Kazunari Sumii (住井一成) is a 4th generation Gifu uchiwa (or Gifu fan) maker. Shokunin (職人) is the Japanese word for craftsman or craftswoman. These are the men and women who preserve Japan’s traditional legacy of hand-crafting products including swords, drums, fans, pottery and more. Many shokunin use crafting methods that have been passed down for hundreds of years, sometimes within a single family. But because most things can be mass-produced these days, shokunin, and their skills, are disappearing. Working cooperatively together with the website Craftsman Times, we want to help protect Japan’s historical arts by spreading awareness and broadening their market within Japan and overseas. We’ve already interviewed many wonderfully welcoming shokunin and have plans for more, so please look out for more Shokunin videos in the near future! You can find written articles on these shokunin as well as ways to purchase their products on www.craftsman-times.com. The website is fully (human) translated into English, and also has a blog section written by Kagiya-san and Arakawa-san with tons of information for foreigners who are interested in Japan. Also, they made me a reporter for their newer shokunin interviews, so look out for my occasional appearance! Craftsman Times: http://www.craftsman-times.com/index.html 今回は職人Times様とのコラボシリーズ。第2回は岐阜うちわ職人の住井一成様です。明治から100年以上続く「住井富次郎商店」の4代目で、現在、岐阜で残る唯一の岐阜うちわ専業店です。住井様は「徹子の部屋」にも出演されております。（http://ameblo.jp/kawachiya/entry-10951977113.html） 快く取材に応じていただき、本当にありがとうございました。 職人Times 様 http://www.shokunin-times.com/index.html 住井富次郎商店 様 http://www.ccn.aitai.ne.jp/~gf-utiwa/index.html Want to help subtitle our videos? http://rachelandjun.blogspot.jp/2014/01/r-video-transcripts.html http://www.youtube.com/timedtext_video?v=Bw-L5u26jHY 【Other channels:】 ×Gaming channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/RachelandJunGame ×Extra videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/RachelandJunExtra ×Jun's Kitchen: http://www.youtube.com/user/JunsKitchen 【You can also find us:】 ×Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/rachelandjun/profile ×Tsū: https://www.tsu.co/RachelandJun ×Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RachelAndJun ×Twitter: https://twitter.com/RachelAndJun ×Instagram: http://instagram.com/rachelandjun ×Our blog: http://rachelandjun.blogspot.com/ Music: Thach Le - Forgiven (https://soundcloud.com/thach-le-3/forgiven-thach-le-piano) Clynos - Summer Thoughts (https://soundcloud.com/clynos/summer-thougts-piano)

• published: 13 Jan 2015
• views: 1433