Mastering a skill in one generation

At 15, Hoseki Okuyama left his home in Shinjo, Yamagata to head for Tokyo. It has been around 60 years since then. He has committed himself to the world of silversmith, and in 1995 was designated an Important Intangible Cultural Treasure.
”To be honest, I first came to Tokyo because I was interested in the entertainment business. But I had to make a living. So, I decided to become an apprentice to a silverware artisan.”
He wanted to quit his job at 20, but the proverb, ”mastering a skill takes one generation” came to mind. He realized then that he had to use the rest of his life to master the skills he had learned. He prospered as a craftsman for dozens of years, but at 40, he studied under Mitsuteru Tanaka to become an artist. ”How can a person who has only graduated middle school make a note in history? I figured, the only way was to leave behind his creations.” He started off rather late as an artist, but there is no question his years of experience in creating practical objects provided the foundation for Hoseki Okuyama, the artist.

Expressing the abundance of nature

The 2 techniques Okuyama excels in are ”kiribame” and ”uchikomi” methods of hammering a design onto metal and then fitting metal parts into the design.
With ”kiribame”, you copy a blueprint of the design onto a thinly pressed gold copper sheet. The design is cut out with a jigsaw, and holes are made in the same places on the vessel for it to fit. After fixing the design onto the vessel, it is heated to make it stick together, and then hammered. With the ”uchikomi” method, the design is bonded onto the surface of the vessel, then pounded to make indentations.
”Kiribame” is well suited for larger patterns, while ”uchikomi” is more suitable for delicate designs.
The 2 techniques are used in Mr Okuyama’s work to express abundant designs of nature. It is hard to believe that these metal drawings with sensitive details are created by hammering. The designs are of delicate branches, leaves, and bold, powerful flowers. The entire process is difficult beyond imagination. Nakata tried hammering a picture of a tree onto a postcard-size silver sheet, but he found that it required patience and was very time consuming.
The large work of art that was donated to Ise Shrine had more than 12,000 cherry blossom petals. The ”uchikomi” hammering method was used to hammer each and every petal on the design.
Okuyama’s persistent effort brings out the beauty of nature in his work.

Effort Pays off

Okuyama says that he has never been satisfied with any of his work.
”I’ve found some of my pieces to be acceptable,” he laughed and continued. ”During the process, it’s like looking at your own child. You start to notice the flaws. I tend to pick out the spots where I had difficulty. So, I have never been completely satisfied with any of my work.”
During our conversation, we noticed a lot of ”shodo” works. They were all written by Okuyama. He started calligraphy 16 years ago. He talked about how a teacher told him that he should practice on his own, because learning the art would just be a copy of the teacher. One time he wrote the word, ”Fujisan”. There was a reason for this.
”I wrote the word mountain, to remind me of the soul and the Japanese spirit. It was to remind me that I needed to continue my efforts even after being recognized for my work. My soul and Japanese spirit were united, enabling me to be selected as a Living National Treasure.”
He continues to tirelessly put effort in creating his work, even after he was designated Important Intangible National Treasure holder. ”I feel most calm when I am in my studio listening to the radio,” Okuyama laughed.
Nakata’s ”uchikomi” hammered work turned out beautifully with help from Okuyama.

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Doing Things Others Do Not Want to

Toshichika Taguchi was designated Important Intangible Cultural Asset holder in the field of silversmith in 2006. The profession has run in the family from his grandfather’s generation and he is the 3rd generation. He is the first to create works for display in exhibitions. Until his father’s generation, they had mainly created items such as kettles and teapots used for tea ceremony, and utensils related to ”sake” such as ”sake” cups and bottles for ”sake”.
”I just wanted to indulge in what I wanted to do. Skill-wise, there is no difference to what my father and my grandfather was capable of, creating tableware for everyday use. It isn’t all that difficult. I wanted to do something others did not want to.”
That meant working with ”hard” material. Taguchi chose to work with hard materials, to express beauty in metal.

The Beauty of Metalwork

The beauty that can be expressed with metalwork is the ”hammer prints”. Taguchi also commented, ”Works that are created by a silversmith has different expressions, depending on how light is reflected. Therefore they are beautiful even without any designs.”
Taguchi uses material called ”Shibuichi (1/4)”. It is a metal alloy unique to Japan, with a 3 to 1 ratio of copper to silver. This is shrank and expanded to shape, using techniques called ”shibori” and ”nobashi”. First, the metal is hammered from the center. It takes time until for the shape to change.
Nakata gave it a try, but it seemed barely different even after hammering the entire sheet. That is how much patience and endurance is required. Tireless patience and endurance results in the ”hammered beauty” Taguchi mentioned. Taguchi referred to it as having no design, but the hammer prints are the silversmith’s ”design”.

Interesting to see Works ”Develop”

Once the metal begins to take shape, from here, it can be shaped into the desired form. Sometimes some parts are left thick, ”to show power”.
Nakata asked, ”Do you calculate the perfect balance before you start?” Taguchi replied, ”I have a blurry vision before I start. But I often change the style during the process. I think I tend to make much greater changes than most.”
”I enjoy how the pieces develop as I go.” He said that even when he tries to do something exactly the same, it always turns out different.
”I put a lot of thought into it because I want to create a good piece. I take time to think about different aspects, work carefully. But it hardly turns out the way I want it to. Then I go on to the next work. I try to repeat the process, learning from previous experience. But it always turns out different. The time it takes is different as well. That is how my works develop. I don’t know if there is a limit to its development. That makes it all the more enjoyable.”
The sophisticated technique gives birth to ”coincidence”. When an expression appears on the work that is beyond his own imagination, that is when another piece of work by Taguchi is born.

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