The director of the National Crafts Museum in Kanazawa said Ishikawa Prefecture in the Hokuriku region has a rich culture and handicraft techniques unparalleled in other places in Japan.

Most residents, however, tend to have little interest in local crafts (kogei), even though they live in such a rich craft “kingdom.”

One of the reasons for this is probably that the distinguished crafts seem too traditional. Another might also come from unfamiliar technical terms.

Hokuroku has created a brief guide allowing you to learn craft terms one step at a time.

This guide should be a reference for international people working or interested in handicrafts.

I hope these casual reading materials will be helpful for locals and international travelers concerned about craft arts.

Masayoshi Sakamoto
The editor-in-Chief of Hokuroku

The contents cover news that happened in Japan (mainly the Hokuriku region) a quarter century ago.

I started this as the editor-in-chief for a mass circulation online magazine, bizSPA! Fresh, and succeed it as a Hokuriku edition.

The sources are mainly local and national newspapers and prefectural history books published by each prefecture.

Please look back upon the day 25 years ago and feel the flow of years at the present day.

Masayoshi Sakamoto, the editor-in-chief of Hokuroku

Relate: The News-ish News

Newspapers, television, and radio news deal with new information. Town magazines and local websites enthusiastically introduce new shops, spots, and events because people want novel information.

Why do people want newness? The reason is that new information often generates curiosity and excitement.

As the editor-in-chief of Hokuroku, I have long thought that exciting events and occasions to push up both hands and scream, hold a belly and laugh, or take a rhythm with the toes and dance are insufficient here, despite having a plentiful supply of healing and relaxation times.

If the excitement that we lack generates in our hearts just by introducing new events and shops, Hokuroku should handle such information.

Now we’re trying to expand the network in the three prefectures of Hokuriku beyond the prefectural borders. Our news assortment may be broader than general local media that stays on the prefectural borders.

We have just created a corner that introduces information on new shops, events, and places that will open soon in the three prefectures of Hokuriku.

The latest information will appear at the bottom of the list. Please scroll down and check it out.

Masayoshi Sakamoto
The first editor-in-chief of Hokuroku

On Sunday, October 25, 2020, the National Crafts Museum (formally the National Crafts Museum of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo) will relocate and open in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan.

As part of relocating government functions to other prefectures from Tokyo, the first related facility of the National Museum is going to come to the side of the Japan Sea.

In the future, the relocation will further develop the world of beautiful crafts in the Hokuriku region including Kanazawa, as there have so many craft-producing areas doted.

Becoming close to crafts is an excellent opportunity to see the role of hand manufacturing. The people being fond of the down-to-earth style should value such manual works and handicrafts.

The Japanese crafts are, besides, attracting more attention these days because of a great deal of media coverage and collaboration projects with designers and trendsetters.

To learn the basics, we interviewed Masahiro Karasawa, the first director of the National Crafts Museum.

You can read intriguing stories about what crafts are and how to admire traditional handicrafts; read them to the end.

Masayoshi Sakamoto

First Editor-in-Chief, Hokuroku

Note: Sorry. English contents are in preparation.

Research says one or more of the 10 buildings in Japan, including the three prefectures of Hokuriku, are vacant. More than half of them are Japanese-style old folk houses.

The houses were once built by the traditional Japanese construction method using wood building materials before 1950, when Japanese architecture reached a major turning point.

Now such old folk houses receive many inquiries in Hokuriku because they can be renovated into cafes, inns, shops and offices.

The condition and price of every old folk house are, however, thoroughly different. Once you hope to make effective use of doing something commercial or living, you may immediately confront a problem: which is an ideal vacant house you should purchase.

The producer of Hokurku, Hiroyuki Akashi, who has gone around to more than 500 old folk houses as a renovation specialist and spacial architect, therefore, will talk about how to identify the best Japanese-style old folk house at which you should try your hand.

The contents are potentially for the people looking for vacant houses, but they must also be useful for the owners who want to manage them properly.

Masayoshi Sakamoto

First Editor-in-Chief, Hokuroku

Note: Sorry. English contents are in preparation.

This special feature article is a legal mystery related to our three Hokuriku prefectures, which is a challenge from Attorney Ito, a lawyer and a member of the Hokuroku Board of Directors. While the world of law may appear cool and heartless, many well-known judicial precedents in the past had humane judgments issued after conflicts between rational evaluation and human kindness. In our three Hokuriku prefectures, similar judgments were issued in the past. For those who are forced to make difficult decisions daily between rational evaluation and human kindness, ample wonderful teaching materials are nearby.

In this special feature, bygone judicial precedents of Hokuriku, which troubled professional judges, appear. After you have received all the information by the middle of the five articles, think of yourself as a judge, listen to both sides of the story, decide which is right and prepare your explanation. Finally, Attorney Ito will explain the real results that the judge presented in the past. Try to compare your thoughts with those of the very experienced judges. The content provided is true and involves many actual lives; this mystery is serious.

Masayoshi Sakamoto
First Editor-in-Chief of Hokuroku

This special feature will record the long-term journey of Hokuroku to have coffee tumblers in the Hokuriku region.

This program originated from my very personal admiration and private hope to have a coffee tumbler because I wanted to imitate the people who take out coffee in their own tumblers in Melbourne, Australia.

While continuing to cover questions such as which cafes in Hokuriku are coffee tumbler friendly and what kinds of coffee tumblers we can purchase in our region, coffee tumblers also enable us to examine the environmental problems of Hokuriku.

I have summarized our investigative report in five articles examining the current situation of coffee tumblers in our region.

Masayoshi Sakamoto
First Editor-in-Chief of Hokuroku