|
|
| Yuzen-zome-yo Hake（Kanaya-shiki
Nori-bake） This glue brush is called Kanaya-shiki Nori-bake and since it has the essence and all elements of a glue brush, its price is reasonable. This brush is special in a way that aside from experts, amateurs can also use it also. Body Burashi (What is that brush with the red string?) This is a body brush. It gets better as you use it. Please try it. See, this red string is cute, right? With soap, it slides very smoothly. At first, you might feel a little clumsy, but it feels very good. There is twice the amount of foam with this brush! You get twice the amount of dirt and old skin off. Also since the wood part curves flexibly and the brush part curves, it can be used under the armpits and throat. It is very healthy since one can wash all parts of the body cleanly. (Have you thought very much?) Yes, I did. (When?) I came with the idea a long time ago, but since we are not so good at PR, we just hope that our products totally sell in these kinds of stores. That leads to great sales. Petto Burashi This is a pet brush. You brush the pet's back and the whole body. It is a necessity for cats and dogs for their health. Usually the brush part is made of wire, so it can hurt the pet's body, but with this product, since we use wild boar hair, not only does it comb well, it does no harm to the pets. The dog will come with thin eyes, and the cat will ring his throat for to be combed with this brush. (laughing) If you tie a string to the handle, it is very convenient at times of walks. This pet brush is selling great. All customers who buy it say that it is wonderful. Yuzen-zome-yo Maru-bake (What do you use this brush for?) Do you know a type of dye called Yugen-zome? It has a very beautiful finish and used for beautiful kimonos that Japanese ladies dream of. This brush is used for that. This is a flat brush and deer hair is used as it was pinched with four chopsticks. It is commonly called Maru-bake(round-brush). There is size 50 (D140mm) and size 60(Dmm). It is one of the traditional crafts and it is used for making the shading expressions on the Noh masks. Senja-fuda-yo Hake(meoto-bake) This is a brush for pasting Senja-fuda and commonly called Meoto-bake. (Senja-fuda?) Since the old times, it is a tradition to post paper labels of all sizes on the gate and the ceilings of temples and shrines. These paper labels are called Senja-fuda. You paste it in memory of the visit. (Can you reach high places with this?) You attach the brush to a long pole and you put glued labels on it and paste one after another. It is quite smart. Mokuhan--bake/Mokuhan-burashi This is a necessity for producing Nishikie(colored woodblock print) and Mokuhan(wood-block print). There are two types; brush style and hake style. They are used for painting ink to woodblock. So if several colors are used, you need a wood block and a hake for each. The business started 85 years ago. (What about your children?) They are all close to forty. (Do you work together?) Yes, my four children. They produce brushes and also do services. (Are the workers in your company your children?) Yes, and other employees. (Have you been in Asakusa for long?) It's been three years here, but the business started 85 years ago, in Taisho 3. (Are you the second generation?) Yes, I'm the second generation. (What did your ancestors make?) Mainly hake for paints. However, now, they usually use rollers for paints. It's no good if we stick to the brush. (You were originally in Imado?) Yes, yes. I go to Imado and come here, see how the store is selling, consider what would sell better, always using my brains and planning. (You can see what the customers are thinking?) Well, this store is for common people, right? Common people are the opposite of industry. So, we deal with Toshiba and Hitachi and Sony. So we have decided to produce only for common households. That's how it is. (To the photographer) It must be one work to take pictures that way. It is possible because you have so many staffs. Every year, I devoted myself to make catalogues, but now I have no power. (What do you do at Imado?) We have factory. (Brushes for industry are machine-made?) Yes. This is face powder brush. (What is this?) It's for taking off little balls of threads on a sock after having it washed. Indoors, dog and cat hair always stick to the carpets, right? If you use this on the carpets, you get lots of dog and cat hair. (What kind of hair is used?) It's chemical fiber. (What is Soba-uchi brush?) Oh, it's for Soba(noodles) shops when they make Soba. They use a stand like this one and gather the powder. (So you gather, instead of sweep off?) Yes, like this you assemble it, then separate it, and that's how you make Soba. It is very peculiar. This is a face powder brush. (Is it for young Geishas?) Yes, that's right. For her nape of neck. (Does the lady master paint to all the way to their backs?) You know well. You wouldn't unless you've been there. (Wife) Yes, unexpectedly, men who are maniacs, buy it. And eachers who are absorbed in dance, they call it Shiro-nuri(White-paint). We are struggliing to survive as a brush shop. We are struggliing to survive as a brush shop. Yes, truggliing to survive. (That doesn't sound so gentle.) Well, you see, brush shops gradually decline. (But there are demands?) One has to be a pathfinder in order to gain demands. In four or five years, brush shops will change dramatically. At the end, those with skills will remain. We consciously sell for common households here. The rest are for Toshiba, Hitachi, and Sony. These are high technology related. So we have products that can be used for a part of mortors in a big electric power station. Even if both are stainless brushes, these 118's are not good. We use stainless with higher precision that can be used for nuclear enerty. These stainless are harmless and pure. (Did you decide that?) Since we sell products to Toshiba and Hitachi, we get all kinds of requests from customers. Like use this kind of wire and that kind. Depending on the demand, we choose the material. The common one is 188 as you know. There are ones we call 304 or 316 depending on their ingredient. These are professional names. (You have a really big factory?) No, the factory is not that big, but we have three machines from Germany. We do that in the main office. And as for the hair, we don't mix with our hands anymore. We use machine to mix it. Also, we don't cut the wire material one by one. We have tools to cut them in bundles. So as a business, we have all the facilities to correspond to each demand. (Your sons use their hands and machines?) Yes, they do. We are struggliing to survive as a brush shop. We are the only ones producing this in all of Japan. Just us. There is a little bit of brass in it. As it sweeps away the dust on a suede shoes, it also gives a better look to the suede. (Thank you for your performance today.) Yes, thank you. |
|
Copyright 1999-2001 EDOCRAFT. Allrights reserved. mail@edocraft.com |
