Keigo Omaki, director of the video website (Japan Handwork Encyclopedia), has an almost addictive interest in traditional items made by Japanese craftsmen, and he¡¯s not sure why.

¡°Maybe it¡¯s because I played baseball when I was young. It taught me the importance of taking good care of the equipment,¡± Omaki says.

These days he travels nationwide interviewing craftsman and filming their work to archive traditional skills and processes.