職人の労働のエートス

象嵌職人の日記から

抄録

　This paper will analyze through his diary the labor ethos of a marquetry craftsman who lived from the Meiji to the Showa eras. Hiroyasu Yonezawa was a craftsman who lived in two worlds. In one world, he managed the family business and supported his family’s livelihood, adding marquetry designs to everyday tools. This was the purpose-rational world in which the profit is pursued. In his other world, Hiroyasu was an industrial artist who produced and exhibited works of art. This was the value-rational world in which the meaning of work was pursued in the quest for self-actualization.　Ethos as the will to live consists of the idea as the meaning of life and ethics as the decision on a way to live. Hiroyasu lived in two worlds; the world in which the ie’s safety was pursued, and the world in which self-actualization was pursued. The production of artistic work often inhibited the management of the family business. However, Hiroyasu pursued both goals: management and production. Two conflicting principles, ‘ideas’, and ‘industry’ which aims to achieve those ideas, composed the structure of the labor ethos of this craftsman.　This paper links two preceding research projects on the labor ethos of a craftsman: popular ethic theory and artisan spirit theory. Popular ethic theory corresponds to Hiroyasu’s world of management of the family business. The artisan spirit theory corresponds to Hiroyasu’s world of production and artistic work. These are mutually complementary. Both are linked to the safety of the ie, and the management of the family business, and self-actualization through the production of artistic work. Thus, the interpretation of a craftsman’s labor ethos can be developed, and theories of popular ethics and artisan spirit can be integrated, in the framework of the labor ethos of a particular craftsman.