations established by a city, town or village in Japan. In June 2009, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) appointed Kanazawa as the world’s first “City of Crafts and Folk Art” in recognition of its outstanding history and heritage in relation to traditional crafts and folk art. The city made significant efforts to highlight the links between traditional crafts techniques and modern technology in a spirit of creativity and innovation.
The Maeda Samurai Family of the Kaga domain put a lot of effort into the foundation of culture and invited a number of cultural figures and master craftsmen. A wide variety of highly original arts and crafts were developed thanks to the abundance of unique local materials and techniques. The avoidance of any major national disasters or wartime bombing in Kanazawa meant that a multitude of traditional arts and crafts have been handed down through the cultural policies set by the lords of the Kaga domain, and these still remain a part of people’s lives today.
Photo: Kanazawa City