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Kogei is a Japanese approach to everyday objects rooted in local materials, inherited skills and practical use. A Livingetc report, drawing on comments from Nakagawa executive vice president Tasuku Ogino, says the tradition depends on regional networks of specialists, an industry whose workforce has contracted sharply since 1979.
A Livingetc report has set out how kogei, a Japanese concept of useful objects shaped by regional materials and accumulated know-how, differs from the idea of craft as handmade decoration. Drawing on Nakagawa executive vice president Tasuku Ogino, the report also describes the pressure on the networks of specialists that sustain traditional craft industries, whose reported workforce fell from 288,000 in 1979 to 48,334 in 2022.
Ogino defines kogei as tools for everyday life shaped by earlier generations’ practical knowledge, local climate and ways of living, regional materials, and makers’ skills. In this account, an object is not kogei simply because it is rare, expensive, signed or made by hand. Its purpose and the knowledge involved in producing it matter more.
The report illustrates the distinction with Nakagawa’s Hana Fukin kitchen cloth. The cloth draws on kaya, a breathable mosquito-net fabric associated with Nara, and is woven using machines. Workers still adjust the process for humidity and the quirks of individual looms, the report says. Ogino identifies this continuing human judgment, rather than the absence of machinery, as part of what makes the product kogei.
Production can also involve multiple specialists, rather than a single celebrated artisan. A ceramic object, for example, may pass through people responsible for clay, glaze, molds and firing within one region. The report says the loss of a specialist can affect the rest of that production chain.
The Regional Skills Behind Everyday Objects
The idea gives readers a way to look beyond an object’s appearance or whether it was made by hand. Under Ogino’s definition, the relevant questions include where its materials and methods come from, what practical need it serves, and whether human expertise continues to shape its production.
The workforce figures make the issue more than a question of display or taste. Livingetc reports that employment in Japan’s traditional craft industries dropped from 288,000 people in 1979 to 48,334 in 2022. Those totals point to a contraction over that period, although the report does not provide details on how the figures were collected or which occupations are included. Ogino says Nakagawa wants to pass on the regional ecosystems behind kogei, not only individual products or techniques.
For consumers and designers, the framing also changes how everyday goods might be valued: usefulness, local knowledge and the survival of a maker network can matter alongside finish and visual appeal. The report presents that as an approach to noticing craft in ordinary home objects, not as a guarantee that any particular purchase will preserve a tradition.
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From Nara Materials to Modern Use
The report places kogei between art made primarily to be admired and industrial production organized around uniformity and efficiency. It describes it as everyday craft: objects intended for use, with knowledge built into them and the capacity to adapt as lifestyles change.
Nakagawa was founded in Nara in 1716 and, according to the report, now works with more than 800 workshops across Japan. The company’s history and network inform its account of the subject, but the definition is presented through Ogino rather than as a formal ruling on every object that might qualify.
Livingetc also reports that Japan’s government list of traditional crafts includes 244 crafts, with at least one in each of the country’s 47 prefectures. The report says the government’s criteria begin with crafts primarily intended for everyday use. These figures offer context for the regional spread of craft, while the article’s central point is that production depends on local chains of skills as well as individual objects.
“What defines it is that these objects are used daily and keep evolving, adapting to changing lifestyles while holding the knowledge built into them.”
— Tasuku Ogino, as quoted by Livingetc
How Craft Employment Is Counted
The report does not specify the source methodology behind the employment totals, the jobs included, or how the figures were compiled. The numbers show a decline between 1979 and 2022, but they do not, on their own, explain which sectors or regions account for it or what caused the change.
It is also not clear from the report how many of the 800-plus workshops in Nakagawa’s network are currently active in particular crafts, or how the company measures whether its work is sustaining local production. The article gives examples and Ogino’s definition, not a detailed survey of the industry. Nor does it establish that every useful regional product fits a single agreed definition of kogei.
Whether Regional Networks Can Endure
The report does not announce a new program, policy decision or deadline. It leaves the continuing question of whether regional specialist networks can retain enough people and knowledge to keep making everyday goods, especially as the workforce figures cited show a long-term decline.
For readers, the practical next step suggested by the article is to notice how ordinary objects are made and used: their materials, production region, and the skills involved. Further evidence about the state of the sector would require updated employment data and more detail on the workshops, crafts and specialist roles behind those totals.
Key Questions
What does kogei mean?
Kogei refers in the report to useful objects shaped by regional materials, inherited practical knowledge and makers’ skills. Everyday use is central to the definition.
Does a kogei object have to be handmade?
No. Ogino says the production method alone does not determine whether an object is kogei. The report’s Hana Fukin example is woven by machine, while workers use judgment and adjustments during production.
Is kogei usually made by one artisan?
Not necessarily. The report says many everyday craft goods rely on multiple specialists, such as people handling different stages of ceramic production.
What does the report say about Japan’s craft workforce?
It cites a fall in employment in Japan’s traditional craft industries from 288,000 in 1979 to 48,334 in 2022. The report does not explain the underlying methodology or causes of the decline.
Source: rss
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