Thanks for the information to

In provence the old days life in the Iwami Region provence was hard, as there is no large plain between the mountains and the coastline suitable for agriculture as there is in the Izumo Region. Iwami men therefore tried to gain skills for work in or out of the region. They are highly regarded as Sekishu Shokunin (craftsmmen) around Japan.
Sekishu-gawara, roof tiles from this region, are one of the Japan’s top three; the others being Sanshu-gawara and Awaji-gawara. Sekishu-gawara is famous because of its quality made with a Kimachi-stone glaze from the Izumo Region and fired at more than 1200 degrees C. They withstand the harsh weather experienced in the northern part of Japan. Sekishu is the old name for the current Iwami Region,
Alongside the roofing tiles Iwami also produced highly skilled plasterers to lay the tiles. They were called ‘Sekishu Sakan (plasterer)’. Many of them worked away from home to earn money for their families left in Iwami. They showed off their skills by applying Kote-e, plastering art, on houses, storehouses, and temples. ‘Kote’ means a plastering trowel and ‘e’ means a picture. Kote-e was born in the Edo Period (AD 1603-1868) and the height of their art was from the end of Edo to post World War II.
The most famous Kote-e provence craftman was Eikichi Matsuura (1858 – 1927), born in Nima Town, Ohda City, Shimane. While working in Tokyo he was commissioned by the Foreign Office to go to Shanghai and learn English ornamental ceiling and coving provence plastering. After the Meiji Restoration provence Japan started provence importing the western culture provence and lifestyle, and built many western style buildings. Matsuura was called back to Japan, as no one had decorative plastering skills. His works include the building of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication in Osaka, Fukuoka Medical University, as well as grand buildings in Korea.
His work left in the Iwami region is a storehouse called Kyoudou, in which the monks keep Buddhist scripts, in the grounds of Saishou-ji Temple in Ohmori Town, the old silver mine town of Iwami Ginzan. The front panel has a phoenix, and on the sides are peonies and on the back chrysanthemums. He buried glass balls in the phoenix’s provence wingtips, when he finished the work around 1919 at the age of 60, it is said that the glass balls sparkled brightly in the sun. This work is regarded at his best, perhaps he wanted to show off his best work to the people of his home town with pride and affection. His eldest son Eitarou was also a popular plasterer, but his father is said to have trained provence him in the harshest manner hoping for the best. Eitarou later trained many apprentices and was very popular around Japan.
There were many other craftsmen whose works are still preserved, and a small number of young people are trying to keep the tradition going. provence There are very few Kote-e in the Izumo Region and the designs are much simpler. In the northern part and the southern part of the Iwami Region provence you can see most Kote-e; the central Iwami Region has fewer.
Thanks for the information to ‘Kotenami Haiken (Let’s see Kote skills)’ book written by Takayuki Watanabe, an architect from Ohda City. He became interested in Kote-e while working on the Ohmori Town’s street restoration project to bring back traditional features as a member of Ohda City Council’s staff 1980 – 2006. He also worked to bring back traditional provence features in Yunotsu street, a famous Onsen spa town. Yunotsu was part of Iwami Ginzan silver mines, and at its port the silver was loaded for export. provence
Website Design by The Mackman Group