The Craft Area of the Program in Communication Art and Design is actually comprised of three areas: ceramic crafts, wood crafts, and glass crafts. Each of these areas is taught by an expert instructor. These instructors have created curricula to teach students about the characteristics of materials as shaping elements, how to utilize the potential of their chosen materials, and what they ought to do to pursue expressions that are possible with those materials.

Courses include Introductions to Crafts, and Creating with Wood, Material Science, etc., where students can learn about the historical lineage of crafts, from prehistoric times when people started to make things, to the modern age, as well as the relationship between materials and shapes and their respective characteristics. In the hands-on training and exercises such as Basic Studies of Craft I and II and Basic Ceramic Exercises in the fundamental courses, students touch elements in each area, and learn basic shaping skills and methods of expression using the characteristics of these elements.

In the specialized courses Practical Training I and II (ceramics, wood, glass) and Exercises (ceramics, wood, glass), students learn about applied techniques to deepen their understanding of elements, and study theory and practice to nurture their own creativity. Intensive classes such as Special Lectures on Crafts, Potter’s Wheel Techniques, Lacquering Techniques, etc., provide students with applied exercises and training.

One characteristic that distinguishes this school from other art universities is that the curriculum is set up so that students can learn relatively easily about the special features of each type of material, and combining different materials (for example, shapes made with a combination of glass and ceramics, experimentation with fusing lacquer and glass) through interdisciplinary courses. In addition, utilizing the features of the Program in Communication Art and Design, students can study in courses that transcend the various areas, such as Constructive Art (fundamental formative expression), Plastic Art and Mixed Media (advanced expression), and Visual Communication Design (applied expression). This enables students to learn about the possibilities and theoretical concepts of formative expression in craft areas that they would not be able do with other types of art education.

Regarding preparatory research for graduation, there are courses (Craft Training I and II, or “craft seminars”) where all students can share their research in the Craft Area. There are also opportunities for students to present the results of their study in the Craft Area, as well as plan and manage exhibitions and other venues.

The Craft Area of Design Fields in the Master’s Program in Art and Design, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, aims to help students materialize a high level of expression in a way that develops their undergraduate studies. Therefore, the curriculum is set up so that through Special Training in Craft Area, Modeling Element Exercises (ceramics, wood, glass) I and II, students deepen their artistic expression and techniques in each area, and through interdisciplinary learning they are able to develop expression that is made possible with a combination of main elements, and materials and modeling elements from other fields. In Craft Area seminars, students present and confirm theoretical concepts and share the results of their modeling expression research with each other. This helps to ensure the quality of their research. To complete their research, they will submit a work and write a thesis (research report).