The Kurashiki Folding Screen Project: Japanese-style painting students at Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts create folding screens from scratch.

The Kurashiki Byobu Festival was revived in 2002 thanks to the efforts of local residents.
Held in conjunction with the autumn grand festival at Achi Shrine, the festival opens traditional townhouses to the public, with byobu screens displayed inside.

Among them are byobu screens created by students in the Japanese Painting Seminar in the Faculty of the Arts at Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts. What’s more, they make the byobu screens themselves from scratch, not just the paintings.

We introduce the Kurashiki Byobu Project, which began in 2018 and will be held for the sixth time in 2025.

What Is the Kurashiki Byobu Project?

The “Kurashiki Byobu Project” is an initiative in which students in the Japanese Painting Seminar in the Faculty of the Arts at Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts create original byobu screens and exhibit them at the Kurashiki Byobu Festival.

The project was launched in 2018 (Heisei 30) through a collaboration between the Faculty of the Arts at Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts and the Kurashiki Future Project, with support from the Okayama Prefecture Association of Mounting and Interior Finishers.

Through making byobu screens, students engage with Japanese traditions and their concrete forms

The project aims to connect tradition and the present by creating and exhibiting new byobu screens, deepen understanding of tradition through the works, and consider how to continue the project.

The 2025 festival will mark the project’s sixth exhibition. Students work on the byobu screens throughout the year, and a system for continuing the project has taken shape, with know-how passed down from senior students to junior students.

The Byobu-Making Process at Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts

For some time after the project began in 2018, students made byobu screens under the guidance of mounting specialists from the Okayama Prefecture Association of Mounting and Interior Finishers.

Then, in March 2023, they created the “Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts Byobu-Making Manual,” and now university staff and students can make byobu screens on their own.

The process is as follows.

1. Frame preparation
   Small sheets of Japanese paper are layered over a panel consisting of a wooden frame covered with one large sheet of paper.
2. Minō covering
   More Japanese paper is layered on top.
3. Sawing the hinge marks
   Marks for making the hinges are cut with a saw.
4. Making the hinges
   Hinges (joints) are made to connect the panels.
5. Backing layer
   More small sheets of Japanese paper are layered on top.
6. Backing the main sheet
   Japanese paper is layered on the back to reinforce the main sheet (the paper used for the painting).
7. Painting
   The byobu screen, with the main sheet attached, is painted.
   In some cases, a painting made separately is attached to the screen.
8. Attaching the back fabric
   Once the painting is complete, fabric is attached to the back of the screen.
9. Oze edging
   Decorative paper is attached to the sides (joints).
10. Attaching the frame
    Finally, a wooden frame is attached around the screen.
    It is made using a technique with concealed nails, so the nails cannot be seen.

They reportedly spend about three months making each screen, during a weekly five-hour class consisting of three class periods.

During the Byobu Festival, students explain their screens in front of their own works. Explaining their work to others also gives them a valuable opportunity to learn how their work is received.

Three Students Taking on Byobu-Making for the 2025 Byobu Festival

For the Byobu Festival, to be held on October 18 and 19, 2025, three third-year students in the Japanese Painting Seminar in the Faculty of the Arts are working on byobu screens.

• Fujiwara Sakura, “Clear Gaze”
• Sumida Sayuki, “Welcome to the Fantasy”
• Hiratsuka So, “Two Tomoe”

Their instructor is Yomogi Harada, an assistant professor in the Department of Arts in the Faculty of the Arts.

Harada was a graduate student when the Kurashiki Byobu Project began in 2018. Now, while teaching students as a faculty member, she is also scheduled to exhibit her own work at the Byobu Festival as a Japanese-style painter.

Interview with Three Students Making Their Works and Their Instructor, Professor Harada

We interviewed third-year students in the Japanese Painting Seminar in the Faculty of the Arts—Fujiwara Sakura, Sumida Sayuki, and Hiratsuka So—who are creating works for the Byobu Festival on October 18 and 19, 2025, as well as their instructor, assistant professor Yomogi Harada.

Is there a unifying theme for the works being made for the Byobu Festival?

Harada (honorifics omitted)

I tell the students, “Let’s make Kurashiki our theme.”

That’s because they are aiming to exhibit their byobu screens at the Byobu Festival. So each work must include a “Kurashiki element” somewhere, but otherwise they are free to create whatever they like.

It might be fun to look at the works and wonder, “Where and how have they incorporated Kurashiki?”

Now, could you tell us about the themes of the works you’re currently making?

Fujiwara (honorifics omitted)

I’m combining Kurashiki’s city bird, the kingfisher, with its city tree, the camphor tree.

Since Kurashiki is the theme, I wanted to depict a kingfisher perched on a camphor tree, expressing my hope that they could be seen together, even though in reality it’s rare to see kingfishers and camphor trees together in the same place.

Sumida (honorifics omitted)

When we decided to make Kurashiki our theme, I chose to paint a “scene from the Bikan Historical Area.”

When I first visited the Bikan Historical Area, the scenery felt so dreamlike, and I wanted to express how I felt at the time.

So I’m painting the Bikan Historical Area in a dreamlike way.

Hiratsuka (honorifics omitted)

What I’m painting this time is the relationship between old and new in the Bikan Historical Area.

It’s not quite a conflict, but I hope to depict a new Kurashiki in which new things develop while learning from the old.

How are you depicting the old and the new?

Hiratsuka

I’m depicting the “dragon” as the old and the “rooster” as the new.

The dragon represents the old because it evokes longevity, while the rooster is a young, grown bird. I want to express a positive rivalry between them. I hope to depict the Bikan Historical Area with the two facing off like actors striking a mie pose in kabuki, with light shining on them.

Is there anything you keep in mind when teaching the students?

Harada

Since this is a class, I place importance on the experience of “making a byobu screen from scratch”.
I believe it’s a valuable experience that students can’t get at other universities.

When the class first began, craftspeople from the Okayama Prefecture Association of Mounting Specialists came to the university and taught the students how to make byobu screens, explaining, “This is what a byobu screen is.”

The skills were passed on during the first few years, so now they are mainly taught from senior students to junior students, with instruction aimed at ensuring this tradition continues.

Now in its eighth year, the project has become “one of the distinctive features” of the third-year Japanese Painting Seminar class.

What are the highlights of the works? What should we look out for?

Fujiwara

I hope you’ll take a close look at the kingfisher.
Since the title includes the word “gaze,” I’d also like you to notice the kingfisher’s gaze and what it’s looking at.

Sumida

I’ve painted it with a sense of depth, so I hope you’ll appreciate that atmosphere.
Also, I’ve included a cat in the landscape.

I want the cat in the Bikan Historical Area to stand out.

Hiratsuka

I hope you’ll pay attention to the expressions of the dragon and the rooster.
I want to paint them facing off, but with expressions that aren’t quite hostile.

Finally, do you have a message for our readers?

Fujiwara

I don’t think people are very familiar with byobu screens, so I’d be happy if the Byobu Festival helps them feel a little closer to them.

From the Writer

I knew that students from Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts exhibit their works at the Byobu Festival every year, but I didn’t know they made the “byobu screens themselves” from scratch.

When we visited, they were right in the middle of making a byobu screen. Rather than painting, the three of them were working together on what was, in a way, a physically demanding task.

On the day of the Byobu Festival, Fujiwara and Sumida’s works are scheduled to be displayed at “Ueshima Chochin”, while Hiratsuka’s work is scheduled to be displayed at “Jazz Cafe Avenew”.

On the day of the Kurashiki Byobu Festival, the students are also scheduled to explain their own works, so be sure to stop by.

Articles About the Kurashiki Byobu Festival

Kurashiki Byobu Festival Information

Name	Kurashiki Byobu Festival
Dates	October 18 (Sat.) and 19 (Sun.), 2025 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Location	Bikan Historical Area
Admission (tax included)	Free (some facilities charge admission)
Website	Kurashiki Byobu Festival (Kurashiki Chamber of Commerce and Industry website)

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