December 2021

1

2

3

4

[Maintaining Tray with Walnut Oil]

Watanabe Mokkogei's Chabon, which we use with great care, is a tea tray made of carefully selected zelkova from the Hokuriku region, finished without painting or coloring and polished only by hand, a gem of white wood beauty.

We accidentally put a hot iron teapot on our favorite tea tray last day, and it got a black scorch-like pattern on it. We felt uncomfortable leaving it as it was, so we took on the challenge of self-maintenance of white wood products, something we've always wanted to do.

First, we sanded the burnt area and surrounding area with coarse sandpaper to remove the burnt part, and then smoothed the surface as much as possible with fine sandpaper. The next step was to apply vegetable oil to the surface, and we found a way to maintain it using the oil from crushed walnuts, so we decided to give it a try. Oils are classified into three types: non-drying, semi-drying, and drying oils. Olive oil and rapeseed oil are non-drying oils that do not solidify in a sticky state. On the contrary, drying oil is a type of oil that hardens like a resin in the air and protects the surface, and walnut oil falls into this category. By the way, it is best to use walnuts that have not been processed with flavor or oil.

Walnuts wrapped in unbleached cotton cloth are pounded with ground wood to release the oil, and then carefully rubbed into the surface of the tray, which changes to a deep color from where the oil has soaked in. After applying it thoroughly and letting it dry for a while, the greasiness on the surface was almost gone. When we saw the shiny orange tray, we were so happy that we forgot all about the scorch marks.

Plain wood products can be cared for by you, and you can enjoy growing them into your own unique wood. Rubbing the oil in single-mindedly, we feel like we're getting calmer. Maintenance of the tree may also lead to maintenance of the mind.

Watanabe Mokkogei's Chabon S
https://www.shokunin.com/en/watanabe/chabon.html 
Kiya's Unbleached Cotton Cloth
https://www.shokunin.com/en/kiya/mizarashi.html 

Reference
http://blog.ofnou.com/walnut-oil-maintenance/

1

2

3

4

[Dyeing Living and Life, Samiro Yunoki "life LIFE"]

Mr. Samiro Yunoki, one of Japan's leading dye artists, is still active at the age of 99. He became a dyeing artist after being enlightened by the ideas of Muneyoshi Yanagi, a folk art activist, and the works of Keisuke Serizawa, a living national treasure of katagei dyeing. In 2014, more than 70 of his works were acquired by the Musée National des Arts Orientales de Guimet, France.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the brand, Siwa, which is sold in more than 20 countries around the world, produced a silk-screen printed Naoron in the same size as the original stencil dyeing created by Mr. Yunoki. The lineup includes bags, book covers, pen cases, and other items that make it easy to carry art around with you.

PLAY! MUSEUM in Tachikawa is currently holding the special exhibition "Samiro Yunoki 'life LIFE'" until January 30, 2022. Among them, you can see large colorful cloths from a wide range of eras, from dyeing works using the "chusen" technique produced around the 1950s to 1970s, to recent works with impressive bold patterns, as if you were in a forest. His theme is how to live life with care, enriching and coloring our daily lives. Ms. Yunoki has been active for a long time, and his works are exciting because they bring each era to life. Please visit this exhibition to see with your eyes and feel with your body.

Siwa's Screen Printing
https://www.shokunin.com/en/siwa/yunoki.html 

PLAY! MUSEUM Samiro Yunoki "life LIFE"
https://play2020.jp/en/ 

1

2

3

4

[Life in Snow Country and Sashiko]

Cold regions such as the Tohoku region were not suitable for cotton cultivation, and cotton products were treated as a precious commodity. However, hemp, which was self-sufficient, had a coarse texture and was not suitable for spending the cold winters, so "sashiko" was created to improve durability and heat retention.

The three main types of sashiko in Japan are "kogin-zashi" from Tsugaru region in Aomori Prefecture, "hishi-zashi" from the southern part of Aomori Prefecture, and "shonai-sashiko" from Shonai region in Yamagata Prefecture.

"Kogin-zashi"
It is said that kogin-zashi developed because people were allowed to wear only hemp kimonos under the strict thrift laws. There are three types of kogin-zashi: "east kogin," "west kogin," and "three-striped kogin," which differ in the patterns and threads used. The basic pattern of kogin-zashi is called modoko, and there are about 40 types. By skillfully combining basic patterns, large beautiful geometric patterns are created.

"Hishi-zashi"
Hishi-zashi is said to have originated from hemp cloth lined with cotton and stitched with hemp thread. The difference between kogin-zashi is in the counting of the number of stitches. In kogin-zashi, the odd number of stitches are counted regularly against the vertical weave, while in hishi-zashi, the even number of stitches are counted. This is said to create a horizontal diamond pattern.

"Shonai-sashiko"
When ships carrying goods upward returned, they carried old cotton clothes from upward. It is said that sashiko developed in order to use the cotton carefully until the very end. It is made of cotton, which is finer than hemp, and has a dense pattern. After stitching, there is a process of blending the cloth and thread to prevent the cloth from becoming too small due to sewing jams.

Muneyoshi Yanagi, a thinker of the Mingei (folk art) movement, praised kogin-sashi by saying, "the nameless women of Tsugaru have left us so much. Hemp and cotton were the fabrics of a land where the use of silk was forbidden. However, they produced such beautiful things in the midst of such oppressive restrictions." Sashiko is said to have been an important job and pastime for women in those days, as the region was closed to snow in winter. We can see how these women worked silently at home while the snow was falling.

Sashiko can be said to be an art form born in daily life that is full of people's wisdom and combines both beauty of use and beauty of appearance.

At the Ginza showroom, we are currently displaying a mountain-shaped sashiko amulet. If you are ever in the neighborhood, please stop by.

Yama No Katachi's Sashiko Amulet
https://www.shokunin.com/en/yamanokatachi/sashiko.html 
Ginza Showroom (Open from 9:00-18:00 on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday)
https://www.shokunin.com/en/showroom/ginza.html 

References
https://tsugaru-kogin.jp/about-kogin
https://kogin.net/rekishi2.html
https://hishizashi.com/about/
http://tohoku-standard.jp/standard/yamagata/shonaisashiko/