伝統工芸を手頃な素材とデザインで海外にも広めたい

[From April Issue 2011]

Hanakobo
Japanese Hairpin Artistry, ARAKAWA Toshio

ARAKAWA Toshio runs Hanakobo, an ornamental hairpin and hair accessory manufacturing and sales company located in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward. These are Japanese-style accessories all hand made by Arakawa himself, that are worn by young girls and women in kimono on such occasions as the Seven-Five-Three Festival celebrating children’s growth, the coming-of-age ceremony and for school graduations, as well as weddings and Japanese dance recitals.

From the age of 18 Arakawa studied accessory design for two years at a technical college, and after graduating, he trained at his father’s studio. “Technically, I was training there, but my father didn’t really teach me anything, so I learned the skills by closely watching and copying the way he did it,” he recalls. Going independent in 1992, Arakawa began to work with hairpins and hair accessories made of plastic materials.

While expensive materials such as ivory and tortoiseshell are often used for hairpins, Arakawa uses plastic, which is easier to obtain and helps reduce each item’s retail price. He thinks that “the most important thing is to establish the trade as a business and continue to grow it, rather than merely pursuing artistic beauty.” “Although acrylic and acetate are both plastic, their wholesale prices are different and one is easier to process than the other,” explains Arakawa, who chooses different types of plastic depending on the item’s design and its production budget.

“Basically, my works features the beauty of nature throughout the seasons, such as chrysanthemums in autumn or snow in winter,” explains Arakawa, who draws all the designs himself. He mostly deals with other businesses and the distributed items are then sold at kimono stores, beauty parlors and variety shops. Arakawa, who sometimes get requests to create items for foreign brands, says, “I design the items so that they can also match Western-style clothing. That’s why they are also so well received by young people who don’t wear kimono.”

In recent years, he has also unexpectedly expanded his “business overseas.” “When my niece studied in Britain, she took my hairpins as souvenirs for local people and they liked them more than expected,” he recounts. “Then, on my nephew’s recommendation, I started showing my work for some years at an exhibition in Los Angeles where traditional Japanese culture was being introduced and that led to our items being sold in the Singapore Changi International Airport.”

Furthermore, last September special hairpins commemorating the 35th anniversary of the birth of Hello Kitty, a world-famous, original Japanese character, started to sell. “When I was asked to incorporate Hello Kitty into my traditional craft, I tried to create a design which would appeal to people from a wider age group, a design most suitable for a character loved by all generations,” he says.

Arakawa’s plan is simple. “I would like to take advantage of this opportunity to actively spread the charm of my handmade hairpins and hair accessories overseas,” he says. “More and more individuals are buying our items over the Internet, so I would like to further enhance our product line and services.” Presently, Arakawa is hard at work creating new hairpins and hair accessories that feature seasonal plum and cherry blossoms.

Hanakobo

[2011年4月号掲載記事]

華工房
かんざし職人 荒川 敏雄さん

荒川敏雄さんは、東京都足立区でかんざしや髪飾りなどを製造、販売する華工房を経営しています。ここで作られる和風アクセサリーは、すべて荒川さんの手作りです。女の子や女性が和服を着るときに身につけるもので、子どもの成長を祝う七五三や成人式、学校の卒業式、結婚式や日本舞踊の発表会などで使われます。

18歳から2年間、荒川さんはアクセサリーのデザインを専門学校で学び、卒業後は父親が営んでいた工房で修業しました。「修業といっても、父親は何も教えてくれませんでしたから、見よう見まねで技術を習得しました」と振り返ります。1992年に独立し、プラスチック素材を使ったかんざしや髪飾りなどを手がけるようになりました。

かんざしなどの素材は高価な象牙やべっ甲が有名ですが、荒川さんは手に入りやすく販売価格も抑えられるプラスチックを使います。「芸術性よりもビジネスとして成立させ続けることが第一」との考えです。しかし、「同じプラスチックでもアクリルとアセテートだと、仕入れ値も加工のしやすさも違います。デザインや予算によって使い分けます」と言います。

デザインから荒川さん自身が描きますが、「基本は秋なら菊の花、冬なら雪といった四季の自然美です」と説明します。業者との取引が中心で、卸した製品は着物店や美容室、雑貨店で販売されています。海外のブランド商品として製作を頼まれることもあり、「洋服にも似合うようにデザインするので、和服を着ない若者にも受けています」と言います。

また、思いがけず近年は「海外進出」も果たしています。「イギリスに留学している姪が、現地の人たちにお土産として私のかんざしを持って行ったら、予想以上に喜んでくれたみたいです。甥の紹介で、アメリカ・ロサンゼルスで日本の伝統文化を紹介する展示会にも数年ほど出品していて、シンガポール・チャンギ国際空港での販売につながりました」。

さらに、日本生まれの世界的キャラクター、ハローキティの誕生35周年を記念したかんざしも、昨年9月に販売を開始しました。「伝統工芸とハローキティをコラボレーションさせる企画を依頼され、あらゆる世代に愛されているハローキティにふさわしく、幅広い年齢層に好まれるようなデザインを心がけました」と話します。

「この機会を活かして、手作りかんざしや髪飾りの良さを積極的に海外にも発信していきたいと考えています。インターネットの個人購入も増えているので、商品やサービスもより充実させたいですね」。今、荒川さんは梅や桜をあしらったかんざしや髪飾りの新商品の製作にとりかかっています。

華工房

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