Believe it or not, a new museum has opened in Japan. In the midst of hearing about this or that institution shutting its doors for good it's refreshing to hear of one opening its doors for the first time, especially one entirely devoted to pottery.
The Ibaraki Prefecture Ceramic Art Museum in Kasama is a sleek, stylish building that had its first visitor ever April 15. Wanting to impress this distinguished person, and the rest of us as well, the curators have put together two inaugural exhibitions: One is a sweeping look at all 27 Living National Treasure potters ("Ningen Kokuho Ten") and the other a closeup encounter with 40 contemporary potters of Ibaraki ("Ibaraki To no Ima").
The Japanese government, alarmed at watching traditional techniques fall by the wayside in the mid-20th century, decided to pass a law for the preservation of cultural assets in 1950. In 1952, the government designated certain craft techniques as Intangible Cultural Properties and in 1955 it appointed outstanding artisans as Holders of Important Intangible Cultural Properties, or, as we commonly call them today, Living National Treasures.