I had a nostalgic encounter at a coffee shop the other day.
There are two jars filled with sweets lined up on the counter, and the handles look like I’ve seen them somewhere…
It turned out to be my work. The wood on the handle has a nice color and I was very happy to see that it was being used with care. The coffee also tasted exceptionally good.
The day after the meeting at the Faculty of Art and Design, Toyama University, she visited our workshop.
Capella Garden School was also the place where I studied abroad from 1990 to 1991, and since then we have continued to have a close relationship, being invited to give lectures and projects, and accepting students into my workshop. We met the new principal for the first time, and she was a very charming and reliable teacher. After introducing them to the workshop, we went to the College of Craft and Arts in Tateyama Town and the Washi Bunko in Yatsuo together, making it a very intensive day.
Student studying woodworking at Capellagården visited the workshop.
He wanted to take a video of my production process and studio, so I explained various things to him.
We usually decline posting videos and photos, but after checking the content, We agreed.
It was supposed to be a short video, but it seems like it ended up being a longer video.
I have always used a hammer to adjust my planer. I have always used a hammer to adjust the planer blade, but when I saw a blacksmith’s approach to planing with great care, I understood the insistence of many craftsmen that they use a wooden hammer instead of a hammer to avoid damaging the planer blade.
A carpenter once told me that a man who smashes the head of a plane blade by hitting it with a hammer cannot do beautiful work, but I have my doubts about this. I have my doubts about this, because the deformed shape left by long hammering is a trace of trial and error left by the user, and I think it is beautiful. It is said that one can tell the skill of a craftsman by looking at his tools, but I think it is narrow-minded to think that a plane blade with no deformation is beautiful, while one that has been used and deformed is ugly, and to use that as an analogy for the nature of the work. Because beauty is diverse.
With this in mind, however, I made an original wooden mallet over the year-end and New Year holidays. I used a dense and heavy species of wood, and made the striking surface curved, while the other side was angled and flat for those who strike the backing. For the handle, we used lightweight material and cut it thin and thin to facilitate the transmission of striking force. Thus, about 10 kinds of hard wood were selected, the shape of the mallet and the length of the handle were considered, and 25 wooden hammers of various sizes were made.
Products are available at BY HAND Gallery and Inoue Tool shop in Tokyo.
We have a new staff member.
We met in December 2023,
He became “Nora Komatsu”, taking over the name of his predecessor Nora (1st generation).
He is a sales oriented person who loves people and is a promising newcomer.
I also work with the president
The Noto Peninsula earthquake on New Year’s Day shook our studio and some of our works fell and were broken. Even so, we are thinking positively that the restoration work will be an interesting part of our artwork. Thank you very much for your concern.
We would like to express our deepest sympathies to those who suffered serious damage in the Noto region and Himi city.
At the end of the summer of 2023, I pruned a cherry tree that had begun to lean toward the road side, when I straightened it back up. This tree is a cherry tree that I grew from a sapling I received shortly after coming to this area. It has grown with my memories and I made a spoon out of the pruned branches.
From the branch wood to the finished product, I took my time while shaving it a little and preventing it from drying out with the shavings. See also a photo of the tools I used.
Our journey through Tohoku crafts, which began in early November, began at Mori Shigehachi Shoten in Tsuruoka.We’ve been to this store once before, and it had a lot of old and interesting miscellaneous goods, but this time it was a little organized. However, We ware able to obtain a Tohoku backpack(BANDORI). It’s really beautiful.
Next, We went to Yoita to buy cutlery, but no shops were open. Last timeWe were there, it was a shuttered town, but We found a good saw at a MICHINO_EKI. This time, the It was also closed.
Nexr, We stopped by Yoshida File Shop in Tsubame City, where the file for my nail sharpener was made, and we talked about various things. Thank you for giving us a demonstration at your factory. Thank you again for your production.
The next day, as introduced in Tohoku Crafts Trip (1), we made Magewappa with Swedish teachers in Odate.。
The next day, we went to Morioka, where we parted ways and spent some time relaxing, visiting craft shops, museums, and Kogen-sha Shrine, which is associated with Kenji Miyazawa.
The next day, I took a long-awaited trip to Tono. The mountain range and rows of houses were just as the name suggests from the village of Tono Monogatari, and it felt like something was about to come out. At the Monogatari Hall, the story told by the storyteller was interesting, and we toured the museum, roadside station, folklore museum, and searched for old carpenter’s tools on Carpenter Street, but there were no tool shops anymore. I’m sorry. I heard that Tono is also famous for Genghis Khan, so I was satisfied with the Genghis Khan for lunch. After that, I went down from Tono to Oshu, looked at ironware at the foundry company OIGENN, and stayed the night in Ichinoseki.
I wanted to see things like Chusonji Temple, but in the end I went all the way back to Niigata, saw the museum, and then headed to Itoigawa the next day.
In Itoigawa, I just learned that a “Kezuro-kai” is being held. In the comments I often receive on my YouTube channel, the topic of the Kezuro-kai comes up. Up until now, I had no interest in competitions, when I went there, I saw not only the competition, but also the whetstone shops and cutlery shops from all over the country, including 3 from Yoita. I had fun and was inspired.
WeWe ended 2023 with a trip to Tohoku, but now that the coronavirus pandemic is over, We would like to gradually expand our craft journey to various places.
The dean of Linköping University Karl Malmsten and his longtime friend, woodworking teacher Leif, came to Akita City to conclude a university agreement. We also had plans to go on a trip to see crafts in Tohoku, so we met up and headed to Odate together to try out Magewappa.
The place I experienced this time was called Odate Kogeisha, but there are many different Magewappa workshops in Odate, and you can try your hand at each one. We visited once about 10 years ago and made a bento box. I have nostalgic memories of being able to use a very beautiful cedar board at that time, thinking that this would be the last time since the natural Akita cedar could no longer be cut down.
This time, after the experience, we also toured the exhibition hall and other workshops. Dinner is the promised Kiritambo hotpot. The next day, we went to Morioka, where they took the Shinkansen to Tokyo, and we visited Morioka City, Tono City, and other places. This is in the second news.
At the end, everyone received a certificate of completion.
Next day, go to Morioka (drive-in on the way, with Mt. Iwate in the background)
We participated in “Sakanomachi Art in Yatsuo ” from October 12-14, 2019.
The exhibition place was an old liquor store in an earth floor and Japanese-style rooms. So it was a slightly fantastic exhibition.
We heard that some people gave up participating in the exhibition due to the typhoon.
We would like to express condolences to those affected by the typhoon.
