Hello everyone. Today, I'd like to write about "ripping off" (pakuri).
While I feel that "pakuri" isn't exactly a nice word, it certainly exists in society, doesn't it?
We often hear news about novelists or composers making a fuss, shouting "Plagiarism!", but I wonder if that's also related to this concept of "ripping off".
"The real thing versus the fake" is a very delicate issue, I think.
If the person crying "plagiarism" is themselves a plagiarist, then there is no "real thing" in that conversation at all.
But fakes, or "ripoffs," come in many different forms.
There are also things like inspirations and homages—fakes that stand properly in relation to the real thing.
Though in those cases, the "fake" is arguably something that shouldn't even be called a "fake," as it stands proudly alongside the real thing.
If you've ever been involved in music, you understand this nuance very well.
When you see phrases like "rock that evokes [artist name]" in magazine reviews or the like, you should be careful.
After buying such things, the thought that almost always crosses my mind is simply, "This isn't very good."
Ideally, if you call something your own work, it shouldn't carry the name or scent of someone else, right?
In a world of originality, if you aren't creating it "alone," it's not even worth talking about.
However, this brings up a major question, doesn't it?
Can you influence others without having been influenced by others yourself?
Does that mean everyone can be an originator of everything?
Does that mean today's traditional crafts are nothing but imitation fakes?
This is where "inheritance" and "evolution" come into play, isn't it?
Some dealers claim that today's Bizen ware exists solely thanks to Master Toyo, but you can't really say it's just that.
That would beg the question: what were the other people doing?
And if today's Bizen ware were the limit, it would be a pity for the people who will carry the future.
I believe each person has inherited and evolved "Bizen ware" to a greater or lesser extent.
Master Toyo was among them, and so were the nameless potters.
Perhaps it walked through a thousand years like the evolutionary history of a giant living organism.
The evolution was inherited, and those who inherited it, evolved it further.
Sometimes a mutation occurred, achieving dramatic evolution in a short time, while at other times cells died off and DNA was lost.
Hmm, this is somewhat complicated, isn't it? It means an apprentice becomes a master, and then their apprentice becomes... and so on (laughs).
When you think about it that way, being an apprentice is a serious matter.
If you are to inherit, you must complete the package with evolution.
Of course, even if you aren't an apprentice, if you can evolve something, you should inherit it.
Inheritance that presupposes evolution—inheriting from someone amazing must be truly difficult.
However, what one must be careful about here is that simply inheriting leads to nothing but a degraded copy.
Here, I'd like to return to my initial topic: yes, "ripping off."
This aforementioned state of a degraded copy is exactly what a bad "ripoff" is.
And what makes me angry is that there are "ripoffs" in Bizen ware that are based only on hearsay.
There is no formal inheritance, and naturally, no evolution to speak of! It goes beyond being a degraded copy.
Could there be anything sadder or more empty than this?
And what is even sadder is that there are places that actually sell these things.
If you're going to sell something, you must think about it properly before you sell it.
Isn't the act of guidance also an important responsibility?
Before "inheritance" turns into a "warning bell" (keishou), let's get our acts together.
