Details of the Initiative

The University Museum collaborates with faculty members of the School of Commerce to conduct research and study on the traditional craft industry, especially handmade ceramics, from the viewpoint of creating new value in the development, distribution, and production of products. The results of this research and study are disseminated not only to our students but also to the general public through any kinds of exhibitions, permanent collections, and special lectures.

Traditional crafts, in which natural materials are processed by hand, take time and effort to produce and cannot be mass-produced. Such crafts can be expensive as products, but the recent development of social networking services has made it possible for users (consumers) to sympathize with the personality of individual creators (craftsmen). The high-mix low-volume production allows consumers to choose products that match their favorites, making them consumer products that are used with long-lasting attachment. This encourages a reconsideration of the model of mass production and mass disposal, and suggests means of consumption and production that lead to conservation of the natural environment through the controlled and cyclical use of resources. It is also possible to contribute to improving the morals of human life by fostering a sense of affection for tools.

(1) Merchandise exhibition in the University Museum’s permanent collection Rooted in the Archives of the Merchandise Research Institute (opened to the public as a Merchandise Exhibition Hall in 1957) established in 1951 by faculty members of the School of Commerce, the museum has been investigating and collecting traditional crafts such as ceramics, lacquerware, and dyed and woven goods, and putting them on display in exhibitions open to the public since the late 1950s.
(2) Traditional Crafts Management and Marketing Project targets ceramics, a genre of crafts that is relatively familiar to our students.
(3) In past years, we have co-hosted special public lectures with the Graduate School of Commerce and supported by the School of Commerce, inviting people from ceramic production areas who are involved in production, distribution, and production area promotion (poster at the time of the 2019 event; the 2020 event was canceled).
(4) The results of the research and study are disseminated to society in a special exhibition. In April 2021, as a result of a survey of the pottery industry in the San’in region conducted from FY2016 to FY2018, the museum will re-evaluate its collection of materials and introduce the latest trends with newly collected materials (postponed for one year from FY2020).