Old Industrial: Near Chiba City
It's been said many times on these pages that the historical epoch that most people imagine when they think of Japan is the Edo period (1603 to 1868). Edo was the old name for Tokyo, which was the home of the all-powerful military leader known as the Shogun. This was a time of almost total isolation for Japan, but also an era in which the arts and crafts flourished. Old Industrial is a brand that celebrates this peak in creativity and advocates for the continuity of many of the ‘old ways’ with a holistic approach to making and collecting.
As can be seen in this photo-story this is a family affair with Ryuichi and his wife Hitomi choosing to live in an ancient thatched farmhouse heated only by an open fire pit (that has no chimney). The attendant smoke trapped in the high rafters acts as a natural insect killer and deposits a pitch-like film on the underside of the roofing reeds. They sleep on a tatami floor and the rooms are separated by antique textiles dyed in blue and earthy browns and repaired in the borro technique. Such fabrics, as well as rare garments, are at the heart of their process as they collect and sell them or make them into bags and other objects.
This is an amazing opportunity for readers of Men’s File to own a unique item fashioned in an environment that is stained in smoke and indigo. As you survey this property from the road, with rice fields at your back, you feel certain that local Samurai once stood in the same place with the same view.
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Issue 19 (Jan 2019)
