Ainu Woodcarver Fujito Takeki:
Envoy of the Forest

Fujito Takeki (1934–2018) was born to Ainu parents in the northeastern Hokkaido town of Bihoro and was raised in the city of Asahikawa, in central Hokkaido. From around the age of 12 he began carving under the tutelage of his father, who was among the first Ainu bear carvers of the early twentieth century. The junior Fujito eventually settled in the hot-spring town of Akanko, where his work flourished on the shores of Lake Akan. As a young man in his thirties he had already begun to receive commissions for life-sized Buddhist and other sculptures that would establish his name as an artist.

While Fujito went on to produce dozens of works addressing a number of subjects, throughout his career he considered himself a craftsman and a carver of bears. He never entered competitive exhibitions, nor did he especially seek out connections in the world of art. Still, his artistry could not be kept under wraps. As his commissions grew, so, too, did his name and following.

At once unrestrained and nuanced, Fujito’s distinctive style unites seemingly opposite qualities in woodworks that are robust in their appearance yet somehow gentle in their expression. Whether carving one of his signature bears or some other animal, he would work at a fast pace, single-mindedly focused on the piece. That concentrated energy seems to have transferred to his creations. Caught in some stop-action scene, they brim with the vigor of life while the finest soft detailing of fur, skin or feather belies that they emerged from a block of wood.