Japanese interview
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My father, Toyojiro, is the second generation and I'm the third in this shop. It has been 100years since my grandfather started.

The materials are natural woods, and it became so hard to get them. Especially mulberries, it's almost impossible to find.

Each shop usually has a thing that they're particularly good at making. Some are good at making boxes, and some are good at making things made of mulberries. There are some stores that make only boxes for shamisen(traditional Japanese banjo-like three stringed instrument) or tea ceremony tools; though, our store can provide various things.

Umm… There is a technique called "ari-kumi-hozo," and it's said to be the hardest technique. You make this trapezoid pivot inside the thing you're making, and make each particles of your thing fit together nicely. You don't just only practice this technique all the time, but if you try hard, you can do this in about 3years.

The training starts with cleaning up the working place. Then you get to sharpen the edged tools. You do it step by step. It's said you need 3years to sharpen the tools well. And then you get a training to make pivots. Oh, and it also takes time and practices to saw straightly. Using plane is hard, too because each plane is different. The back side of the plane will get bumpy as we use it, so we will have to straighten the back part, and there is a special plane that doesn't have a flatack, so straightening the back of the plane is not that simple. I started practicing these techniques after college. The language and the technique is not the most important part. You work together from 8am to 5pm, and you get communicated with your colleagues and your master by heart. You need to work hard, but I would say you can learn the techniques as time goes by. 8years are enough to make whatever you're told to, but you need at least 10years to be an independent artisan.

It's really hard to make something that satisfies me, but I always think about the users when I make. I try to bring out the warmness of the wood, too. Our works got to be sensitive, but strong. We work according to the due-date and our budget, but we never cut corners on what we make.

Fitting into today's lifestyles:We do consider changes in Japanese lifestyles. For example, if you put a cabinet on the floor, the wood would get damaged because of the floor heating. So I put legs to those cabinets. Or wine is popular in Japan today, so I make a space to put some wine bottles in the cabinet. What people put inside the cabinet changes time by time, so we make a furniture that fits the lifestyle with traditional techniques. Our techniques to use wooden materials and to paint urushi haven't changed a lot, but our designs have changed a lot. We also ask our customers what kind of design they like, and we also check out the furniture magazines to get some new ideas.

We had 16artisans in our union, but 2 of them recently quit because of their age and of the successor problems. The number of artisans is becoming less and less. It's really sad. Our store used to have 4 artisans, too, but some quit, and some became independent.

The price of our work doesn't slide with the Prices. Wholesaler can't stock our work today because of their financial problems. Many people don't live in a tatami-mat room, and only a few Japanese restaurants buy our furniture, so there are less need on our works, now.

Some Japanese living in the US looks at our home page, and come when they visit Japan.

He has retired. There are some differences between us on designs. I use my design today, though. He just tells me to make certain parts thicker or thinner etc.

Well, things we make used to be daily necessities, but they have been replaced by the new stuffs, and have become luxuries today. We didn't mass-produce, but we used to make a lot. Artisan's labor costs were also cheaper, and we were never out of materials. Because of the price and everything, quality is better today. What we make here really used by daily necessities, so every house had them, and didn't had to be that expensive. But people don't really need what we make today, so what we make became rare, and the materials we use become rare, too.

Mrs.Mogami: We got married by a typical arranged marriage. I had heard of sashimono-ya before I got married, but had never seen it. I teach swimming at the national stadium every Friday, and I only help on accounting for my husband's shop. Mr.Mogami: She used to be 2nd in the world for synchronized swimming. She was Mikako Kotani's senior colleague. Mrs.Mogami: We competed in team 20years ago.

Someone would have this "gebako" hanged down on his neck in the old days when he's on his way to stick a religious charms to shrines and temples. These charms were for people to leave proofs that they went to certain shrines or temples. He has to stick them up in very high places where he can't reach, so he uses a fishing pole-like bamboo to stick the charms. He just looks like he's going to fish, so people would ask him " are you fishing today?" So he answers them "no, I'm on the way to stick these charms up." Most people will go fishing in that outfit, but I think it's chic to do something else instead.

Not many people know this thing. Some young girls use this as an accessory for their room.

I made the jewelry box in a design that would also fit western style room. Just so it fits today's lifestyle. And I used the frosted glass because it's a jewelry box, and it's better not if somebody can see what's inside so easily.

We should make some cheap stuffs or stuffs we can make a lot, too.

The annual ring of the material comes out clearly with this technique. I burn or sculpt the soft part of the wood, so the hard ring part on the wood will stay and will show clearly. (can you fix it if the surface is scratched?) Yeah. I can burn it again, or sculpt a bit again. And the technique to put some polishing powder between the annual ring and the other annual ring after jidai-bori is called jidai-nuri. You can repair something made of jidai-nuri, and use it for a long time, but the material to make should have a clear annual rings or it wouldn't be a judai-nuri.

Umm. This is not really in use anymore. People don't smoke like they used to. There is this eggplant shaped hole on this tray, and I took the idea from a Japanese restaurant in Akasaka.

This box also has holes as a design. The shape of the hole is my original idea, but there are some traditional designs of the hole, too. Maru-kyodai generally has a round shape, so I also sculpt smoothly on the too.

I stick the kodaigire(a cloth weaved in a traditional technique) on this cabinet to finish. I get the kodaigire in a obi-shop (kimono belt shop)named Tatsumura in Kyoto. (Do you travel and look for them?) Yeah.

I have a confidence in this one. I get some good reactions from customers, and I've sold 7or 8 of this.

This looks very delicate, but this can even hold someone weighing 200pounds. This is delicate, but strong. It's a characteristics of Edo-sashimono. This is made out of thin particles, but the frame is arched, so it's strong. It's just like European cathedrals using arched design or flying buttresses. Some people tell me this stool is too beautiful to step on. Some says "I'll put my doll on this." Use of my works are all dependent on the customer. They can use it anyway they want.