Tsubame City, Niigata Prefecture, is known as Japan's most prosperous metalwork town.
Tsubame City is home to local manufacturing companies with world-class techniques, such as Gyokusendo, the only company in Japan that has been producing hammered copperware (a designated intangible cultural property) for 200 years, and Fujijiro Co., Ltd., which has been pursuing the sharpest knives for half a century. Tsubame City's local industry dates back to the Edo period, when it produced Japanese nails, and has continued through files, engraving, and hammered copperware, passing on its craftsmanship through the ages.
Based in a place steeped in the history of metalwork, Kazuya Watanabe creates works using metalwork. This year marks his 10th anniversary since opening his own studio, Tankosha, in the spring of 2005. He is a hammered copperwork artisan who shapes his pieces by hammering and stretching metal with hammers and wooden mallets.
For two weeks from July 20th, Petit Robe Noir will open a pop-up shop called "Circle of pieces - Things connected to Petit Robe Noir" at the Isetan Shinjuku store. Abe chose his hometown of Niigata as the theme for this pop-up shop. The store will feature new items that he has worked on in collaboration with Niigata-based Watanabe Kazuya and other artisans.
We had the opportunity to visit Watanabe Kazuya's atelier and witness Petit Robe Noir's Abe Yoshiyo's creative process.
This is the birthplace of the creations of Yoshiyo Abe and Kazuya Watanabe.
Mr. Watanabe: I believe that "tradition" is a means to an end. Rather than producing traditional crafts, traditional techniques are merely methods, and I believe that these techniques need to be hybridized with modern technology.
When it comes to tradition, consumers tend to focus on accumulated techniques, but I believe it is also important for creators to think one step ahead and create something. While hammering was once born out of necessity, it is now a part of craft culture = decorative culture. There are many convenient things in the world, but I believe that things made with hammering have a texture and warmth that can be felt intuitively, such as the distortions that arise from the hand and habit of the craft, rather than visual decoration. Machines can be used to mass-produce anything, but it's important not to overproduce and to stop at a good point.
Abe-san: Petit Robe Noir's jewelry is also intentionally made to retain texture, to show the marks of the artisan's hand. These artisans have been creating beautiful, perfect products up until now, and although it would be wrong to say that they are "not beautiful," they have deliberately left the uneven color of the metal rather than erasing it, and they are happy with the variations in the patterns that occur one by one through the handwork...
Abe Yoshiyo selecting materials.
Watanabe: I know what you're trying to say. It's hard to describe it as either beautiful or dirty, it's just a feeling that's hard to put into words. Even iron and steel from 100 years ago will age and develop a golden tinge. Forging is a process that takes place instantaneously, giving 100% from start to finish, and I hope to incorporate an indescribable, intuitive quality into my work.
Abe: When do you feel like you can or want to forge metal?
Watanabe: I like to start work on quiet nights when there are no cars on the road. I hum along (laughs). The low, cloudy skies are typical of Niigata and create a gloomy atmosphere. March of this year will mark 10 years since I went independent, and looking back, I realize I love this job. It's hard to do if you don't love it, as I spend all day hammering metal in an atelier surrounded by farmland.
Abe: Has your approach to metal changed from then to now?
Watanabe: At first, it was one-sided; I felt like I was taking on the challenge of working with metal. Recently, for example, if I were to personify a material, I would think about how I could use my skills to bring out the material's potential and expression. I feel like I'm working more with my partner than I did in the past. This is why I want to try my hand at all kinds of different materials and things. It was at this time that I was approached by Abe.
Watanabe Kazuya thinks about how to incorporate illustrations into trays.
A brass jewelry tray was made for this event. The trays, which Watanabe shaped from the circle Abe drew, are individually hand-stamped with an illustration by London graphic artist Ian Stevenson, inspired by Petit Robe Noir. Available in two sizes, large and small, and two colors, gold and silver, each limited to 10 pieces.
[Event Information]
"Circle of pieces - Things connected to Petit Robe Noir"
Dates: July 20th - August 1st
Location: Isetan Shinjuku Main Building, 3rd Floor, West Park/Promotion
→Return to "Made in Kamo City, G.F.G.S.'s Fully Custom-Made Border Cut and Sew."
→Return to Table of Contents.
Tsubame City is home to local manufacturing companies with world-class techniques, such as Gyokusendo, the only company in Japan that has been producing hammered copperware (a designated intangible cultural property) for 200 years, and Fujijiro Co., Ltd., which has been pursuing the sharpest knives for half a century. Tsubame City's local industry dates back to the Edo period, when it produced Japanese nails, and has continued through files, engraving, and hammered copperware, passing on its craftsmanship through the ages.
Based in a place steeped in the history of metalwork, Kazuya Watanabe creates works using metalwork. This year marks his 10th anniversary since opening his own studio, Tankosha, in the spring of 2005. He is a hammered copperwork artisan who shapes his pieces by hammering and stretching metal with hammers and wooden mallets.
For two weeks from July 20th, Petit Robe Noir will open a pop-up shop called "Circle of pieces - Things connected to Petit Robe Noir" at the Isetan Shinjuku store. Abe chose his hometown of Niigata as the theme for this pop-up shop. The store will feature new items that he has worked on in collaboration with Niigata-based Watanabe Kazuya and other artisans.
We had the opportunity to visit Watanabe Kazuya's atelier and witness Petit Robe Noir's Abe Yoshiyo's creative process.
This is the birthplace of the creations of Yoshiyo Abe and Kazuya Watanabe.
Mr. Watanabe: I believe that "tradition" is a means to an end. Rather than producing traditional crafts, traditional techniques are merely methods, and I believe that these techniques need to be hybridized with modern technology.
When it comes to tradition, consumers tend to focus on accumulated techniques, but I believe it is also important for creators to think one step ahead and create something. While hammering was once born out of necessity, it is now a part of craft culture = decorative culture. There are many convenient things in the world, but I believe that things made with hammering have a texture and warmth that can be felt intuitively, such as the distortions that arise from the hand and habit of the craft, rather than visual decoration. Machines can be used to mass-produce anything, but it's important not to overproduce and to stop at a good point.
Abe-san: Petit Robe Noir's jewelry is also intentionally made to retain texture, to show the marks of the artisan's hand. These artisans have been creating beautiful, perfect products up until now, and although it would be wrong to say that they are "not beautiful," they have deliberately left the uneven color of the metal rather than erasing it, and they are happy with the variations in the patterns that occur one by one through the handwork...
Abe Yoshiyo selecting materials.
Watanabe: I know what you're trying to say. It's hard to describe it as either beautiful or dirty, it's just a feeling that's hard to put into words. Even iron and steel from 100 years ago will age and develop a golden tinge. Forging is a process that takes place instantaneously, giving 100% from start to finish, and I hope to incorporate an indescribable, intuitive quality into my work.
Abe: When do you feel like you can or want to forge metal?
Watanabe: I like to start work on quiet nights when there are no cars on the road. I hum along (laughs). The low, cloudy skies are typical of Niigata and create a gloomy atmosphere. March of this year will mark 10 years since I went independent, and looking back, I realize I love this job. It's hard to do if you don't love it, as I spend all day hammering metal in an atelier surrounded by farmland.
Abe: Has your approach to metal changed from then to now?
Watanabe: At first, it was one-sided; I felt like I was taking on the challenge of working with metal. Recently, for example, if I were to personify a material, I would think about how I could use my skills to bring out the material's potential and expression. I feel like I'm working more with my partner than I did in the past. This is why I want to try my hand at all kinds of different materials and things. It was at this time that I was approached by Abe.
Watanabe Kazuya thinks about how to incorporate illustrations into trays.
A brass jewelry tray was made for this event. The trays, which Watanabe shaped from the circle Abe drew, are individually hand-stamped with an illustration by London graphic artist Ian Stevenson, inspired by Petit Robe Noir. Available in two sizes, large and small, and two colors, gold and silver, each limited to 10 pieces.
[Event Information]
"Circle of pieces - Things connected to Petit Robe Noir"
Dates: July 20th - August 1st
Location: Isetan Shinjuku Main Building, 3rd Floor, West Park/Promotion
→Return to "Made in Kamo City, G.F.G.S.'s Fully Custom-Made Border Cut and Sew."
→Return to Table of Contents.
