The program “The Unknown Master of Restoration episode 3” directed and produced by Toshimoto Uchida, won the Excellence Award in the Documentary category at the 40th ATP Award TV Grand Prix!
What is the ATP Award TV Grand Prix? Held once a year, the judges are creators of television programs and other video content, who select outstanding works from their unique perspectives. The awards were established in 1984 as the only awards in Japan in which the producers and directors of the production companies themselves serve as judges to select outstanding works, in order to enhance the social function of production companies, which are important players in Japan’s video content industry, and to respond to the passion and spirit of each and every production staff member working there. Works are accepted in three core genres: documentary, information/variety, and drama, and the top prize Grand Prix will be awarded.
『The Unknown Master of Restoration episode 3』
NHK General TV, 44-minute program, first broadcast on Jan 2, 2024
There is a man who goes by the nickname “God Hand.” He is a ceramic restorer, Koji Mayuyama. He has restored over 5,000 treasures, including a 450-year-old black Raku tea bowl handed down in the Sen family of tea ceremony, and a large Imari plate destroyed in an old castle in Vienna. His skills were nurtured by a number of “secret jobs” that cannot be shared. He has restored many damaged items entrusted to him by art professionals from all over the country to the point where no damage can be seen even if you look closely. There are quite a few works by Mayuyama in art museums across the country. This is the third installment of a series that depicts Mayuyama’s unknown superb craftsmanship and his life of trying to pass on the treasures of humanity to future generations! Permission was granted to film the restoration of a Qing Dynasty vase and a Yi Dynasty white porcelain vase worth several billion yen.
[Narration] Min Tanaka[Director/Producer] Toshimoto Uchida