Authors: Ben Ruhe
Date Submitted: August 31, 2003
Article Type: Journal

When master kitemaker Teizo Hashimoto died 13 years ago, there was no one to carry on the ancient tradition of Edo kitemaking. Edo is the old word for Tokyo.

Masaaki Modegi, dean of Japanese kite collectors with his own museum in Tokyo, urged Mikio Toki to take up where Hashimoto had left off and Toki agreed to do it.

Now almost a decade and a half later, after half a dozen trips annually to festivals around the world and a suitable amount of global publicity because of his stunningly beautiful kites, Toki has fulfilled the promise seen in him. More than one international kite expert feels that Toki is headed for living national treasure status in Japan, a great honor conferred on craftsmen by the government. Such a title also tends to bestow financial independence, since the worker’s output rises sharply in demand and value.

PDF Link: Journal Issue