Shosa: Meditations in Japanese Handwork
By Ringo Gomez and Rob Walbers
Luster Publishing (2025)
ISBN-13: 978-9460583803
Review by Azmina Sohail
Design journalist Ringo Gomez and photographer Rob Walbers are no strangers to Japan. Gomez has explored the topic in the Belgian newspaper De Standaard and has had an interest in its traditional crafts for many years. Walbers has been based in Tokyo for over a decade so has been privy to the culture for some time. Together through insightful narratives and images, they have captured and presented the 21st century presence of shosa.
So what is shosa? Twelve stories from individual makers across the country share their relationship to it - from rural Tottori in the south, to the scenic scenes of Matsushima in the north - craftsmen, business owner’s, artists and more. Whilst they each offer different interpretations of the word, they all allude to the idea that shosa encompasses the feeling of continuity, respect and harmony in human behaviour. A way of being in the world that will produce all three qualities in the person enacting it and in those that see it.
In some ways, it’s a concept that cannot be explained purely with narrative or photographs - it requires a skilled combination of both. Gomez’s succinct and informative descriptions paint half the painting; his words are beautifully personal to each individual without excluding his own thoughts, nor the readers. His simple yet honest introduction explores his founding knowledge of shosa through crafts and business and his humble intention for the book ‘to offer some insights into a word that is just as important to Japan as it is in the rest of the world’ (p. 7). It’s refreshing to see that despite being so invested in a country, he remains fully aware of his limits, claiming that his research is in no way academic and would not be his place to be so. This type of humility clearly has the workings of a shosa soul.
The photographs complete the painting. Walbers’ experience is extensive but his passion lies in capturing marginalised communities. Upon reflection it suggests that he is especially gifted at highlighting intricate details (a search for his previous work confirmed this to be true). Coloured photographs accompany each story and illustrate a specific angle of shosa the individual has taken. They spread across a whole page, double-pages or are smaller and side or centre-focused, making the stories appear vacuumed and personal; as if Walbers has transformed into a meandering bobtail, silently taking note of each moment.
Shosa isn’t a secret. It can be associated with the precision of the tea ceremony, the politeness of a salaryman and the ease of streamlined technology. It is the conduct that has placed Japan as leaders in many aspects of life but ‘only the Japanese have a word for it’ (p. 7) and it feels embedded in almost all areas life.
The art of hanamusubiami (flower knot knitting) for rattan baskets is a specific skill taught through succession but is a dying craft. Kawaguchi Junpei´s decision to still take it up is a testament to his shosa. There is pure unadulterated time that is devoted to it; he weaves for 15 hours a day with complete awareness of the whole process. Shosa, for him, is an attitude and compares throwing his scissors on to a counter as ‘bad shosa’ (p. 24). His craft involves taking the life of a plant so ‘the least you can do is show respect for the life you’ve taken’ (p. 24). The use of time and objectivity here is clearly the axis for good shosa.
Yamanami Atelier understands this. The day centre helps its 97 residents, all of whom experience mental or physical disabilities, through artistic expression. Ukai Yuichiro’s ‘grotesque allegories’ (p. 127) inspired by ancient Japan and pop culture has been shown in New York, Yoshikawa Hideaki’s dots are deliberate in creating abstract forms from faces and Kamae Kasumi’s furry clay monsters are reminiscent of supernatural yokai figures . The manifestation of shosa here is through complete freedom of expression devoid from the influence of opinion. Gomez states that while world outside the centre questions themselves, the ‘residents dedicate their time to their personal passions without any doubt in their minds’ (p. 128). Their ‘inside and outside are practically identical. The shosa is the person. The action is the being.’ (p. 128) This complete detachment is remarkable and perhaps the purest form of shosa given.
The closing story of Yamada Yuko shows the importance of purity in action. For the Soto Zen monk (previously a Franciscan nun) ‘you could say that shosa is Buddhism’ (p207) and Zen Buddhism teaches that reverence is directed towards everything and everything is regarded as ‘sacred and equal’ (p. 210). This is achieved through a complete and total detachment from the ego and desire and therefore living only through ‘objective observation’ (p. 210) – a skill not easy to master.
The outcome of this book is to acknowledge that the concept of shosa is very much alive and well in contemporary Japan. It is a book that, upon repeated reflection, you will find something new to admire each time, from both Gomez and Walbers. The visible stories show that instead of shosa dissipating into legend, it is being reworked and reimagined as the world continues to change. It brings to life a word that has brought the people of Japan objectivity, authenticity and peace, which so many of us in the West yearn for. It is an open secret and beautiful way of life that may just be the key to achieving something very close to human perfection.