In this video, Nick Kemp talks about the unique and profound respect that Japanese culture holds for masters and craftsmen. Unlike in the West, where such deep reverence for elders and their skillsets can sometimes be overlooked, Japan celebrates this tradition by honoring masters for their wisdom, craftsmanship, and dedication.
Respect for artisans
Nick: That brings up a really important word, and I remember actually, my wife taught me this word, and I think I've mentioned to you my Japanese father-in-law is a craftsman. So he makes shino-yaki pottery, and he specializes in matcha chawan.
So I have a very vivid memory of my wife teaching me this word shokunin. She placed great emphasis like, oh, he's a shokunin. It sounded like it was a really special word. So I have the impression, that craftsman doesn't really translates shokunin properly, it's sort of insufficient or a bit misleading. And I know in Japanese culture, shokunin are highly respected.
That's actually one of the beautiful aspects of the documentary and perhaps Japanese culture is this respect for masters. I think in the West, maybe because we simply don't have craftsmen, we don't respect our elders and their knowledge and their skills and what they can give us. So that was a fascinating aspect as well, to see how much they respect their master, and then, you know these other masters.