In Shugaku-in, Kyoto at the home and workshop of Kenkichi Senda and his wife Ikuko, whose family have carried on the time-honored tradition of Kyoto karakami decorative papers since the Edo Period (1603-1868) and continue to produce them today, a dimly lit room is illuminated by vividly colored karakami conveying a sense of how these beautiful patterns once graced daily life in Japan. Here we are beckoned into a world of patterns transcending space and time by a hundred-page sample book, by many examples of lovingly preserved karakami created in the past, and by the evocative fragrance of antique washi paper.

In a small workshop on the second floor there is a large black work table surrounded by colorful glass bottles containing earth- and mineral-derived paints and mica, and shelves packed with brushes of various sizes and shapes, humble tools bundled in cloth, and rolls of washi paper.

Slowly, carefully, yet without hesitation, Senda selects and mixes colors. In his unerring movements we see the skill of the master artisan, relying solely on intuition gained from long years of experience. All colors are mixed from only red, blue, and yellow, and with the addition of mica they are transformed into splendid shades with a mysteriously enchanting glimmer. A fascinating aspect of Senda’s color combinations is that even when a single shade is not particularly clear or eye-catching, combinations of mutually complementary colors will render them both astoundingly vivid. The colors are consistently transparent, never overbearing, and the pleasant and elegant variations of the palette encapsulate the infinite range of colors in our world.

In a storage area for wooden printing blocks in the back of the workshop, antique woodblocks handed down over generations since the Edo Period gleam darkly, subtly worn with use and quietly awaiting their turn to be used once more. Botanical patterns, animal patterns, celestial patterns representing clouds, waves and stars, geometric patterns and more are elaborately carved into reliefs on pieces of wood approximately 1.5 centimeters thick. Earth- and mineral-based paints and mica, delicately applied to the carved reliefs, are transferred with a gentle touch and absorbed into washi paper. Like the small flame of a candle, this refined handcrafting technique has been quietly preserved by the Senda family over the years.

In the midst of nothingness, a tiny point spreads out in all directions like a ripple in still water, and the expanding ripples produce endless variations that appear only to disappear again. Like all of us, and all living things, born into this world, given form only to lose it once more. Perhaps we make art, create shapes and patterns, in order to draw closer to the forms, the beauty, the miracles that we receive through the grace of nature. And surely patterns act as messages from the universe to us, from nature to us, and from us to each other.


Director : Ayako Mogi

京都修学院の地で、江戸時代から続く京からかみの伝統を受け継ぎ、今もひっそりと唐紙を作り続けている千田堅吉さんと妻の郁子さんご夫妻の自宅兼工房には、薄暗い室内に色とりどりの唐紙が貼り巡らされ、かつての日本の住まいにあった美しい唐紙のある暮らしというものを僅かに見せてくれる。そして何百ページもある見本帳や、過去に作られ大切に残こされてきた唐紙の数々は、古い和紙の匂いと共に、いつも私たちを時空を超えた文様の世界へと誘う。

二階の狭い工房には黒い大きな作業机があり、周りには泥絵具や雲母の入った色鮮やかなガラス瓶が並び、刷毛や筆、丸い布が張られた素朴な道具類、丸められた和紙の束などが所狭しと棚に詰め込まれている。

千田さんはゆっくりと丁寧に迷いなく色を選び混ぜ合わせる。その無駄のない動きに、長年の経験による勘だけが頼りの匠の技を見る。赤青黄の三色からあらゆる色を生み出し、そこに雲母を混ぜることで神秘的に煌く高貴な色合いに変化させていく。また千田さんの作る色の組み合わせを見ていると、ひと色ではなんとも冴えないような色合いでも、ふた色組み合わせることで、逆にぐっと引き立て合うような色合いとなる面白さがある。どれも透明感があり、主張し過ぎず、居心地良さとエレガントさのある色彩のバリエーションは、色が持つ無限の拡がりを感じさせてくれる。

そして工房の奥にある板木蔵には、江戸時代から受け継がれ、使い込まれて黒光りする板木たちが、出番が来るのを静かに待っている。植物文に動物文、雲や波や星を表す天象文や幾何学文などが、1.5cm程の厚さの板に緻密に彫り上げられ浮き上がっている。その浮き上がる文様の部分に、丁寧につけられた泥絵具や雲母が和紙に吸い込まれ、優しい手触りでそっと写されていく。そんな繊細な手仕事が、千田家の人々の手により今も細い蝋燭の焰の如く静かに息づいている。

無の中の一雫の小さな点は、波文の如く四方に広がり、その波文が無限のバリエーションを生み、形となって生まれては消えていく。私たちもまた形となり、生まれてはまた消えていく命の顕れ。その命の恵みである自然の形に、美しさに、その奇跡に近づこうと、人は形を文様を描くのだろうか。


監督 : 茂木 綾子