{"id":2426,"date":"2022-11-25T11:57:48","date_gmt":"2022-11-25T00:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/curious\/?p=2426"},"modified":"2022-11-25T11:57:48","modified_gmt":"2022-11-25T00:57:48","slug":"history-tradition-japanese-craftmanship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/curious\/history-tradition-japanese-craftmanship","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating history and tradition of Japanese craftmanship"},"content":{"rendered":"

During her first trip to Japan almost nine years ago, Tara Bennett was inspired by the country\u2019s incredible history and unique approach to preservation and sustainability<\/a>. So much so that when she returned home to Australia, she quit her men\u2019s fast fashion job to open Provider Store \u2014 a business dedicated to acquiring and creating lasting pieces for the home and championing ethical manufacturing and smart purchasing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat really resonated with me was how the Japanese really celebrate craftsmanship and how in Australia, it\u2019s not something that we really highlight,\u201d Tara says. \u201cIn Japan, it\u2019s so special. For example, if you buy a table and that table gets old, you don\u2019t buy a new one. You celebrate the imperfections.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tara started Provider Store in 2014, selling her own textiles and candles wholesale and online before eventually opening her shop in Sydney\u2019s Surry Hills in 2018.<\/p>\n

Today, her store is home to everything from timber miso bowls to hibachi buckets and hand-built ceramics. There\u2019s even a Shiba Inu (Japanese hunting dog) called Pocari, often waiting to greet guests at the front door.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was always something that I knew I wanted,\u201d Tara says, of starting her own business. \u201cI didn\u2019t set out to base my business around Japan, but it [her trip] was really eye-opening and made me feel very inspired and motivated to bring the ethos back to Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n

While there are more and more stores focusing on slow-produce and ethical manufacturing, Provider Stores is unique in its approach to sharing the story, history and tradition behind each item it stocks.<\/p>\n

In doing this, Tara believes we can create a deeper and longer-lasting relationship with what we buy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been to the factories of small makers, met them in person, learned their stories and sometimes spent the day learning about how they built a kiln in their backyard,\u201d Tara explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is important these days where everything is fast and gets very expensive, it is nice to pare back and see where things have come from and who made it. It means you might look after it better or pass it on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Tara would visit Japan twice a year to meet new and existing makers, learning their skills and experience so that she could later share their stories. Each item online has a picture of the maker or factory, a map of where the product is made in Japan, or a small blurb explaining the history or tradition.<\/p>\n

There are cotton Noren curtains crafted for inns and hotels around the country, papier-mache sea bream fish created to wish for safe delivery and child growth, and timber toys from a workshop founded in the late Edo period.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would go over there with a backpack and basically ride my bike through the streets and meet people and try to speak broken Japanese, or get Google Translate to help me build a relationship with them. And a lot of the time \u2014 it worked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tara\u2019s unique approach to business even caught the eyes of the Japanese External Trade Organisation (JETRO)
\n\u2014 a government-related organisation that promotes mutual trade and investment between Japan and the rest of the world.<\/p>\n

The organisation continues to back her business, helping set up meetings with local craftspeople and supporting Tara with the day-to-day logistics such as transport and translators.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the point of difference is that I\u2019m not trying to sell these things as my own brand,\u201d she says. \u201cI celebrate and talk about each individual person I work with, so when we bring those items home, I can re-tell that story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simone Ziaziaris is a freelance journalist from Sydney who loves writing about the arts, sustainability and human rights. When she isn\u2019t at her computer typing, she is out and about taking film photos. Take
\na sneak peek at her work @simoneziaziaris on Instagram.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During her first trip to Japan almost nine years ago, Tara Bennett was inspired by the country\u2019s incredible history and unique approach to preservation and sustainability. So much so that when she returned home to Australia, she quit her men\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":2429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[84,102],"tags":[310,246],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/curious\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2426"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/curious\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/curious\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/curious\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/curious\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2426"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/curious\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2430,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/curious\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2426\/revisions\/2430"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/curious\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/curious\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/curious\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/curious\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}