The “Forest of Craft” represents an effort to raise awareness that nature is the source of everything we make, and that incorporating a cradle to cradle approach in practices of making in turn creates a healthy and robust relationship between people and nature. The specific practices in this approach are planting, cultivating, harvesting, making, using, and mending. We want to restore this cycle of practices, and make it function in the context of making once again. In doing so, we will create an ecosystem for people, tools, and skills connected to these actions. In this ecosystem, the culture of craftsmanship can be passed on to the next generation.
We are making the area stretching from the urban heart of Kyoto to the mountainous region of Keihoku, located an hour by car northwest of the city, our base. While the “Forest of Craft” is a symbol for our work that is not limited to any particular region, our efforts in Kyoto-Keihoku can serve as a model for others to follow. In Keihoku we are focusing on two initiatives. These initiatives have the purpose of connecting the forest, which is the fountainhead of all craftsmanship, and crafts, which are a manifestation of people’s enduring connection with nature.
“Forest of Craft” is operated by PERSPECTIVE, an organization that focuses on Urushi, natural lacquer that has been used in Japan for more than ten thousand years. PERSPECTIVE uses Urushi as a central axis to learn about the relationship between people and nature that has been passed down through crafts as well as sow the seeds for social harmony, heightened attunement to nature, and sustainable lifestyles.
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