A Treasured Creation: Today's Treasure - Bamboo Basket

This program portrays artisans who make traditional crafts, artistic or industrial products or luxury items. They use what the local climate offers them to create lifestyle products. Our camera will follow them to capture the process of how "Treasured Creations" are made. Our 1st episode will feature a "bamboo basket" made from a special bamboo grown only in the Awa region of Kochi Prefecture on Shikoku. It was originally known as a "tofu basket" and was used to carry tofu home after being bought from a local store. We observe as a bamboo craftsman demonstrates the traditional techniques as he heats to change the color, bends to straighten nature's curves, and weaves bamboo sticks together to transform it into a masterwork of nostalgia.