How did a society grapple with the aftermath of war through the preservation of objects made of fired earth and the processes that shaped them? In the 1950s, the Japanese state reconfigured its cultural preservation systems in ways that altered how ceramic art conveyed modern national identity. Select historical ceramics were designated “National Treasures,” while contemporary individual ceramists received recognition as “Holders of Important Intangible Cultural Property,” colloquially known as “Living National Treasures.” This talk explores questions surrounding cultural authenticity and how tea culture ideology and aesthetics permeated these dual heritage designation programs. Through an examination of both objects and practices, this discussion considers how both tangible and intangible aspects of cultural heritage became institutionalized in postwar Japan’s cultural reconstruction.

Meghen Jones is Professor of Art History at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. Her research centers on ceramics, modernity, and cultural production in Japan and globally, from the late nineteenth century to today.  Following her training in ceramic craft design at Musashino Art University in Tokyo, she earned her PhD in the History of Art and Architecture from Boston University. She co-edited the multi-author volume Ceramics and Modernity in Japan, has written articles for journals such as Design and Culture, and her Japanese-to-English translations have been featured in projects such as the Google Cultural Institute’s Made in Japan. Forthcoming is the multi-author exhibition catalogue she edited, Path of the Teabowl, and she is currently co-editing the multi-author book A Global History of Japanese Ceramics.