Japanese Bucket Maker Kawano Minori about learning traditional Techniques and shaping the future
河野 穣／30／宮崎県／上松技術専門校／桶職人見習い
Kawano Minori / 30 / Miyazaki
Agematsu Woodworking Vocational School
Apprentice of Oke Barrel Making Master.
We sat down with Kawano San and asked him a few questions about his life and his craft. Hoping to bring more process pictures in the future to allow you a small peek into what goes on behind the scenes of a local craftsman.
Describe your history with woodworking in a few lines. How did you start woodworking? Why?
あなたの木工歴を数行で説明してください。木工を始めたきっかけは？なぜですか？
My uncle was a woodworker, and I think that watching him work from a young age is what gave me the primary longing for a profession that involved manual labour. However, I did not start making things in earnest until I was about 25 years old. I began with researching how to make tools, regardless of whether they were made of metal, wood, or other materials. It was during searching that I came across the Oke barrel making process.
The first thing I made was a wooden coffee dripper that was inspired by the Oke techniques. I was just playing around, but when an Oke craftsman saw it and gave me a good review, I was surprised and encouraged to continue. After that, I went to woodworking school and started learning the art of making Oke under the guidance of my current master.
叔父が木工職人だったこともあり、技術をもった職業には漠然とした憧れがありました。でも本格的に物作りを始めたのは25歳くらいからです。鉄板や木材など素材に拘らず道具の作り方なども調べ、その中で桶細工に出会いました。職人を目指すきっかけは 私の作った木製のコーヒードリッパーが桶をヒントに作った物で、それを見た桶職人さんから好評を頂いたのが嬉しく、それが大きな転機となりました。その後に木工学校に通い、今のお師匠さんのもとで桶を習い始めました。
2. How do you start a project? What makes you want to do new work? How do you get new ideas?
どのようにしてプロジェクトを始めるのか？新しい仕事をしたくなるのはなぜですか？どうやって新しいアイデアを得るのか？
Most of my projects start with the desire to take an object that I feel is necessary for everyday life and use my current skills and ideas to turn it into an actual object. In historical Japan, a wide variety of Oke barrels were used in everyday life. The more I learn about their forms, the more I am impressed by the wisdom and ideas of the people of the past. Researching and studying them is a source of inspiration for me, and as long as I have an interest in Oke, my work will continue without end.
日常生活で必要に感じた物を、今の自分の技術と発想で現物にしてみたいという思いから始まることが多いです。日本の暮らしには多種多様な桶が生活と共に使われていました。その形を知れば知るほど、昔の人々の知恵と発想には感心させられます。それらを調べて掘り下げることがアイデアの為のヒントになっています。桶細工への感心がある限り、仕事は尽きることなく続いて行くと思います。
3. What is the most challenging part of your work?
仕事のやりがいは何ですか？
Craftsmanship is a precarious profession, and I think the most challenging part for me is the anxiety and impatience I sometimes feel about the future. As someone who has never had much contact with craftsmen, it is hard for me to anticipate what the future will look like. Seeing me like this, my master laughed and said, "The time you spend when you are young is very precious and will help you in the future. It would be a waste to worry so much about the future if you don't use the sensitivity you have now. And since no one is going to tell you what to do, you can move as much as you like until you are satisfied, as long as you can move. Now that I have had the chance to experience the teachings of my elders, such as my Master, I am slowly adapting to this reality. These kinds of conversations have been a great source of emotional support for me in my work.
先輩方の教えに触れられることです。今まで職人とは縁遠かった私にとって仕事をする上で精神的な支えになっています。職人業は不安定な仕事ですし、これからの不安はありますが、そんな私を見てお師匠は気にせんでいいと笑いながら、こう伝えてくれました。若いうちの時間は今後のあなたを支えるとても貴重な時間だ。先を憂いて今しかない感性を動かさないのはもったいない。誰も何も口出ししないんだから、動ける内に納得いくまで好きなだけ動いたらいい。
4. What do you enjoy most about your work?
仕事で一番楽しいことは何ですか？
Now is the time for me to absorb the skills of my master, and I enjoy learning new things. Posture, placement of tools, the rhythm and frequency of the movements. These are all movements that the master has optimised over decades of work. I try to memorise them with my eyes and ears and then repeat them over and over again. If I try to do something differently, I tend to fall into a narrow vision, and my work becomes one-sided. But when I am mindless, I often see the whole picture and get a better result. My master often tells me to repeat the same process over and over again and not to think logically. This kind of training is really enjoyable; it sharpens both the mind and the body to produce better, more honest work.
今は仕事を沢山吸収している時期ですので、覚えたてのことばかりで楽しいです。姿勢、道具の配置、動きのリズムと回数など、何十年と仕事をこなす中で培われた正確な動作を目や耳で覚えて真似することをひたすら繰り返します。ああしてやろう、こうしてやろうとついつい視野が狭くなって形に偏りが出てしまいますが、無心の時のほうが、全体が見えてきれいに仕上がったりする事が多いです。とにかく回数をこなせ、頭で考えるなと良く言われます。
5. What do you want people to feel when they use your products?
製品を使って何を感じてもらいたいか？
In these small cups, which you see here, as many as 10 or 11 small pieces of wood are joined together to form a vessel. And because they are only planed and not painted or oiled, the more you use them, the deeper their colour becomes. I would be happy if you would look for the joints, feel the wisdom and skill in these small vessels and enjoy the change these cups will go through with time.
今回のぐい呑みは一つの器に10〜11個の小さな木片と底板を組み合わせています。どこが継ぎ目か探してみて下さい。また、桶は基本白木のままで塗装はしませんので、使い込むほど色合いに深みが増して行きます。小さな器の中に詰まった知恵と技術を、ぐい呑みの経年変化と共に感じて貰えたら嬉しいです。
6. Do you consider your work to be traditional Japanese or more modern? What influences your work?
ご自身の作品は伝統的な日本的なものですか、それとももっと現代的なものですか？あなたの作品に影響を与えているものは何ですか？
Of course, I am very impressed by the craftsmanship of our predecessors and greatly influenced by what they have made. Many of the craftsmen I admire leave only their products behind, not their faces or names. But now, we live in the present, not the past. That is why this cup is made using traditional techniques but with new materials such as oak barrel wood, which were not part of our ancestors' traditional environment. So, it really is a combination of traditional Japanese techniques and modern sensibilities.
このぐい呑みは昔ながらの桶の作り方で作られています。材料はウィスキー樽だった材と真鍮を選んでいるので、日本の伝統的な技術と現代的な感性が合わさったものです。もちろん先達の桶職人の方々の製品に大きく感銘し、作る物への影響を受けています。尊敬する職人の多くは製品や仕事だけが残り、顔や名前を残しません。今の日々の暮らしがあるのはそんな名も無き工人の方々に支えられてきたからだと思っています。
Bonus question: Tell us about your favourite object you have at home. What is special about it?
ボーナス質問です。あなたの家にあるお気に入りの品物を教えてください。どのような点が特別ですか？
My special object is a Yuoke (wooden bath bucket) that I use every day in my small bathroom. A craftsman gave it to me shortly after I became interested in learning Oke techniques. When I travel around Japan, I wrap this Yuoke in a furoshiki (wrapping cloth) and take it with me to the public bathhouses and hot springs in the places I visit. It makes me happy to think that this Yuoke is filled with the qualities of all the hot springs I have visited. The echo in the bathroom can only be heard when using a yuoke. When I am in a good mood, I sometimes tap the bottom of the Yuoke while soaking in the bath, and the sound is delightful.
小さな風呂場で毎日使う湯桶です。桶に興味を持って間も無い頃に職人さんから貰いました。かこん、と風呂場に響く良い音は木桶じゃないと鳴りません。気分がいい時は湯船に浸かりながら木桶の底を叩いて拍子をとったりもします。旅行に行く時もこの湯桶を風呂敷に包んで旅先の銭湯や温泉を巡っています。一緒に旅したこの湯桶も、色んな泉質が染み込んでるんじゃないでしょうか。
