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KEN DOMON Memorial Hall (From Museums in Yamagata )

This museum displays the work of world famous photographer Ken Domon. Domon’s powerful masterpieces the “Pilgrimage to Old Temples” and “Hiroshima” series, and his other photographs are on view. The work of top artists, such as the beauty of this building that complements the natural surroundings, the gardens, sculptures and the work’s name plates, all combine to create the artistic space in this museum.
(From the guidebook “Museums in Yamagata”)

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About Ken Domon (1909 〜 1990)
A photographer, born in Sakata City, Ymagata Prefecture. He is a great master who established the realism in the photographic  world. He was in a certain period called a demon for news photographic work and is now well known throughout the world.
” A Pilgrimage through Old Temples”, his lifework, is regarded as the pinnacle among his masterpieces and is followed by the similarly distinguished works, such as “Muroji Temple”, “Hiroshima”, “The Children in Chikuho”, “Bunraku Puppets”, “Features”, “Old Ceramics in Japan”, “Wanderings through Old Kilns”, “Lives of Japanese Master-hands” and many other works. Every work of these is famous respectively as a great monument.
The artistic value of Ken Domon is said to lie in his snappings at the beauties of Japan and minds of the Japanese. His achievements in photography are highly evaluated and he won not only the first Ars Photographic Culture Prize in 1943, but got many excellent prizes. He was decorated in 1972 with a Purple Ribbon Medal, and in 1980 with the Fourth Order of Merit with Minor Cordon of the Rising Sun.
(From a guidebook of Ken Domon Museum of Photography)

Ken Domon Memorial Hall Web

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Otaka-Poppo

Situated at the southern tip of Yamagata Prefecture, the City of Yonezawa is most famous for one of its traditional crafts, the Otaka-poppo. These intricate wood carvings in the shape of a hawk are individually handcrafted by artisan woodworkers. The word poppo comes from the Ainu word for “toy.” Otaka, meaning “hawk,” refers to Uesugi Yozan, a famous daimyo of Yonezawa, and symbolizes nobility and splendor. These carvings are imbued with prayers for success in life and the realization of ambition, and thus, they decorate the living rooms and hallways of many homes as talismans of good fortune.


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Kabazaiku (birch craft)


Cherry bark ware, liven-up your everyday life
DENSHIRO is brand of Fujiki Denshiro Shoten Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of fine Cherry bark ware. We have been producing Cherry bark ware over six generations since its foundation in 1851. Using selected materials with various appearances, superior skills proven over the 200 years of history, and designs in harmony with today’s living spaces, DENSHIRO collection liven-up your everyday life.

Material 
Kabazaiku is made of wild cherry bark. It is an eco-friendly material as it regrows after being peeled off. The origin of the name Kabazaiku comes from a song in Manyoshu. In it the author expressed wild cherry bark as ” kaniha”,  which  later changed to “kaba”. Kabazaiku has two patterns: the one that brings out the appearance of wild cherry bark is called “Shimofuri” or Marble, the other is called “Muji” or Natural, whose surface is thinly scraped to polish. The surface of tea caddies and other products will acquire shine as you cherish them with your hands on a daily basis. You can enjoy a growing shine of wild cherry bark. ( From a Pamphlet of Fujiki Denshiro Shoten )

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 Kakunodate Denshiro Web