MUSUBI Craft connections between cultures, generations, and territories. Exploring Japanese and Italian handcrafts and the role of education, transmission and promotion in the sustainable preservation of their heritage system.

This dissertation is the result of a study combining desk research with a field study conducted in Italy and Japan, including a three-month study period at KIT - Kyoto Institute of Technology. The research aims to enhance ties and connections between cultures, events, past and present, tradition and innovation, worlds, and, above all, between generations. Connections between cultures, as it investigates two different contexts, Italy and Japan, share a deep bond with their artisanal traditions, which they have managed to enhance to the point of gaining international recognition. Connections between events, as it explores the dynamics that led both countries to develop, over the centuries, diverse and rich craftsmanship throughout their territories to identify common patterns. Connections between past and present, by defining what craftsmanship was in the past, and what defines it today. Connections between tradition and innovation because traditional craftsmanship is not a static concept but a dynamic, evolving practice. It is a continuous dialogue where ancient knowledge meets future possibilities, creating a bridge between what has been and what is yet to come. Connections between worlds, because artisanal tradition, deeply rooted in its local context, can be the link between communities and travellers, promoting more sustainable tourism. This form of tourism is driven by a desire to forge genuine and lasting connections with the territory while uncovering its unique cultural and natural treasures. Connections between generations to demonstrate how, by drawing on tradition, new generations can shape a prosperous future that celebrates local resources and gains international recognition while resisting the pressures of homologation. Musubi is the word that weaves together all these meanings. In Japanese language, it can be written in two ways: 結び, means “to tie together”, “to connect”; whereas 産霊, can be translated as "spirit of birth" or "spiritual creation”. The same power of artisans in bringing to life raw materials in their hands. To dive into these connections, the Systemic approach of the Politecnico di Torino guided the entire research process. It has been adapted to the needs of an unconventional application of the methodology to acquire a holistic vision of the national contexts and define roadmaps of strategies to educate, preserve, and communicate artisanal knowledge and know-how, especially to policymakers, young people, tourists and local inhabitants.