Kagizen is opening a small art museum called ZENBI (Kagizen Art Museum) in the Gion district of Kyoto. The aim of the museum is to share in some small way the blessings we have received from the refined culture of Gion and to continue Kagizen’s role as a local focus where people of culture can gather.

Tatsuaki Kuroda was born in Kiyoi-cho in Gion. In his teens, he developed doubts about the conventional production process for wooden lacquerware that used specialists for each individual step. He went on to establish his own approach, handling each step of the production process himself, covering everything from forming the wood core to decoration. He was based in Kyoto his entire life, and became the first woodworker to be designated an important intangible cultural property (living national treasure) in 1970.

The connection between Kuroda and Kagizen began in 1931, when Kuroda, who was 27 at the time, was commissioned to make large display cabinets by Zenzo Imanishi, who was the twelfth head of the Kagizen Yoshifusa store and around the same age as Kuroda. The two, who were both born and raised in Kyoto and worked with their hands making things, developed a close friendship, Enthralled by Kuroda’s work. Zenzo went on to request many items from Kuroda, who rose to the occasion each time, producing magnificent works. This exhibition presents the whole of the valuable collection that Kagizen has cherished over the years, and also traces the relationship between Zenzo Imanishi and Tatsuaki Kuroda.