Soho Katsushiro

1934 - 2023
  • Wood and Bamboo(Living National Treasure)
  • Price Range Please Inquire
  • Awards at Japan Kōgei Assoc. Exhibitions : 2

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    • Designation
      Living National Treasure (Important Intangible Cultural Property for Bamboo crafts)
    • Category
      Wood and Bamboo
    • Techniques
      Plaited bamboo
    • Born
      1934 - 2023
    • Membership
      Advisor of Japan Kogei Association
    Soho Katsushiro

    Style

    In recent years, with the free use of weaving techniques KATSUSHIRO has created many flower baskets and container baskets. He does not accept any repeat orders for a particular piece, and spends six to twelve months creating each individual piece of work. He consistently seeks the motifs of his works in the northern part of Tochigi Prefecture, and uses locally-grown bamboos as materials.

    Biography

    • 1934
      Born in current Nasu Shiobara City, Tochigi Prefecture as the youngest child among eight siblings
    • 1949
      Produces bamboo farm tools after graduating from junior high school (-1965)
    • 1965
      Studies under bamboo craft artist, Keizo YAGISAWA (- 1967)
    • 1968
      Studies under bamboo craft artist, Bunseki SAITO (- 1973)
      Selected for the first time at the 15th Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition
    • 1972
      Becomes Full Member of the Japan Kogei Association
    • 1985
      Invited to submit to the "Modern Bamboo Craft" Exhibition sponsored by The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
    • 1990
      Evaluator at the 37th Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition (3 times in total)
    • 2003
      Invited to submit to "Japan's Traditional Art Crafts A 50-Year Retrospective" (sponsored by Japan Kogei Association, NHK, and Asahi Shimbun)
      Submitted to "Bamboo Masterworks - Japanese Baskets from the Lloyd Cotsen Collection" Exhibition (sponsored by Nikkei Inc.)
    • 2006
      Judge at the 53rd Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition
    • 2009
      Evaluator and Judge at the East Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition
      Evaluator and Judge at the 12th Wood and Bamboo Traditional Kōgei Exhibition
    • 2012
      The 5th Ohtawara Art Museum "Second Nature - Katsushiro Soho's Expressions" Exhibition (sponsored by Ohtawara City)
      Invited to submit his artwork, "Kodama" (basket woven with thin bamboo strips) to the "JAPAN NEXT EXHIBITION of Fine Arts" Exhibition (sponsored by the Cabinet Office
      Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters) held in Paris and New York
    • 2013
      Craft Technique Documentary "Bamboo Work - The Art of Katsushiro Soho-" (Planned by the Agency of Cultural Affairs, Produced by Mainichi Productions)
    • 2014
      "Masterpieces of Bamboo Art in Tochigi" Exhibition, interview and gallery talk at Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts
    • 2016
      "Expressing Warmth - Passing on the Spirit and Technique to the Next Generation - " Exhibition at Jingu Museum
    • 2017
      "Bamboo Art Living National Treasure Katsushiro Soho Exhibition" held at Ibara Municipal Denchu Art Museum
      Artwork chosen as one of the "83 Selected Treasures of the Heisei Era" and dedicated to Yakushiji Temple in commemoration of the repairing of the East Pagoda
    • 2020
      "Masterpieces of Bamboo Art - Katsushiro Soho and Fujinuma Noboru -" Exhibition at Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts

    Awards

    • 1983
      Received the Tokyo Governor Award (Exellence Award) at the 30th Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition
    • 1997
      Received the NHK Chairman's Award at the 44th Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition
    • 1998
      Received the Medal with Purple Ribbon
    • 2005
      Designated as Holder of Important Intangible Cultural Property for "Bamboo Crafts"
      Awarded "Person of Cutural Merits" by Tochigi Prefecture
      Honorary Citizen of Ohtawara City

    Public Collections

    • Ibara Municipal Denchu Art Museum
    • Nasunogahara Museum
    • MOA Museum of Art
    • Agency for Cultural Affairs
    • Yakushiji Temple (Nara)
    • Jingu Art Museum (Mie)
    • Asian Art Museum (San Francisco, USA)
    • Ohtawara City, Tochigi
    • Museum of Fine Arts Boston
    • Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts
    • Minneapolis Institute of Art
    • The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
    View All 13 Artworks bySoho Katsushiro