‘Carving the Divine’ is a documentary film that offers a rare look into a 1400-year-old Buddhist woodcarving tradition and the practitioners struggling to preserve its legacy in a rapidly changing Japan.  For the film’s digital release, we caught up with director Yujiro Seki.

Film Factual (FF): Tell us about your own background in Buddhism.

Yujiro Seki (YS):  While I truly appreciate the wisdom of Buddhism and its practice, I do not call myself a Buddhist. If you ask me if I practice Buddhism, I would say I do.

But if you ask me if I am a Buddhist, I must say I’m not. Why? In my opinion, people are more obsessed with group affiliation than practicing any spiritual tradition. People say, “I’m a Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, or Buddhist” to be part of a group rather than practicing its teaching.

To me, it doesn’t matter if I call myself Buddhist or not. Religion and spirituality is a personal affair. I do not need to announce to the world whether I belong to a group. But I do believe that there is a beautiful profound teaching in Buddhism.

So I have my YouTube TV series ‘Carving the Divine TV.’ ‘Carving the Divine TV’ is a series of Q&A sessions with Buddhist scholars and practitioners. These Q&A sessions explore the basic concepts of Buddhism and the history of Buddhism so that when viewers finally watch the documentary ‘Carving the Divine,’ they will get the maximum value out of the documentary.

At first, I started this “extra” activity for audience building as a part of the promotion of my documentary film, ‘Carving the Divine.’ But, as I worked on the show more and more, the quality of guests became more and more serious and the show’s contents have become even more educational, profound, and entertaining. Now we have a vast library of structured and easy-to-understand videos about Buddhism and Buddhist art.

That’s how I contribute to the Buddhist community. This is my background in Buddhism.

FF: What were your motivations for taking it up?

YS: Although I don’t consider myself a Buddhist, I am a son of a butsudan (Buddhist altar/furniture) maker. When I was little, I was surrounded by Buddhist objects, including furniture, statues, incense, shrines, and so on. My father took me along with him to temples all the time, as some of his clients were Buddhist priests. I did not think anything of it at the time. It was just our family business, and I didn’t have much sense of it being more than just a family business.

But as I came to the US, attended UC Berkeley, interacted with people from different cultures and experienced art from around the world, I realized the environment I had grown up in was something very beautiful, precious and profound. Ever since I was in high school, I’d always wanted to make a film that inspires people.

Finally, the idea of the special movie that I wanted to make that could make a difference in the world came to my mind. So that is what I’ve made a film about, with the intent of sharing that world with the world.

‘Carving the Divine’ offers a rare and intimate look into the life and artistic process of modern-day busshi – practitioners of a 1400 year lineage of woodcarving that’s at the heart of Japanese, Mahayana Buddhism.

FF: In these stressful times, with the news beaming bad news yarns day in-day out, do you recommend it?

YS:  Yes, I certainly recommend anyone to watch ‘Carving the Divine – Buddhist Sculptors of Japan,’ not only because it’s about one of the most revered artistic traditions of Japan, but the art that Busshi (Buddhist carvers) create is the instrument to connect with our inner spirituality.

We are living in an age that completely dismisses the value of traditional art, the art of ancient wisdom. We are in a culture that does not respect the wisdom of our ancestors. We embrace anything new but we disregard the old as the superstition of the past. We focus too much on the outside world thinking if we solve the problems in this material world, we can live in a better place and we can have a better future.

However, the extreme reliance on the outside world is not the solution to true inner tranquility and peace, because whatever you do in life, there are always problems. If you solve one particular problem, another problem arises, and it’s a never-ending process.

Bad news is certainly depressing. But solving the problems that news presents cannot solve all our problems, only part of it, and often it’s a temporary solution.

So what is our ultimate solution? It’s the cultivation of our inner-self, our inner spirituality – finding out who you truly are and connecting with your true self.

‘Carving the Divine is a documentary that can be seen as a mere ethnographic study of Buddhist woodcarvers. But if you open your mind and heart (Kokoro: Japanese) and look deeply enough, it will open the door for your own spiritual awaking, rather than being distracted by the hustle and bustle of the material world. That’s why you should watch it!

 FF: What was the motivation behind the movie?

YS: In my opinion, my youthful lack of appreciation of our traditional culture wasn’t exceptional. In fact, this lack of wonder and appreciation seems pervasive in Japan, especially amongst those Japanese who never step outside Japanese society. Buddhist statues are ubiquitous in Japan—so much so that most Japanese hardly think anything of them, let alone of the craftsmen who sculpt them.

Funnily enough though, Japanese people have a tendency to appreciate their traditions that Westerners have shown great appreciation for. If outsiders praise a Japanese cultural practice, the people of Japan will do everything they can to preserve and protect it

 If I were to present ‘Carving the Divine’ in Japan on my own, however, Japanese people for the most part would not take the busshi tradition seriously. Due to that attitude, busshi are an endangered species. Their artistry still rises to incredible heights of excellence, but the conditions for them to survive in modern-day Japan keep getting more difficult.

However, by showing this documentary to the world, and garnering recognition for busshi from people outside Japan, I hope Japanese people will finally see the treasure at their feet for what it is. I also hope they make the effort needed to preserve and grow this 1400 year tradition. These sculptures created by busshi are not mere crafts; they have a deep spiritual connection to the collective Japanese psyche.

FF: What is the message you want people to take from it?

YS: One of the unique aspects of ‘Carving the Divine’ is its attempt to bring the audience their own unique experience. I didn’t want to make a documentary that would tell a story that would force people how to think and what to think according to my personal feelings or opinions/messages about the subject matter.

Of course, this 1400-year-old artistic tradition of Japan is an important message in itself, but more than that, I wanted to challenge the audience to go through their own journey and have their own special experience of self-discovery. I am merely a guide on their journey, taking their hands and guiding them from one place to another. But ultimately they need to “find” their own experience.

In a way, my message is to catalyze the audience to bring about their own messages in life. For example, a painter told me that he personally identified with the apprentices and remembered learning his craft in art school. A monk came to realize that greater international recognition of Japanese Buddhism would lead to renewed recognition at home (Japan). A father praised the carvers’ discipline and work ethic and hoped that his children could exhibit the same qualities. One retired businessman and amateur stone sculptor told me that he was mesmerized by the process of the art and actually dreamed about carving that night. As a filmmaker, I am truly moved to hear the distinctive experiences and messages that are created within each one of them.