Spinning Silk, Weaving Selves: Nostalgia, Gender, and Identity in Japanese Craft Vacations

One-week residential weaving seminars in the Japanese Alps of Nagano Prefecture for Japanese women reflect processes that permeate Japanese society & culture relating to nostalgia, gender, & identity. The old life is sought in the travel to remote locations in Japan in search of the symbolic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Japanese studies 2001-05, Vol.21 (1), p.5-29
Main Author: Creighton, Millie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Crafts
Feminism
Group Identity
Japan
Metaphors
Nostalgia
Small Groups
Traditionalism
Womens Roles
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Summary:One-week residential weaving seminars in the Japanese Alps of Nagano Prefecture for Japanese women reflect processes that permeate Japanese society & culture relating to nostalgia, gender, & identity. The old life is sought in the travel to remote locations in Japan in search of the symbolic core Japanese values. The craft vacations romanticize preindustrial rural communal existence in harmony with nature & others. They offer creativity & satisfaction in producing handcrafted items. However, the seminars are also a reinvention of tradition to fit the present needs of a highly urbanized & consumer-oriented Japan. They emphasize Japanese identity as opposed to Westernized life styles. The silk is a metaphor of the Japanese self, distinctive from others in Asia. Workshop socialization emphasizes small group membership paralleling incorporation into small-group identity throughout the educational system & other Japanese institutions. The finished woven cloths are a metaphor for the relationship between group identity & individuality in Japan. The experience allows women to willingly choose female realms of activity without the traditional domain of control. 4 Figures. L. A. Hoffman
ISSN:1037-1397
DOI:10.1080/10371390120048722