DESIGN MUSEUM JAPAN

Uchiko, Ehime Prefecture

What does design mean to you?

In the context of music, ideas come to me.

Sometimes you feel it in your body, rather than your brain.

For me, that's what design is, and it feels great.

This is a small community in the town of Uchiko.

Here's the subject of Nagazumi's photo.

A relief of a crane and a turtle, beneath the eaves of a house.

They're commonly called "trowel reliefs."

It's made using a trowel. A plasterer's tool.

From the late 19th century, plasterers across Japan produced these reliefs.

Originally, they expressed gratitude to the house owner for the job.

Many show auspicious motifs, such as carp and cranes.

Uchiko is known as a place to see them.

This next design is especially well known.

It's like it's lurking in the background.

Ah, a tiger.

The tiger's eyes are represented by glass balls, daubed in black ink.

It's said to be the work of legendary 19th-century plasterer Masaki Chobee.

Hello.

Thanks for meeting us.

Just over there is a crane.

Oh, yes!

I'm getting a really close look!

It gives a real sense of the movement of the trowel.

So much energy.

The plasterer is no longer with us.

But it feels like we're communicating.

My great-grandfather was a carpenter.

I think he had it made by a plasterer he knew.

Let's meet someone who maintains the playful spirit of trowel reliefs.

It reminds me of lion carvings in Okinawa.

Trowel reliefs are all about a sense of fun.

I make it up as I go.

People say my ogre relief looks like it's laughing.

But sometimes ogres laugh!

That's what I say.

Ichikane has been working
as a plasterer for 60 years.
At first, he just repaired reliefs.

But then, inspired by their playful spirit, he began making his own.

They all came from my imagination.

Until they were done, I didn't know what they'd be like.

They'd change along the way.

Many things make a strong impression.

Not all of them are big and gorgeous.

But they carry the creator's identity.

Those ones last a long, long time.

That's what I've come to understand.