Tokyo, Japan, June 24-- A major exhibition on Iranian carpets opened at the Mitsubishi Club in Tokyo on Tuesday, according to the Persian Journal.
The two-day exposition marks the production of a joint Irano-Japanese movie called `The Wind Carpet' directed by Kamal Tabrizi. In the inaugural ceremony, the producer of the film, Yomiko Masuda, praised the beauty of Iranian carpets and said that `The Wind Carpet' mainly aims to manifest the charms of the craft to the Japanese people. The celebrated Japanese actor, Takaaki Enoki, who appears in the role of the father of a ten-year-old girl traveling to Isfahan to pick up a Persian carpet in `The Wind Carpet`, said that the movie provided an opportunity for cultural exchange between the two states.
"The word `Wind' is used to indicate the concept of traversing the frontiers and overlooking the distinction between races, religions and languages," he said. Enoki noted that during the production of the film in Isfahan, he had the chance to tour carpet weaving workshops and closely view the cumbersome manual process of carpet weaving. The manager of Fuji Light Carpet Co., Toro Nemoto, who helped organize the ongoing exhibition, told IRNA that more than 400 Iranian carpets are being showcased. "A selection of carpets woven at 20 of the most renowned carpet workshops in Iran are on display at the exhibition," he added.
Nemoto said that 10 percent of the sales of the displayed carpets will be allocated for the victims of the earthquake in the city of Bam, Kerman province. According to the Japanese tradesman, though there are around 47 million families living in Japan, the Iranian carpet has so far been taken into a mere five percent of the houses.
"The Japanese are surprised to learn that the 2,000-year-old carpet industry still survives in Iran," he declared. Lauding the design of Iranian carpets as perfect, he said that it is among the best in the world. A carpet woven on the occasion of production of `The Wind Carpet' is also displayed at the ongoing carpet show. Meanwhile, Kamal Tabrizi`s `The Wind Carpet' will go on screen at the carpet expo.
