Kawaguchi Shoten ｜ Hanao ｜ 01
#01 Handicrafts are dying because they are handmade, but there are things that can only be done by hand.
In Kyoto, there are zori (Japanese sandal) craftsmen, but there are no Hanao craftsmen. In the past, materials made in other prefectures were purchased to be presented to the imperial family at the Kyoto Imperial Palace, and Kyoto tailors were responsible for the final process.
Kawaguchi Shoten, established 60 years ago in Nishinari-ku, Osaka, is an craftsman affiliated with "Kikunokonomi," a long-established sandal maker in Osaka. At Kawaguchi Shoten, the entire process is done by hand. Women do the detailed work with needles, and men do the work of smoothing the Hanao with a hammer. Because of the many processes involved, Hanao work has traditionally been done by a husband and wife team. The Hanao has been made by a division of labor for three generations, and when the first generation became ill, it was the support of the entire family that kept the Hanao going. He told us about his attitude towards the craft and the charm of Hanao that changes with age.
──Please tell us how you became a Hanao craftsman.
I have been doing this work since my family's generation, starting with helping out when I was in elementary school, and I have been doing it for 60 years. The whole process of making Hanao is done by hand. There are advantages and disadvantages to handwork.
──What is the advantage of handcrafting for you?
The ability to do even the smallest details. The touch of the foot on the Hanao is completely different. This is the most important part. When you sew with a machine, the stitches become hard, so it hurts where they touch. When you sew by hand, you can do detailed work and the stitches do not show, so the touch is softer.
──What are the disadvantages of handicrafts?
The number of people who make them is decreasing. Another problem is that the number of people who wear them is also decreasing. My great-grandson has been wearing geta since he was little. He is in junior high school now, but when he comes home, he puts on geta and goes out to play. Nowadays, some kindergartens make their students wear straw sandals.
In recent years, there are many Hanao shops that sew Hanao by machine, but in the past there were more than 50 Hanao shops here that made them by hand. But the number has decreased significantly. Hanao is a dying industry. Because it is handmade, you can only make as much as you can by hand. People have different abilities, so some people can make a living from this alone, while others can't.
──Are there any changes in the time you feel when you are making Hanao?
There is a change in physique. Especially women are getting tall and their feet are getting bigger, so I do what I can to keep up with the times. The zori has remained the same since ancient times, and there has been no change.
Young people today and people from other countries have been wearing shoes instead of geta or zori since they were small children, so they don't have the habit of holding the Hanao between their fingers so It hurts a lot for them. In the past, people wore geta with a Hanao since they were small, so their feet were strong.
──Are there any changes in the pattern of Hanao over time?
Yes, there are. Hanao has various "colors" such as patterns and embroidery. The shape of the pattern does not change, but the color does. When the economy is good, gold Hanao sells well. When the economy is bad, silver Hanao sells well. For real. Japan has four seasons, right? January, February, March, and so on, and the Hanao can be arranged accordingly.
There are geta with teeth, called “Rikyu geta”, and there are more than a dozen kinds of geta stands. Some are sewn, some are made of bamboo, and some are made of cedar. In the past, they were changed according to the climate. In the old days, some of the okobos worn by maiko had maki-e on the sides, and our daughters wore them for Shichi-Go-San (Japanese festival to celebrate the growth of children) for three generations. But now there is no demand, and there are no people making special zori and geta.
──When I spoke to a “Kuromontsuki” craftsman earlier, he told me, "The kimono industry is shrinking its production due to the shift away from kimonos. Is it the same in the Hanao industry?
There are no more hanao craftsmen. There are so many processes involved in Hanao that a husband and wife have to work together to make it. It was the same in all the Hanao shops in the past. If one of us was missing, it would be very difficult, so we always worked as a couple. Now our daughter and grandson are working together. My grandson has been in the Hanao field for 10 years. After he graduated from school, he went to work elsewhere, but he said, "If Grandpa works in the Hanao business, I'll do it too. He is very skilled. He started doing our work by watching and imitating us.
Hanao is a division of labor, and about five women to one man is just right. The women did the detailed work of holding the needles, while the men did most of the work of smoothing the Hanao with a wooden hammer. Even though we are getting older, we are still able to work like this thanks to our daughters and grandchildren. We are lucky because we have inherited what we have inherited, but if we did this work as a company, our lives would not be stable. I will be 86 this year. We are a dying industry, so I am teaching my experience. It will be my grandchildren's generation that will be able to cope with the coming age.
