I returned to this place.
I am the second generation. My father was dead seventeen years ago after he had been confined to his bed for nine years. He established his shop in Taisho era, although I don't know exact year. But it was five to six years before Kanto great earthquake. (This quake took place in 1923 in Tokyo and its environs.) Before the quake his shop was located at Iriya. After that incident, the neighborhood was rezoned and it made him move his shop here, 'cause there was nothing around here but a field. And land price was cheap. I was born here. (So, you are "a young shop-boy near a temple," aren't you?) (This expression comes from Japanese old saying, "a shop-boy near a temple will recite the scriptures untaught." It means that if a child always experiences something, he or she will learn it automatically.) Not really. I didn't like this job so much. (laughter) Still now I'm not fond of my job so much. (Master's wife) He is the third eldest son in his family. The elder two brothers didn't like this job and didn't succeed. (Master) It is a very hard job. You know, we have to deliver chests after we sell them. So we used to hire several young men, but now we don't. Now one of my sons has started to help me. But if he finds it unpleasant, he might quit. I'm not sure. (Master's wife) His grand father's elder sister's husband was making chests. Grandpa apprenticed to him and learned how to make chests. Then he move to Iriya, Tokyo, and established his own shop. He used to say "I can't do nothing but make chests." He also trained many young craftsmen. But it's the story of Grandpa's day. (Master) I think there may be other more paying jobs. But I'm a bit soft in the head and it's rather difficult to find another way. Actually, I've tried to find other more paying job, but eventually, I returned to this place. (I guess you can do it, because you keep your good skill, don't you?) Not exactly. I quite don't understand if it's good or bad for me.

Small ones such as small chest of drawers will be in demand as well as large ones.
(Master's wife) Recently people don't wear kimono so often. It is a trend. I always say that you can put your ordinary dresses in our type of chests, but people link our chests with kimono. (Master) Open the doors of our type of chests, you'll see several trays in it. They are made to lay dresses not kimono. This type of chest is called "oh- yoh dansu." (large, western chest) Because it has "large" doors and is made to store "western" clothes. Chests made earlier than it had only drawers. Nonetheless, ordinary people look on this chest as a chest for kimono. You know, one day a reporter of NHK came to one of the members of our guild, and asked him when these chests having trays were established. I passed him one of my book that says clearly these chests had been formed some day on March in 1888. It was twentieth of Meiji era. He told me that it would be the fourth question at TV show "Questions by Japanese." By the way, we have been seeing a declining trend of kimono. But right now, chests sell very well. People don't wear kimono so often, but they own a bunch of them. I guess if people get to buy and have less kimono, my chests won't sell like now. (Master's wife) I'm expecting small ones such as small chest of drawers will be in demand as well as large ones. (Master) We also make these small ones. Not because I'm intend to attract more customers. The sales of several small ones will make some money, though the price of each is around 30,000 yen. (Master's wife) What we deal with is nothing but paulownia wood, absolutely. Our chests are made of only paulownia wood. So we have customers who live far-off areas including Hokkaido and Kyushu. (Do they get to know your shop through articles of magazines?) (Master) Yes, they seem to know it through magazines and so on. You know, craftsmen often go on television lately. So they have watched them and take trouble to visit us.

I've forced my wife to help me to carry chests.
(Master) My son is twenty eight or twenty nine years old. He used to work in a company. Not because the company has gone out, but I guess he has thought there's no other way but help me, because it seemed to him that we're so old and tired. And yet I have no idea if he likes it or not. He can quit if he finds he doesn't like it. I'm not saying that children should follow their parents as we did in old days. In those days , it was natural to succeed their parents' job, even though it made only a little money, There used to be jobs such as an umbrella repairer and an "Ikake-ya"(pots and kettles repairer.) Actually their kids weren't the best friends of mine, but we lived in the same "binbou nagaya" ( one-story apartments house where generally low-income families lived.) They succeeded their dad's job, and they kept calling "repair umbrellas" or something like that behind their dads. (laughter) On several occasions I wondered why they succeeded such a job. But now you don't have to follow suit. Even if the job seems to make much money, the son may not do it as long as he doesn't like it. On the other hand, even if I say "don't do it, 'cause it won't make money," I can't stop him starting it. (laughter) I just let a matter take its own course. Since we've been doing hard job, I won't have him do it. And once he succeed, he will have trouble with delivery. I've forced my wife to help me to carry chests. So it would've been quite OK in those days when we hired several young men. My wife tells me she never imagined that she would have to carry such a thing on her shoulder, yeah. She complains our job is more than hard. So I said, "you should be patient, 'cause I'm such a handsome guy. Heh, heh. Then I asked "If you could be born again, are you going to marry an chest maker?" And she answered "Never". I said, "You won't be able to stop marrying me again, 'cause I'm a handsome guy," heh, heh.. Well any way, my son's wife is also forced to do a hard work. I don't want her to work like my wife. My son's wife is slender. They're living in an apartments house near here. When I said to my wife, "I don't wanna let her go through hard days like you've experienced," she told me "You made me experience hard job, but you won't make daughter-in-law." Ha, ha, ha. It's difficult issue, heh, heh.

Not gonna sell them in the far distance.
(Master) This is a kind of a loss leader, and basically as same as that one. The only difference is decoration; that one has a lot of metal parts, while this one is simple. As for price, this one is cheaper 'cause it has less metal parts. Generally customers like it saying that it's not so gaudy. Some people like that one more, but others hate that. In the past, just that one sold. This time, most of customers say they hate that and prefer this one. (Is there any trend?) Yes. At certain time, our chests go like hot cakes but at another moment, they don't. Recently times are bad. We used to sell two or three of this type of chest in a single one-week fair. I think these chests are too big. I'm frequently told "Mr. Machida, won't you go to Hiroshima?" or a kind of that in order to attend Edo (the old name of Tokyo) craftsmen fair or like that. But it's too far away. I'm not gonna sell them in the far distance. (Around Tokyo within Kanto area?) Yes. I don't wanna deliver them to the distance that I can't get there and back in a day. Once I sell them to far-off places, I have to visit the users in case that they complain it doesn't work well or something like that. If they live near a river and mountains instead of a dry climate like Tokyo, drawers possibly get humid and don't move smoothly. So, even though these chests were sold at a fair at a far-off town, I shouldn't say, "It's not my business." I've got to be responsible for what I sold. So I'm reluctant to sell them to such a place, taking my responsibility into account. As long as I sell them at Hokkaido, I have to be prepared for taking trouble to visit the users who make complaint "Drawers are too tight to move smoothly." As a matter of fact, this year we've been to Hokkaido as early as the New Year. Although it's said that economy there is bad, I think our chest went so-so. But there was a lot of problems in delivery. At this fair, a public sector got involved, and it paid all the transportation fees. But I've got to use a delivery system of a department store that I was told to use, and to the delivery center, I myself had to bring it. After all, it's quite troublesome for me to go to far-off places, 'cause I've got to make all the preparations and arrangements for attending a fair.

It can be used for tree hundred years if we make it carefully.
(Master) Basically paulownia wood is soft and easy to be damaged. But paulownia doesn't decay for five to six hundred years unlike other wood. Cedar and kind of it would crack. Zelkova wood and paulownia wood can be used for a long time. My neighbor who runs a curio shop ordered me to make boxes for Kabuto. (traditional warrior's helmet) It's not the first time. The old paulownia box of Kabuto was well-preserved even though it was five hundred years old. So I believe that it can be used for tree hundred years if we make it carefully.

Every human tends to want more.
(How about this chest?) (Master) It's not so bad for an old one. (How old?) I've heard that eighty years old lady, near ninety years old, had brought it when she'd married. (Have you asked to mend it?) Right. I've planed it's surface again and made it brand-new. Most of old ones are not fine. As living standard rises, people wanna buy increasingly good merchandises. You'll never see any cars and TVs which were made thirty years ago, will you? If companies would market such things, nobody will have them. It can be said to chests. If you have three daughters, you surely wanna give each of them better chest than elder one, as your living standard gets higher. While we chests makers have been making more and more wonderful chests in order to make more and more money. (laughter) Well, that's not what I intend to do. After all, like this story, every human tends to want more. We keep demanding better quality. For that reason, once you get a nice thing, you won't be able to have an older one. But if you bought a nice chest, it can be restored and become brand-new. It can look nice with less effort on mending. On the other hand, cheap ones remain awful even after a lot of trouble to restore.

I thought our type of chests would decline but actually they didn't.
(Master) Right now, our chests are in demand, but in the near future it might be unpopular. I have no idea. As to chest made of paulownia, it looks rather ancient. So everybody stopped buying it soon after the World war, and the sales dropped. Then western furniture attracted people. I thought our type of chests would decline but actually they didn't. It looks like a glider. A glider that looks almost falling actually never falls and fortunately keeps flying. (laughter) Nobody knows when to fall. A glider flies depending on a wind. When plastics and vinyl prevailed, if you like, which were cutting edge, I thought it would make much money. However, that kind of business struggles lately. Mass products come from China and so on. Many people are facing difficulties in their business, aren't they? You can't say that a progressive business has to have a bright future. I've been thinking this must be the end of my business but it's still all right.

I have the shop's own standard.
(Do you distinguish one you made?) (Master) I recognize most of them. It's difficult t see it by outlook. But once I open it, it's easy. I have the shop's own standard. Others make it in this way, but we make it a little taller or something like that. (Why other drawers come out when you put on a drawer into a chest?) Because there're holes in the inner part of a chest. Without these holes, you can't put drawers into a chest. (It's taken granted that other drawers come out?) Absolutely. If they don't, consequently I can't put drawers in a chest. (Even a drawers are packed with Kimono, do they come out?) Yes, to some degrees. In case that any drawer wouldn't move so, you would blame me, "How poor!" So I intentionally make it easy to move like bellows. Heh, heh.

If I have a pleasure for three days, it will be enough and I'll wanna return to my job.
(You don't take a day off at all, don't you?) (Master) You know, I've got tired of working, heh, heh. There's no other way but to work. If there aren't anything to do, I'll get bored. But once I started to work, I'll become tired. It's quite troublesome, Unlike my young days, it's hard to be patient. I wonder which I enjoy more, a pleasure or my job. If I have a pleasure for three days, it will be enough and I'll wanna return to my job. I think I'll get tired of having fun. It's safe to say I tired of working less than just having a pleasure. As my eyesight has been failing, the efficiency of the work has been falling. Well, I can't be too careful of making chests. To be honest, the level of skill lowers than the one of young days. Forties and fifties are at the height of our ability.

There's a miraculous man.
(How old?) (Master) Thirty four. (laughter) (you must be!) You've got to add thirty-some to it. (laughter) I was born in seven of Showa era (year of 1932), and I wasn't able to have good food during the war. We ate corn looked like horse's feed. So bones of our generation are weak and most of us looks feeblish, and easily go to the next world. But, I deal with paulownia wood. Chairman Tanaka running Sudare (a bamboo blind) shop said, "I can't help referring to Mr. Machida at hospitals and elsewhere." I asked "Why?" then he explained me that he always says there's a miraculous man who has never had a cold much less has been sick. Even I have a slight cold, I said. (laughter) It means every body look on me as a man who never have got sick. Then the doctor told him it's might be because I deal with paulownia wood. Paulownia wood is good for health. They say people who have a pain in the lower back will be cured by sleeping on a paulownia board. (Don't you use Zabuton (a floor cushion) during your work?) Craftsmen usually use it, but I don't, 'cause it bothers me. I throw it away.