Last month’s Third Thursday Lecture was given by Dr Eriko Tomizawa-Kay, who spoke on Tradition Reimagined: Okinawan Art and Kōgei in the 21st Century. The talk accompanied the upcoming exhibition Okinawa Kōgei: Crafting Continuity and Change at The Crypt Gallery in Norwich (29 October – 1 November).
Dr Tomizawa-Kay began by introducing her background and research interests in Japanese and Okinawan art. This was her third time presenting at the series, her previous lectures in 2014 (when she was a Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Fellow) and in 2019 (with the late Professor Toshio Watanabe) focused on Nihonga collections abroad and East Asian Art History in the transnational context, respectively. She also paid tribute to her late mentor and friend, Professor Watanabe, whose guidance and encouragement shaped her research and academic journey.
This lecture was divided into two halves: first, a brief historical overview of Okinawan art and kōgei, followed by a deeper look at Okinawan kōgei (craft) in the 21st century. She began by discussing the exhibition she is organising in conjunction with the talk, curated with eight professors from the Department of Fine Arts and Crafts at Okinawa Prefectural University of the Arts, where she is currently a visiting researcher. The exhibition explores how Okinawa has preserved its traditions while taking on new creative challenges, providing the backdrop for this lecture.
She then turned to the historical background of Okinawa. Central to this was the concept of Bankoku Shinryō, describing Okinawa as a “bridge to all nations”— a crossroads of Japan, China, Korea, and Southeast Asia. This geographical and cultural position shaped the development of Okinawan craft. Her emphasis on geography was particularly striking, underscoring how the Ryūkyū Islands’ history of trade and diplomacy forged craft traditions that were both locally distinctive and globally connected. This helped me appreciate that Okinawan kōgei is not only about techniques or materials but also about identity, forged through centuries of negotiation, survival, and exchange.
Dr Tomizawa-Kay highlighted how Okinawan kōgei is framed by three themes: Balance, Cultural Identity, and Tradition. These concepts capture the resilience of Okinawan craft as it adapts to historical challenges and modern concerns.
The lecture moved into the rich variety of Okinawan craft, focusing on bingata textiles, ceramics, and lacquerware. I was particularly struck by her discussion of bingata, a textile tradition historically associated with men but now actively sustained and revitalised by women too.
Ceramics, however, resonated most strongly with me. Dr Tomizawa-Kay explained how Okinawan pottery gained visibility and revival after the war and through the mingei (folk art) movement, which helped to formalise pottery as a key marker of cultural identity. She shared that its revival began in Tsuboya, the pottery district of Naha. After the Battle of Okinawa and shortages of daily necessities, Tsuboya potters began producing storage jars, funerary urns, and tableware. By the end of 1945, pottery production had already resumed. To me, pottery has always embodied both touch and tradition, so I was moved by how this humble craft came to symbolise not only survival but also artistic innovation in Okinawa.
Dr Tomizawa-Kay also introduced us to significant individuals in Okinawan craft history, showing how craft has taken on new meanings across different times: Survival, Revival, and Innovation. Today, artists inherit memories of war and recovery, while transforming craft into a site of contemporary artistic expression. She spoke of figures such as Kamakura Yoshitarō (1898–1983), a textile artist and researcher who documented Okinawan culture. His surveys of buildings, paintings, and crafts, many no longer surviving, were later donated to Okinawa Prefectural University of the Arts and became crucial to the restoration and documentation of bingata.
Revival, however, was not automatic; traditions had to be actively rebuilt. What we see today is not just beautiful craft but the result of survival and revival. The Ryūkyū royal court once established the Kaizuri Bugyōsho workshops, where artisans and craftsmen produced ceremonial works representing the pride and prestige of the kingdom. After the Battle of Okinawa, many of these traditions were at risk of being lost. To address this, the Ryūkyū Kingdom Cultural Heritage Collection and Restoration Project was launched in 2015 and continued until 2021. Its aim was to revive tewaza (handcraft techniques) and pass them on to future generations. The project focused on eight areas, painting, wood carving, stone carving, lacquer, ceramics, dyeing, welding, metalwork, and the sanshin (Okinawa’s three-stringed instrument), and resulted in the replication of 65 original works.
She also highlighted how contemporary Okinawan craft is not simply about preserving tradition. Contemporary artists continue to reinterpret tradition, bringing in themes of gender, identity, and environment. In this way, craft becomes more than a tool for daily life, it becomes a medium of social expression. One example is Taira Toshiko, who dedicated her life to bashōfu (banana-fibre textiles) and was later recognised as a Living National Treasure. Her work actively positions Okinawan heritage within global conversations about art and culture. One of her works, Kimono (2016), is in the V&A’s collection and can be viewed digitally here. Similarly, contemporary artist Yuken Teruya’s robe You-I (2022) reimagines bingata as a reflection on Okinawa’s global identity today. This robe is in the British Museum’s collection and can be viewed digitally here. These examples reveal how Okinawan kōgei is deeply rooted in history yet continues to evolve in dialogue with the present.
In the second half of her talk, Dr Tomizawa-Kay introduced the upcoming exhibition. This exhibition features eight artists: Hanashiro Miyako (weaving), Kubota Hiroko (weaving), Matsuzaki Shinpei (lacquerware), Shimabukuro Katsushi (ceramics), Yamada Satoshi (ceramics), Tōma Shigeru (lacquerware), Ura Kyōko (bingata dyeing), and Nago Tomokazu (bingata dyeing). She described how each artist reinterprets Okinawan craft traditions in their own way: sometimes by reworking inherited patterns to address today’s issues, and at other times by developing entirely new styles that nonetheless remain connected to local spirit and technique.
Their works are not static representations of tradition but rather expressions of continuity, reshaping, and social change. Locally sourced materials and environmentally conscious practices lie at the heart of Okinawan kōgei, emphasising its continued relevance to daily life.
The exhibition’s theme, continuity and change, underscores the importance of carrying Okinawa’s kōgei traditions forward in ways that remain relevant to contemporary life. These crafts embody resilience and suggest a different way of looking at the hierarchy of art in Japan, where bijutsu (fine art) has traditionally taken centre stage. In Okinawa, it is craft that rises to the highest level of cultural expression, deeply tied to the islands’ history of trade, diplomacy, and survival.
Dr Tomizawa-Kay concluded her lecture with an invitation for us to keep rethinking Okinawan kōgei within a global context and the wider narratives of art history. It was both a scholarly and personal invitation to look more closely at how tradition, resilience, and creativity intersect in Okinawa today.
The upcoming exhibition at The Crypt Gallery (29 October – 1 November) will provide a rare opportunity to see these ideas made tangible through the works of contemporary Okinawan artists. In addition, on 1 November, Dr Junko Kobayashi will give a public talk that delves further into the significance of Okinawan kōgei within the Ryūkyū Islands. Further details on this upcoming talk, including how to register, can be found here.
Tanya Lee
PhD Candidate, UEA