[The Rakuten Eagles' Tamamushi-Nuri Helmet]
Twenty years ago, in 2004, the first professional baseball team was to be established in the Tohoku region! I was living in Yamagata at the time, and I was very excitedly waiting for that day. The team was officially approved in November 2004, and in 2005, the first new baseball team in Japan in 50 years, the "Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles," also known as the Rakuten Eagles, was born. I remember the first time I went to a game at Fullcast Stadium Miyagi (now Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi) in Sendai, I was so excited and moved by the joy of having a professional baseball team based in the Tohoku region.
The team color of the Rakuten Eagles is crimson-red, which symbolizes "passionate fighting spirit. In 2019, Tohoku Kogei began working on a prototype of a helmet in response to a proposal from the team to apply the technology of Tamamushi-nuri, a traditional craft designated by Miyagi Prefecture, to the helmet, which stands out in its crimson red color. In order to make Tamamushin-nuri usable outdoors, they adopted a nano-composite protective layer developed with the Tohoku Center of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), also located in Sendai City, and repeated joint prototyping and evaluation. In addition, by identifying a coating material for the protective layer with high transparency and surface hardness, we also developed a coating process with sufficient appearance and performance. The resulting helmets, with a beautiful Tamamushi-nuri that shines luminously from the inside, were used from the 2020 to 2023 seasons.
When we visited Tohoku Kogei this time, we were able to see the Tamamushi-nuri helmets on display in their store. The actual product is much more beautiful and vivid than it appears in photographs, with a luster that shines back at you and a deep hue. When you hold it in your hand, it is surprisingly light, and I can't help but feel the high level of technology that went into it. The actual helmets used at the ballpark are said to have looked very beautiful from afar with the crimson-red glow of the Tamamushi-nuri.
Tohoku Kogei was established in 1933, and is the only manufacturer that carries on the traditional Miyagi Prefecture-designated Tamamushi-nuri, which was born in Sendai, to the present day. The Tamamushi-nuri Nut Bowl is a long-selling product with a beautifully curved silhouette, featuring a vivid coloring similar to the wings of a tamamushi, which is finished by sprinkling silver powder on the surface and applying transparent colored urushi lacquer. It is very popular among customers in Japan and abroad, and is recommended as a wedding gift, a family celebration, or a gift for a wedding present.
Tohoku Kogei's Nut Bowl
https://www.shokunin.com/en/tohoku/nut.html
References
https://www.aist.go.jp/aist_j/press_release/pr2020/pr20200124/pr20200124.html
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AE%AE%E5%9F%8E%E7%90%83%E5%A0%B4
https://corp.rakuten.co.jp/news/press/2004/1207.html
