Handicraft - Shugei

Japanese: 手芸 - しゅげい

It refers to arts and crafts done with the hands, such as embroidery and knitting.

[Kumiko Ichikawa]

history

Handicrafts must have arisen spontaneously out of the needs of human daily life, just like other crafts. They started out as a way to reinforce and repair clothing, using animal or fish bones as needles to sew together the two ends of a piece of cloth or to layer it in two. They also cut the ends of leather to make fringes, and cut leftover cloth into small pieces to make threads that they could knit or tie. We can infer from excavated remains that handicrafts were practiced in ancient Egypt and Babylonia.

Japanese handicrafts were introduced into school education (ordinary elementary schools) in 1872 (Meiji 5) when the school system was promulgated, but in girls' schools, Western embroidery and Western knitting were taught in 1870 at what is now Ferris Girls' School in Yokohama. At that time, sewing (Japanese clothing) was an important part of the curriculum. Handicrafts were not explicitly stated as a subject or part of it until 1895, when Western handicrafts were also included in the curriculum. As clothing became more westernized, the content of handicrafts changed, and after World War II, the number of dressmaking schools increased, and from 1976 (Showa 51) the number of dressmaking vocational schools also increased, and clothing handicrafts were incorporated into dressmaking education. Currently, it is included in the curriculum as part of home economics education in general education from elementary school onwards, and it is also included as a specialized subject in junior colleges and home economics departments at universities.

[Kumiko Ichikawa]

kinds

There are many crafts, including embroidery, knitting, dyeing, lace, artificial flowers, beads, weaving, hat making, leather crafts, nut crafts, bamboo crafts, thread crafts, string crafts, doll crafts, bags, and stuffed toys, but they can be broadly divided into two categories.

(1) Clothing crafts It plays an indispensable and important role in clothing construction, and adds accents to clothing. It often uses various embroidery, lace and knitting techniques. It can also be used for clothing.

(2) Interior Decorative Crafts Interior spaces are decorated using various craft techniques, and decorations such as tablecloths combine practical and decorative purposes.

Whether it be clothing crafts or interior decoration crafts, sometimes combined with machine-made items, handicrafts continue to exist as the most aesthetic art of daily life.

[Kumiko Ichikawa]

[Reference] | Embroidery

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

刺しゅうや編物など、手先でする技芸をいう。

［市川久美子］

歴史

手芸は、人類の日常生活の必要性から自然発生的におこったはずで、これはほかの工芸と同じである。衣服の補強や修理に端を発し、動物や魚類の骨を針として用い、布の両端を縫い合わせたり、2枚に重ねたりすることから始まった。また、皮革の端を切ってフリンジをつくったり、残り布を細かく切って糸状にし、編んだり結んだりして用いた。古代エジプトやバビロニアなどで行われていたことは、その発掘物から推察することができる。

　日本の手芸が学校教育（尋常小学校）に取り入れられたのは1872年（明治5）学制頒布のときであるが、女学校では1870年に横浜の現在のフェリス女学院が西洋刺しゅう、西洋編物を教授したのが始まりである。当時は裁縫（和服）が重要な部分を占めていた。手芸が教科として、またその一部分として明示されたのは1895年のことで、このとき西洋手芸も課するようになった。やがて服装が洋風化したことによって手芸の内容も変化し、第二次世界大戦後、洋裁学校が増加し、1976年（昭和51）から洋裁専門学校の設立も増え、服飾手芸が洋裁教育に取り入れられている。また現在では一般教育でも、小学校から家庭科教育の一環としてカリキュラムに組まれており、専門科目として短期大学や大学の家政学部教育にも及んでいる。

［市川久美子］