Living National Treasure (Japan)

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For similar honors awarded in other countries, see Living National Treasure.

Living National Treasure (人間国宝, Ningen Kokuhō) is a title awarded in Japan to certain masters of crafts such as woodblock printing (ukiyo-e), papermaking, swordsmithing and pottery, and to masters of performance traditions such as bunraku, kabuki, and various matsuri (festival) performance traditions, with the aim of preserving skills and techniques in danger of being lost.

In 1950, the Government of Japan began to designate certain individuals or groups who were "bearers of important intangible cultural assets" (重要無形文化財保持者, jūyō mukei bunkazai hojisha) as living human treasures, just as places or things of great cultural value are designated as national treasures, thus becoming eligible for special protection and support.

[edit] Individual honors

People designated as "living national treasures" include:

Toyozo Arakawa (1894-1985), potter
Kawase Hasui (1883–1957), woodblock printer
Shoji Hamada (1894-1978), potter
Shinsui Itō (1888-1972), woodblock printer
Bandō Mitsugorō VIII (1906-1975), actor
Serizawa Keisuke (1895-1984), Japanese textile designer.
Matsumoto Gennosuke (b. 1924), master of taiko, kagura, and other matsuri performance traditions