This book investigates the multi-faceted roles of women in the slowly changing, but still conservative world of traditional craft (dento kogei) in Tokyo. Focusing on the small district of Arakawa – known as the 'city of manufacturing' – Clara Momoko Geber-Mérida offers valuable insights into the lives of fifteen women working across twelve different disciplines of traditional craft.
Contemporary Craft and Women's Identities in Tokyo reflects on the reasons behind the historical dominance of men in a field where, to this day, only five out of fifty-five recognised craftspeople are women. It reveals the importance of the women who are working in the background of the industry: the mothers, grandmothers, wives, and daughters who are silently supporting their male family members. Despite using techniques passed down for centuries, they are invisible to outsiders.
Turning to the forefront of Arakawa's workshops, Geber-Mérida also shines a light on a new generation of craftswomen and female apprentices that is creating a change in the craft industry. Indeed, these women possess a very personal view on their trade and objects that sets them apart from their male counterparts, which also manifests itself in their creations: by combining longstanding methods with creative, new designs, many of these women have been able to embody themselves and their personal preferences in their objects.