Sanada-himo Enami ｜ sanada braid ｜ 02

#02 Old and new, balancing the old with the new to a fine tree.

In this episode, we talk about the last hand-woven Sanada-himo craftsman in Japan, Isao Wada san of "Sanada-himo Enami". Sanadahimo is a string full of secrets that acts like a certificate. At Sanada-himo Enami, Wada san and his wife, now in their 15th generation, do everything from setting the loom, to dyeing the threads, to weaving, to finishing, to setting the loom itself.

Talking to the threads with your own eyes and senses. That is why it is warm.

──Industry has developed due to the introduction of machines and the reduction of time. What are the interesting and difficult aspects of handwork?

Machines can weave at the same speed for a long time, so it can be done beautifully. But when we weave by hand, we have to weave in the same condition. Therefore, it is always important to weave with a calm mind. For example, if you weave when you are angry, your strength will increase and the weave will become finer, and even if you just leave the room to go to the bathroom, the strength of your hand will change. The thread itself has subtle thick and thin parts, so you have to weave while talking to the thread to make a good product. While weaving, we see, judge, and weave. Machines are inorganic because you cannot see or think, so the texture does not come out. But in terms of production volume, machines are still superior.

──Did you learn the techniques from your father?

Sanada-himo is often done by a female lineage. In my case, my grandmother and mother did it, so I helped them since I was a child. The head of the family (my father) was busy with shimono work. My grandmother and her grandchildren were weaving the cords, so the techniques and stories of those days were naturally passed down from one generation to the next. I went to the U.S. for high school and college and came back when I was about 30. People in traditional crafts have been at home all the time since they were small children. Because of the feeling of being trapped, they rebel and go in a different direction when they are in junior high school and high school, and there are few people who honestly take over the business.

──What do you think about the future of Sanada-himo?

I would like to make the most of Sanada-himo's characteristics and explore the possibility of doing this and that with it. I believe this will naturally lead to new products. When we do something new, we can broaden the scope by going back to the old days when it was created. For example, it would be interesting to change the material, such as carbon. In the past, the strongest material was string, but I think there are many other materials that are the strongest now. However, Sanada-himo's structure of "not stretching, picking out the eyes, and weaving" is a strong point that cannot be found anywhere else, so I would like to experiment with other materials as well. On the other hand, I think it would be interesting if we could find uses other than the conventional ones and develop a weaving method for them.

──T5 is a new Kyoto that I would like to discover through the activities and interviews of KYOTO T5, looking at Kyoto from a young person's perspective. What does "OLD IS NEW" mean to you?

My grandfather used to say, "A store is a tree. The roots are the traditional things that have been done for a long time. The trunk is the foundation for the business to grow. The leaves are the new things. If you do only new things, only the leaves will spread and the trunk will lose its light and the tree will fall. If you do only traditional things, only the roots will grow, no leaves will grow, and the tree will fall. A tree grows through balance. So we have to do both new things and old things. I think that applies to a lot of things. Today's industry is all about new things, isn't it? In manufacturing, the world changes quickly and a fad disappears after two or three years and is replaced by the next fad. That is not the case with us. We have to become a big tree.