Wisdom in Northern area- Hirosaki-Kogin (Kogin-stiching)

In my personal opinion, to try to keep out the cold using limited resources is much more difficult than to keep out the heat.

Today I would like to introduce Hirosaki-Kogin, a traditional stitching technique that has been developped from such attempt to survive the severe winter weather in the Tohoku region. 

These coasters with unique embroidered designs are manufactured and sold by Hirosaki Kogin Kenkyujo (弘前こぎん研究所："Institute of Hirosaki-Kogin").

To begin with, let me simply explain the details of Kogin stitching with its history and background.

Hirosaki is a city of a second northmost prefecture in Japan, where the outdoor temperature in the middle of winter is -10 degree Celsius sometimes! (and is also famous for delicious apples:))

According to the article (jp ver) of Wikipedia, in 1724 (mid-Edo perio), the then-governor of this area stipulated a rule that banned luxuious life of farmers.  Under this rule, the farmers were not permitted to wear cotton clothes, and had to put on clothes of hemp.  However, hemp fibers are too coarse to keep out the severely chilly window in winter.  

For this reason, a technique of doing embroidery all over the clothes began to be used in order to improve wind-proof performance, and is the embroidery technique that is currently known as "sashi-Kogin" (Kogin-stitching).  The clothes with such embroidery had been worn since about 1740's.

Hirosaki Kogin Kenkyujo(弘前こぎん研究所: "Institute of Hirosaki Kogin"）, which was established in 1960 for the purpose of basic research of Kogin, explains that girls at farmer families started to lean kogin-stitching when they are 5-6 years old, and did embroidery as if they are competing the beauty of it as they grew up.  So it can be said that the unique Kogin crafts are had been developed by the hands of common people, and is the embodiment of their individual craftsmenship!

The rule was abolished after a while, then the time changed and the old-type daily wears were replaced by the Western clothes.  These days the clothese with Kogin-stiching are not used any more, but Hirosaki Kogin Kenkyujo is now manufacturing and selling bags, purse, and other small products made using the Kogin technique in order to let people know the tradition of this embroidery and its beauty. 

And I found a website of a project called "kogin" by young people, who seem to be trying making modern versions of kogin.  It's quite interesting!

*Thanks to Akko, my friend I mentioned before, for letting me know this great tradition of Kogin and giving the picture above :)

Card case made of paper that cannot be torn - Kurotani-washi (Japanese Paper)

"This card case will not be torn even if it gets wet." - This description attracted my attention because the card case is made of paper.  More accurately, it is made of Kurotani-washi (黒谷和紙）, or handmade Japanese paper produced through traditional processes in Ayabe-shi, located in the Northern area of Kyoto prefecture.

The description says the paper used for the product contains glue made from Konjak (edible plant of Araseae family, eaten mainly in Japan, China, and some other Asian countries), which is traditionally added to paper in the course of production process for the purpose of reinforcement and waterproofing.

Even if such reinforcement is not provided, washi is said to be much stronger than Eastern paper due to the difference in the material.  The strength and flexibility of Japanese paper have been recognized worldwide, and it has been utilized for restoration of cultural properties - even in the libraries and museums in Europe!

Returning to the story of the card case, this product does not make me feel "tradition" although it has the gentle texture of washi, maybe because of its horizontal stripe pattern with cool charcoal blue which are not seen very often in typical Japanese traditional products.  I find, in this modern design on the historical craft, an effort of young craftsman who is attempting to continue the history of Kurotani-washi.

The creator of this card case is Mr. Wataru Hatano.  You can check his delicate and beautifully colored paper products on his website. 

According to Japan Handmade Washi Association, the history of Japanese washi paper started　from about 1000 years ago in some places, and there are as many as over 70 places famous for washi paper production.  I hope I will be able to introduce washi products created in other places some time.

Mt. Fuji, inspiration of Japanese craftsmanship

Congratulations,  Fuji-san!! Unesco finally granted World Heritage status to Mt. Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan and one of the most beloved symbols of our country.  

What was impressive is the Unesco statement about the reason for grating.  According to BBC news on June 23,  

"Unesco said Mount Fuji had 'inspired artists and poets and been the object of pilgrimage for centuries'."

There is no double that the rich nature of the Mt. Fuji area, as well as the symbolic and graceful shape has contributed to development of the Japanese culture of creativity in the long history.

Mt. Fuji drove so many artists and literary to create great works that represent our country.  And there are also various kinds of craft works developed in the area, including crystal sculpture, silk fabrics, deer leather craft, etc.  Oni-gawaras, which I picked up in the past article, are also manufactured in this area.

So I totally agree with the Unesco's decision to designate Mt. Fuji as a "cultural" rather than a "natural heritage site.

My personal recommendation of an interesting Mt. Fuji-related product is this "Mt. Fuji glass" (click the left link).  It is a beer glass produced by a handmade glassware company Sugahara Glassworks Inc (English site).

Celadon kiln brought back to life after 120 years - Ojiyama-yaki

I have not been so interested in crockery, ceramics, celadon or this kind of things and am not very familiar with them still now.  But when I first saw a picture of dishes of Ojiyama-yaki (王地山焼), their pale green color fascinated me and then made me head to the only place where this celadon is made - Sasayama-shi in Hyogo prefecture.

Sasayama-shi is an intermountain city, where was once a castle town during Edo period (1603-1868), and the part of the streetscape with old atmosphere is still alive.

At the end stage of Edo period, Mr. Tadayasu Aoyama, the then-governor of this area, constructed a kiln and started the history of its original celadon called Ojiyama-yaki.  Because of the protection of the industry by the governor and the local big merchant, the celadon production then became popular among daimyos (大名) there, and it is said that a number of elegant products were created for a while.  

However, the klin ceased to operate in 1869 when the governmental system changed at the beginning of Meiji period.

In 1988, or after 120 years since then, the current Ojiyama-yaki klin was established near the old factory and the production was started over again!  I visited the new klin with gallery yesterday and saw two young craftsmen who engage in production.

As you may see from the work in the above picture, the pattern on the dish has some kind of Chinese taste.  Actually, I saw many other works displayed in their gallery, and I felt some kind of influence of Chinese culture.  Although the above work is pale-blue celadon, there are also Ojiyama-yaki works of blue and white porcelain type and those with rad painting.

It was a strange feeling to see people - they seem to be around the same age as I am, or still younger - are making the craftworks with history that once died out... But as I talked to one of them and at least I understood they are really proud of and love what they are making and the culture of Ojiyama-yaki itself.

And I got a small dish with delicate flower pattern and very pale, lovely blue-green color.  It is now on my desk and makes me think how amazing the cultural staff, which might have disappeared before arriving here, is just in front of me right now:)

Address info:

Ojiyama Toukijo (王地山陶器所）

431 Kawara-machi, Sasayama-shi, Hyogo

Story behind simple summer dress - Aizu-Momen (cotton cloth) -2

So I introduce an interesting company that made the Aizu-Momen summer dress I talked about on the last post.  Yamma Industry (Japanese: ヤンマ産業） is a small (not sure about its scale but at least it seems so) company located in Kichijoji area in Tokyo that manufactures clothes and other fabric stuff like bags, aprons, etc.  I found on their Facebook page they are making blouses, skirts, dresses, and other kinds of clothes using cotton cloth produced in Ise and Matsuzaka in Mie prefecture, as well as Aizu-Momen.

The most remarkable feature of Yamma is, it is run by a designer and the elderly who live near the company, and all their products are made to order.  Their website explains that when clothes are made, the designer first washes and cuts out the cloth, and then, mainly the old ladies who help the company bring the cut cloth back their home and sew it with their sawing machine to finish the product.  The finished products come back to Yamma, and are sold with 1 to 3-year warranty.

The designer says on the website that not all the elderly who saw the products are professional dressmakers, but she thinks it is not necessary to categorize them into pros and amateurs because the old women are those who have been making and repairing clothes of their children, seriously thinking about how the kids can wear the clothes for long time.  So she says it can be said that they are the professionals of sawing, as mothers of Japan.  Meanwhile, Yamma intricately inspects the products before selling them, and guarantees free repair for some period so the customers feel at ease about the products sewn by them.

I though I like this system for many reasons.  First of all, it creates employment of the elderly, which is simply meaningful in our rapidly aging society.  And I can imagine it might encourage them mentally because those who help the company by the sewing could feel they still have power to contribute the economy and society of this country.  From the viewpoint of the customers, or if I buy some product from them after reading how Yamma is making it, I would feel the warmth of those ladies when touching the clothes even though I won't actually see their face.  I don't know any other shops who provides such warm products.

This is the tag attached to Akko's summer dress.  With the explanation of the product and the company, it says: "This product is made of the cloth that you can use for as much as several hundred years (!) if you take time to take care of it."  These words remind me of what it is like to treasure something.

  

Story behind simple summer dress - Aizu-Momen (cotton cloth) -1

My friend Akko showed me her bland-new summer dress.  It is simple and beautiful, and has its unique story that I thought I need to share.

She is from Fukushima prefecture - I guess some of you outside Japan may remember as the name of the place where there was sad disaster in 2011.  When I heard her dress is made of Aizu-Momen, or cotton cloth that has been traditionally made in Aizu area in Fukushima, I was glad to know this local industry keeps on going after the earthquake!

Aizu-Momen has 400 years of its history.  According to the website of Harayama Orimono Kojo (原山織物工場), this history started when the then governor recommended cultivation of cotton for the purpose of industrial development.   Aizu-Momen has excellent moisture retention, air permeability, and water absorption, and I guess this is why daily wear made of Aizu-Momen has been loved there for so many years.  You can see the elaborate surface of
exquisitely dyed cloth.

And now, people today still loves it and are trying to making lovely products with it, and Akko's dress is one of those things.  The website of Entete shows other examples, including formal dress, pendants, toy bears, etc., as well as how Aizu-Momen is manufactured by traditional manufacturing process.

There is another interesting story behind this dress, and it is about its manufacturer Yamma Industry.  This company, located in Tokyo, has its own, very unique system of making their product.  I will write about it on the next post.

Book cover made of fusuma cloth

Camellia is one of my favorite flower and is often used as a motif in Japanese traditional patterns.  This is why I fell in love with this book cover at first sight.

But what is more interesting is the material.  This book cover is made of cloth that was originally for fusuma, or slidable partitions used in Japanese traditional houses.  (The pictures on the fusuma article in Wikipedia will help you understand what it is like.)

You can find this kind of products at Network Gallery Nawrap (in Japanese, ねっとわーくぎゃらりー・ならっぷ）, which is an antenna shop run by Maruyama Sen'i Corporation in Nara prefecture.  According to Nawrap's website (Japanese only), the company was established as former Maruyama Shouten in 1930 and had been specialized in manufacture of mosquito net.  But it ceased mosquito net production due to decrease in demand of it and started, as new company Maruyama Sen'i Sangyo（丸山繊維株式会社）, to make lawn, or finely woven cloth for use in farms to cover and protect crops, and other kinds of cloth.

And now, the company says it set up the Nawrap shop because the people in the company have been more and more eager to create various new products with Nara mosquito net by using the manufacturing techniques it developed in their history, so ordinary people can feel the comfortable and gentle touch of Nara's traditional mosquito net in their daily life.

 I asked Narap about the fusuma cloth product by email, and then Mr. Maruyama, the president of the company, replied that the company does not engage in manufacture of fusuma cloth, but in Nara, fusuma cloth has been manufactured since the late 1960s.  (I really appreciate his kind response to my email!)  That's why the company can produce goods using fusuma cloth like this, as well as mosquito net.