東京中央ネットロゴ NPO(特定非営利活動)法人東京中央ネット 東京中央ネットは中央区のポータルサイトです。
東京中央ビジネスナビ参加企業について
検索する
サイトマップ お問い合わせ
HOME > This Mounth's Feature > traditional craft "Shirokiya Denbe"
Special IssueBACKNUMBER
伝統技術[工芸編7]
traditional craft Shirokiya Denbe
traditional craft Shirokiya Denbe
Maestro Satoru Nakamura, the 8th owner of Shirokiya Denbe
インタビュー映像がご覧いただけます。
 Kyobashi, known for being one of the 8 best scenic spots in Edo (modern day Tokyo), in Ukiyo-e woodblock prints, is a historic and traditional city. An accessible market using the water system for transportation was founded in 1664 in Kyobashi. The city was named after the first bridge on the old Tokaido road that connected Nihonbashi to Kyoto, located in the south of the city. The name means “a bridge to Kyoto.” Kyobashi has been an active business district with various companies, traditional stores, and so on to the present day. We interviewed Maestro Satoru Nakamura, the 8th owner of “Shirokiya Denbe”, and received a warm tast of an Edo style broom store this month.

Brooms originated in Shinto Rituals
 Brooms were first used for sweeping purposes in Heian period. Bamboo, straw, or hemp were used to make brooms at the time. It was after the Edo era began when broom cypress began to be used for making brooms. Brooms in Japan were essentially used as a magical tool - for example, to stroke down a pregnant woman’s stomach with a broom today is still customary, after 400 years. Perhaps an aristocrat’s profound desire for peace was the beginning for this quiet and gentle tool.
 
Picture1
A Reevaluation of Traditional Techniques
 “Shirokiya Denbe” was founded in 1830 in Ginza, first as a tatami-mat maker. Later on,
after specializing in making brooms, the techniques have been handed down from generation to generation. Following the Showa period, as “modern” living came around, vacuum cleaners lowered the demand for brooms. However, it is popular nowadays again, as people find it comfortable and good for the environment to be using our brooms. Also, we started selling at major department stores, having demonstrations since 1985, so that more people can buy our
products. I am deeply honored to satisfy more customers by offering the elaborate work of our traditional craft.
 
 
The Attraction of Edo Style Brooms
 If you have never used an Edo style broom before, you might consider Edo brooms to be just an old thing. However, if you use it just once, you will know immediately how attractive a tool it can be for your life. There are a number of benefits of using Edo style brooms, such as they are soft and elastic so that one can sweep without laying unnecessary stress on it. Different from vacuum cleaners, you do not need to worry about the noise or any emissions. While it depends on how you deal with it, brooms using natural materials can last 5 to 10 years, and as you use them more, it can clean a wooden or tatami-mat floor more.

 
    Picture2
The Native Edo Mentality and Our Technique
 We interviewed Mr. Seiichi Takagi, who has been working at the Shirokiya Nakamura Denbe as a craftperson for three generations. The broom Mr. Takagi makes is popular for being gentle and dutiful. There are regular customers who ask Mr Takagi to make brooms with his elaborate style. “Since an Edo broom is hand made, that influences the results and usability. It also affects their level of comfort when our customers use them. That’s why I like to pursue the quality and speciality of the tradition. I was born in a house of craftspeople, my grandfather, father, and I, and I have been doing this for 60 years, since I was in elementary school, to this day. So I can say that I’m an Edo craftsperson from head to toe. What’s probably been handed down is the mentality of native Edo more than the techniques. I really wish for our products to be long-loved and used, as we make them carefully. This is the wish I would like to hand down to future generations.”
   
The Key to Edo Style Broom Making
 The most important part of making an Edo broom is “Ho-yori,” which is selecting fine “ears.” The essential process starts here, and normally it takes 3 years for a craftsperson to become independent. Ears are sorted into 3 to 12 kinds by hardness, length, and color, but one-third of the ears will be thrown away at this stage. After sorting them out, he makes four or five small bundles, and he puts stems on them, without the tip of the ears going between the center part and the outside bundles, in order to keep a small space. Then, he gives it elasticity, which is the main characteristic of Edo-style brooms. He attaches several tama-bundles in a row and tightens them together to the utmost with a wet hemp rope, adjusting their balance. After firmly fixing the joint of the bamboo handle to the body with an aluminum wire, he cuts the ear tips straight. Then, he presses the body under a Japanese cushion. This entire process is done manually without air-conditioner, so as to not dry out the ears. It definitely takes a long time to raise craftspeople with all of these techniques, so it has been a serious issue to find succesors.

Picture4Picture5Picture6
1.Do-jime process  

2.Attaching handles

 

3.Cuts away some stems

Picture3

The Difference Between Japanese Brooms and Imports
 Brooms with blue ears are made mainly outside of Japan. They get blue since they boil them in a blue dye compound after bleaching. That process weakens the fabric, so the brooms are more fragile and may be stiff. Edo brooms, which use natural grass, are strong, not very stiff, and last long. Even if one gets stiff, spraying it wet, hand combing and hanging it will make it straight. Just remember not to face them down, and spray it when its dry.
 

Picture7
How to Use an Edo Style Broom Carefully
 One tip for using long handled brooms is to use it from both sides, so you can prevent it from wearing out one side. When you keep it, please face the handle side down, or hang it from the wall. If the ears of the broom for the guest room have fallen off, you can still use it for a wooden room or the kitchen. If it gets old for that, you can still use it for concrete floors or bath rooms, and then finallly for the garden. I can say that an Edo broom is an ideal recyclable item to help the environment.

 
DATA  
strore
Picture8
Shirokiya Denbe

1F Hakuden Building
3-9-8 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku Tokyo
Phone: Tollfree (0120) 375389
Office hours:8:30-17:30 (Closed on Sat, Sun, and Holidays)
Access: Takaracho station (Asakusa line) or Kyobashi (Ginza line)
URL: http://www.edohouki.com/
 

copyright2004 Tokyochuo.net All Rights Reserved.
東京中央ネットについて 東京中央ビジネスナビについて このサイトについて プライバシーポリシー