Читать книгу Wonder Man-A Memoir of a Craftsman Who Is Recognized As an Artist - Hannah K - Страница 3

“My mother, my younger brother, and my classmates were all gone on March 10^th, 1945. Where are they? I couldn’t even say good-bye to them. What happened that night? All traces of part of my family and friends ‘disappeared’ in one night. They are all gone. Those who were playing with me the day before are almost all gone. The only thing left for me about my family and my classmates is ‘memory’ in my mind. I want to build up the same kind of good relationship with people as I did before I lost all of them… And, what can I do for it? First of all, I need to live my life. And, I need to do something for the loved ones, my mom, my younger brother, and my classmates who were almost all gone… What should I do for them? I loved them. I miss them so much. I wanted to have fun with them and to share happiness. I made tops for them and they looked happy when they had them and played with them. I could do something by making tops even under the cruel life during the war. I wish for playful and peaceful moments to make a difference. How can I do it? I want to see people having fun. When I see people having fun and sparkle in their eyes, I can recall the fun moment with the loved ones. What should I do? I am good at making tops. Maybe…, I could do it by making tops. My mother, my younger brother, my classmates and my friends were so happy with the tops I made. It was such fun playing with tops with them. Even my mother was amazed and smiled at the tops I made. I have decided never to forget them as they were. I will always remember them. They might be seeing me from heaven. To make them happy and smile, I will make tops. I will make the best possible tops I envisage. To make better tops, I have to know the world outside home. The pursuit in my mind to make up for the lost stirred me to see the outside world. I have to know as much as I can about the world to make a difference. I have to become a person with a broader view about the world…. And, besides traditional crafts, I want to make something, which comes out of imagination and curiosity, with playfulness.” ~ Masaaki Hiroi

There is an ordinary-looking man sitting in front of the lathe carving wood in his workshop. He stops for a while and starts carving the wood, again. Even, he doesn’t know what he will make as a final product. He sits for hours and hours, trying to turn his imagination into tops or toys…

His name is Masaaki Hiroi. He sits in front of the lathe every day when he is in his workshop for hours, thinking of what he is going to make out of his imagination. Every moment is a challenge to him… A challenge to make something, which comes into his mind.

Tops are the toys which are played by people all around the world for thousands of years. The interesting points are that how they originated and why people have been playing with tops are still full of mystery. Why are people attracted by the movements of tops for ages? And, why are tops played by people for thousands of years all over the world in spite of the difference in shapes and sizes? Who first invented the tops?

Throughout his life, Masaaki Hiroi has dedicated himself to preserving Edo Koma, Edo tops. The beginning of his career dates back to his childhood. His ancestors served as doctors for the Tokugawa shogunate during Edo period and his grandfather served as doctors for Meiji Emperor. His family belonged to one of the most prominent families in Japan. However, since his grandfather’s generation, top making has become his family business. Masaaki Hiroi succeeded to his family business and has become the fourth generation of craftsman to make wooden tops and toys.

Edo Koma, Edo tops, part of which Masaaki Hiroi makes, were common tops made in Edo area, present Tokyo area during Edo period(1603-1867). Among Edo tops, there are standard tops and various kinds of Trick tops, which require traditional Japanese intricate engineering skills, which have 300 years of historical background.

Unlike electric toys, the structure of trick tops does not have mechanical system like gears. Instead of gears, Trick tops harness the force of the spinning movement of the tops to make wooden dolls move in many different ways. Masaaki Hiroi’s Trick tops have unexpected movements, which would surely make you smile or amaze. What Masaaki Hiroi would like you to feel is playfulness that every top has, and at the same time, the peaceful moment people could “share” with the Japanese toy he makes.

One contribution Masaaki Hiroi made to preserving Japanese culture is to revive Japanese traditional tops which were and are used for Japanese vaudeville-style stage shows using Kyokugei Koma, Kyokugei tops. Without his endless challenges and efforts to revive the tops, such shows would have disappeared from Japanese stage culture. The unknown background story about how Masaaki Hiroi revived Kyokugei tops is written in Chapter 6 of this book. However, preserving the tradition is not Masaaki Hiroi’s primary intent.

Masaaki Hiroi has always been interested in evolving and developing his original toys out of his curiosity and creativity. He has been interested in how to develop playful tops and toys, which make a lot of people smile. Masaaki Hiroi has come up with numerous kinds of Trick Tops using spinning motion to move wooden dolls or other wooden tops. He likes to make things out of his interest and original ideas, which are from imagination and creativity. His tops are full of playfulness, which never fails to make people smile.

Why do you think he decided to devote his life to making numerous kinds of tops? He has been innovating Edo Trick tops out of the traditional styles and creating far more than 3,000 unique kinds of tops with variation and playfulness. What drives him to create so many kinds of tops?

By the way, Tippe tops are now sold at many toy stores all over the world. Do you have any idea about the origin of Tippe tops? The Birth of Tippe top has a lot to do with Masaaki Hiroi. In Chapter 5, there is an unknown story of the birth of the Tippe tops. He’s the father of wooden Tippe tops. Masaaki Hiroi created Tippe tops from the historical document. Some famous professors and publishers tried to revive them but they could not revive Tippe tops until Masaaki Hiroi did.

Tippe tops were the tops created in the 15^th century. According to the old historical documents, Tippe tops in those days were not made of wood. Instead, something else was used to make Tippe tops. Can you guess what the craftsmen in those days used to make Tippe tops? Masaaki Hiroi created Tippe tops out of wood. He became the first person to create Tippe tops out of wood in the historical world documents. His achievement has been highly recognized internationally. And, there are a lot of secret background stories about “the birth of wooden Tippe tops” in Chapter 5.

Masaaki Hiroi is a craftsman, who earned his status to be recognized as an artist. He has devoted his whole life to making tops, which are toys played by adults as well as children all over the world. What makes him do so?

Making a top has always been a part of Masaaki Hiroi’s life. His career started in his childhood. And, during his childhood, he enjoyed playing with the tops he made with his classmates. The memory of fun time with his classmates, playing with his tops, is something which still stays in his mind. What he went through in his childhood, when he started making tops, was hardest time in his entire life.

Through his harsh childhood experience, there is one treasonous thing he always has kept in his mind, which comes from his love for people. Even though his mother, his brother and his friends disappeared in one night, his memory with them has never disappeared. His love for them moved him forward. He has wanted to meet people and make friends through making tops to share fun moments. And, by meeting numerous people, he has grown up to be a person of broader view…

When Masaaki Hiroi was about to be 30 years old, there was a turning point in his life. Until then, he had been learning how to make wooden tops and toys from his father in Sendai Prefecture, the Northern part of the main island in Japan. He wondered whether he should just make tops for his whole life in Sendai or should search for something he still did not know. He came to the conclusion to pursue “his unknown part of the world.” He decided to leave Sendai for Tokyo to find what he really wanted to know and then the beginning of his journey started.

This became the turning point for Masaaki Hiroi to spend the rest of his life. And, through the urge which occurred to him, he later earned the opportunities in succession to meet many people with different cultural background inside and outside Japan. From various governmental organizations and private corporations, Masaaki Hiroi was invited to visit more than 30 countries for the purpose of introducing Japanese culture, leading him to earn countless honor and awards internationally.

He never wishes for anything extraordinary. Always, what he keeps in mind is to make tops which are fun for people who are from any cultures. He would like anyone in the world to enjoy playing with his tops, and for that purpose, he sometimes starts his jobs from scratch. As a result, he has created something extraordinary.

Why is he so rich in resources to create products of wonder and where does his imagination come from? Those were my long-time questions. He would often laugh and say, “I love to make something which is fun to play for people.” When I was writing this book, I asked a lot of questions I had never asked. I instinctively thought culture was something important but I could not tell why exactly. I found one clue to where his rich imaginations come from. Love for people. The fun memory of the lost always urges him to make fun things. It was not the anger that he kept in his mind. He was in deep sorrow for the loved ones but he has kept precious memories with them in his mind in order to get over his experience. However, he has never forgotten even one moment in his lifetime about his loved ones. When it comes to making fun things, he has to make new tops and toys, which brings smile and happy moments to anyone.

When it comes to making new tops and toys, he is always curious about the movement of everything around him. Sometimes, it is that of things. Sometimes, it is that of people. His love for the lost during World War II moves him forward. He loves to see people smile and with whom he can share fun. Through his career he enriched himself. His richness in his character attracts many people who are very intelligent, interesting and highly educated. At the same time, he attracts ordinary people and children owing to the resourcefulness of making fun things.

When you read this book, Masaaki Hiroi would like you to take some time to think what culture means. What is culture to you? Is it a part of social status? Or, is it something else? If a person has some valuables from an old age, does that mean that the person knows “culture?” Masaaki Hiroi would say, “No.” If you were asked what culture is, what would you answer? I would like you to find your own answer of “what culture is” and “the meaning of culture”, which is my life-long question. My grandmother was from one of the most well-known prominent aristocratic families in Japan and I was always told the importance of culture by my grandmother. I was blessed to see various cultural exhibits and artworks thanks to my grandmother but the definition of culture has always been my big question. Masaaki Hiroi gave me a lot of clue to finding answers to the questions.

As a professional craftsman to make Edo tops, which is a part of Japanese culture, Masaaki Hiroi has strong opinions about the role of culture and a reason why he devotes his life to making Edo tops. Masaaki Hiroi thinks culture is something that you can find fun moments in it and make you comfortable. Culture should play important roles in learning and enjoying your lives to make a difference.

These days, one thing that Masaaki Hiroi laments a lot is that many children in Japan do not know how to enjoy themselves. Japan produces a lot of virtual games, but Masaaki Hiroi thinks they do not provide “pleasurable” moments or “sparkling moments” like old toys, which stir imagination. A lot of Japanese children care whether they get the right clue to reach their goals, winning. Winning and losing the games have nothing to do with culture. To his surprise, there are answer books to such games. According to him, winning virtual games cannot be a goal, culture. Understanding culture is an “endless journey” to pursue to make a difference.

Culture should play an important role to teach children to enjoy the moment they are living. These days a lot of Japanese children are not well disciplined. This is seen in his exhibits. When they break Masaak Hiroi’s tops or wooden toys in the exhibit, they do not even say, “I’m sorry.” What is happening in Japan?

Cultural exchange activities among different cultures are important. Cultural exchange activity is one important means to understand each other’s culture. Cultural exchange activity leads not only to understand each other but also to give opportunities to see your own culture from outside. At the same time, you could deepen the understanding of your own culture.

Through playing virtual games, children feel sense of achievement by using answer guides. There are no guidebooks to find answers to the problems which people worldwide are facing. Furthermore, child psychologists are warning such games do young children’s brains harm. Masaaki Hiroi does not say that people should not play such games.

We have to live our own lives. And, culture gives you a lot of clues to make people think and grow up as mature individuals. Knowing your own culture is one important way to grown up. However, if you do not become aware of the true meaning of culture, culture means nothing.

If you did not have room to have playfulness which is a part of culture, life would not be fun. Culture cultivates children’s mind, which leads to expand their imagination. Masaaki Hiroi believes that cultural education is important for children.

At the same time, toys have played important roles in teaching moral and cultural education. Culture plays a very important role in teaching children morality unique to individual countries. Through playing with traditional toys, children used to learn morality and how to take good care of things. Culture is an important part of education. This topic is written in Chapter 11.

Virtual games might be exiting but they never produce warm, comfortable feelings through touching and playing toys. They are virtual and not real, so you can not touch them. For example, to spin a top, you have to know how to spin tops with your fingers. You may fail to spin standard tops until you master how to use your fingers well enough to spin them. However, “failing” is one step to learn something and grow up.

Masaaki Hiroi makes a lot of kinds of standard tops which require thick thread. Those who know how to deal with thread would not think it would be difficult to wind thread around those tops. The stunning and shocking fact is that those children who only know how to push buttons of virtual games or who do not learn to do any daily chores usually have no idea how to wind thread around the tops. It is an easy task to wind thread around the tops, but some children give up dealing with thread easily and even start to cry. When they want to see his tops sinning, they tend to depend on adults. They never try to play with them by themselves. They will never appreciate what they have around them. Some children do not even recognize tops as toys and see the tops wonder what they are.

It is such a shame that, these days, there are a lot of Japanese children who are never taught the “pleasure” of using their hands and mind to play and are only spoiled. This is really happening in Japan especially among young children. Japanese children used to learn a lot of things by playing with Japanese traditional toys like tops, which is missing from Japanese culture.

Using hands well is important in many ways. Culture has played a very important role in learning basic movements using hands for children. Fishing, for example, needs reels and thread. Making plastic models would be fun if you had clever hands.

Before, children used to learn some basic movements which were important in their daily lives through playing with toys. And, this is part of “the role of culture.” Masaaki Hiroi hopes those who read this book will have some idea about the Japanese play culture and also enjoy what it is like.

To enjoy Masaaki Hiroi’s tops fully, you need to use your own hands well. Furthermore, handling your hands well leads you to improve your ideas in many ways. When Masaaki Hiroi talks about the basic roles of culture, he mentions the importance of cultural exchange among other cultures. Some of his stories are written in Chapter 8 in this book.

Masaaki Hiroi loves to see sparkle in children’s eyes when they are surprised to see his tops spin beyond their expectation. This is one of the reasons why he visited countries even in political turmoil. He knew that visiting such countries was dangerous, but he could not help visiting them because he wanted to give a moment of peace to the children in those countries even though his deed might have been a little. He knows how hard life would be for children in such countries through his experience during World War II.

Masaaki Hiroi and his friends starved and experienced a hard time during World War II, but they secretly hid tops, called Bei Koma, Bei tops, part of which were made of iron, even though the government in those days forced every citizen to donate all iron to Japan.

They also played with the wooden tops Masaaki Hiroi made. He has treasured the fun memory he had during his childhood with the lost. He believes that children have capability to find fun anywhere and anyplace even at hard times. He loves children a lot and wants them to be happy even a short time and encourage them to live to the full. When I talk with him, I always feel his warm-heartedness for people.

Masaaki Hiroi is a self-taught man. His endless curiosity has brought forth his original tops. He is a man of wisdom. He did not like the education he was given from the government during World War II. So, he was skeptical about the pre-war education, which was always about sacrifices and killing.

He first learned how to make tops and how to be a good blacksmith from his father. Through top-making exhibitions he got to know many interesting people, such as highly educated people, including prominent physicists. He always has strong desire to learn. He will often laugh and say to me, “I myself am a big fool but I could meet a lot of smart people.”

He never fails to read newspapers, watch news and documentary stories of the events all over the world including wars. He was invited as a guest student to hear the lectures at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne during his visit to Paris, France. He could learn a lot about culture in the lectures.

Masaaki Hiroi has a lot to say about culture. According to him, culture plays an important role to make people happy. People’s consideration to others is cultivated through culture. In other words, he thinks that people’s richness in sympathy, compassion and thoughtfulness leads to bear fruit as culture. At the same time, sharing culture with people from different cultural background is important to get to know each other. Culture matters a lot when it comes to helping make people happy.

In this book, there are stories from Masaaki Hiroi’s childhood, various episodes of his life-time experience and challenges he has been making in his life. His challenges have been to create new kinds of tops out of his imagination. There are also stories about Masaaki Hiroi’s devoting himself to preserving Japanese traditional culture and introducing Japanese culture to other countries in this book, which is not commonly known even to Japanese people.

The stories of preserving Japanese traditional culture include reviving Kyokugei Koma, Japanese Acrobatic tops, which are used by stage performers in Japanese vaudeville-style performance even now. Even though he learned a lot from his father about making tops, the only kind of top, which his father never taught him to make, was Kyokugei Koma. You will find out why he decided to revive Kyokugei Koma in Chapter 6.

Throughout his life, he has been to more than 30 countries for the purpose of sharing culture with people in foreign countries with different cultural backgrounds. Throughout his visits, he gained international acknowledgment and made various achievements. At the same time, his endeavor to introduce Japanese culture in his own way in a number of countries has brought forth a lot of honorary awards. One of them is becoming the first honorary citizen of Seattle City, WA, The United States of America.

I have used Japanese terms in this book. Singular and plural form are expressed in the same way in Japanese language. I wanted to add Japanese terms in Japanese. However, due to technical issues, I could not add words in Chinese characters in Japanese and the Japanese alphabet. For example, a top or tops are written as Koma.

This is a none-fiction biographical memoir of a “Wonder Man,” Masaaki Hiroi, a man with extraordinary talent and gifted hands…