Roger OngWhile Taketa City is well-known for its beauty in its surroundings. One can see the majestic mountain ranges and enjoy the sights while bathing in the many hot springs. Yet many do not realize how many wonderful artisans have gathered here, each unique, each established, and each with their own flair.
But why have artisans gathered here? What elements do the city offer a place for them to begin or further their crafts? As we will learn, a buildup of factors has created this artisan heaven in Taketa City.
Table of contents
- Regional Revitalization: A national movement
- And thus the stage is set. Welcome artisans
- Tajimaya Confectionery
- Kouya Somekai
- Olectronica
- paisano
- Magma Glass Studio
- It’s but a glimpse of artisan heaven
Regional Revitalization: A national movement
Japan is often described as a demographic time bomb. But the issue is more nuanced and complex than a catchy phrase. One of the biggest factors is the population imbalance especially in rural regions. More and more people are moving away from rural areas to cities for educational and work opportunities. This causes a population imbalance of high ageing population in rural areas, while making cities unsustainable through influx of rural population.
This is where regional revitalization comes in, and is now the rallying call in rural areas. These regions want to reverse that flow of population back into rural areas to revitalize the local economies and communities. While it continues to be an uphill battle, this national call for regional revitalization has driven rural regions to seek unique solutions by leveraging their strengths. It even includes using the Sustainable Development Goals to discover those strengths.
Nouson kaiki: A return to rural
Nouson kaiki is another phrase linked to regional revitalization, also referring to revitalizating through economic spurs and population rebalance. In Taketa City, however, it has a more nuanced representation, referring to a return to a sustainable lifestyle. Rather than a return to “rural”, it’s better understood as a return to a “slower lifestyle”.
And that is an important and unique essence one can find in Taketa City. The lifestyle not only reflects gratitude for the gifts of nature (as we will learn), but also shows how its people create value for others with these gifts, without overconsumption.
It also helps that the local government of Taketa City welcome citizens from other prefectures to move in. For example, by providing access to accommodation. akiya banku, or Empty House Banks, are listings of empty accommodation that are looking for tenants. They can be houses for sale, for rental, or land that is available for development. Compared to city prices, these empty houses can be substantially cheaper.
Needless to say, the quiet surroundings of nature is a big pull factor for people considering to move to rural areas. Japan cities are famous for their stress levels, which is partly caused by their overpopulation. In contrast to the sensory overload, rural environments offer the retreat and potential for the slow, sustainable life.
And thus the stage is set. Welcome artisans.
So while the attractiveness aims at increasing the local population, welcoming anyone interested in building a life in Taketa City, what’s interesting is the number of artisans who have gathered in this city. Here, we can see how Taketa City leverages on its history and natural resources to openly attract this unique group.
Take for example, Taketa City doesn’t put weightage on the artisan’s resume. It is a little different than for example in Kyoto, where the consensus of artisanal skills of centuries old are the pinnacle. In comparison, where Kyoto seeks perfection, Taketa seeks creativity. Creativity that any artisan can have freedom to achieve the visions they hold. To create something that may eventually be called of Taketa origin.
The gifts of nature that Taketa offers is another reason. As we mentioned in the interview with sustainable accommodation Hostel Cue, the sustainable lifestyles of Taketa is naturally derived from their reverence and gratitude for what nature offers them. As we will discover soon, how important the resources, like bamboo and water, are in the artisans’ craft.
Now that we have a glimpse of some of the factors that makes Taketa City so attractive of creativity and creation, here are introductions to some of the artisans and brands that you can find.
Tajimaya Confectionery
Tajimaya Confectionery is a 216-year-old Japanese sweet shop residing in Taketa City. It is historically important because the sweets were always delivered to the daimyo who resided in this area. Those representative sweets, Kojo no tsuki and Mikasano, can still be found at major souvenir outlets, like Oita station and Oita Airport.
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In Japan, artisans under a century year old are considered young. And Tajimaya Confectionery is now a landmark for its significance in creating some of the most unique Japanese sweets in history. And its methods have not changed since it started more than two centuries ago. The water from the nearby Aso Kuju remains a key ingredient, and the delicate sweets are hand made one by one.
Kouya Somekai
Here at Kouya Somekai, modern products are produced through the traditional indigo dyeing technique. These products include lovingly made bags, clothes, towels and tapestries. The vibrancy of the colors in Somekai’s products are testament to the artisan’s, Kai Tsujioka, skill.
The quality of water is a very important element in Tsujioka’s dyeing technique, which Taketa offers. It became one of the biggest reasons for his relocation, among the city’s attractions of history, culture and lifestyle.
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Somekai’s workshop has a historical background to it. The spacious building was once a place to create Japanese sake. When Tsujioka was looking for a place to practice his art 8 years ago, this place was listed on the online vacant housing directory. The requirement for usage, Taketa City hopes the building will be kept intact. Tsujioka saw no problem to the arrangement, and now uses it as both shop and workshop.
Olectronica
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Olectronica’s work focuses around sculptures and space, with their theme surrounding creation and the relationship with everyday life. Their representative work includes “Wood Figure” and “The Approach to the Landscape”.
Olectronica is an artist pair, Ryo Kato and Junpei Kodama, both with their roots in Kyushu. Having attended the same school in arts, the pair met each other. It seemed that destiny had them covered when they eventually formed Olectronica eleven years ago, because the opportunity to set their workshop in Taketa City presented itself. There were vacant houses available, and Taketa City was offering. The pair also saw how locating to the city provided the artistic freedom they could have.
Olectronica is one of the first few movers to arrive in Taketa City. Now, they are using it as their homebase, while holding exhibitions around Japan and overseas (their latest one was in Beijing, China).
paisano
For the leather artisan Shinpei Ogawa, his attention to nature extends beyond the water and the mountains in Taketa City. From the carefully crafted bags and wallets, one can tell how much thought he puts into paisano’s leather craft.
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Ogawa moved to Taketa City in 2017, and decided that this is the place where he will practice his craft. Armed with his affinity with leather for a long time, paisano opened in the quiet streets of Taketa. The name “paisano” was chosen to mean “people belonging to the same place”. And Taketa City welcomed his aspirations with open arms, along with an opportunity to set up his workshop beside the shop and gallery.
Magma Glass Studio
Artisan Naruhito Inoue moved to Taketa 5 years ago from Yokohama, after questioning the identity of man and its relationship with nature. Today, the Magma Glass Studio sits along the road towards the Kuju mountains, welcoming guests who are interested in discovering the craft of glass through workshops.
It is also here that Inoue discovered the intrinsic relationship between bamboo and glass. Bamboo is widely grown in Oita prefecture, and have similar elements with glass. To express that relationship, Inoue has created a line named “KAGUYA”. Another unique piece to look for is “baden”, which uses the famous hot spring water in creation of this series. These are but some of the many inspirations which Inoue demonstrates with his skills.
When compared to life in the major cities, life in Taketa is one that is warm, calm and with heart. One can see that take form in Inoue’s crafts, though seemingly simple at first, will reveal excellence and the qualities of life in Taketa City.
It is but a glimpse of Artisan Heaven on Earth
There were still so many artisans from Taketa City that we have not met yet. The bamboo basket master from Aotakekobo Kiriyama, sake-maker Senbazuru, food artisans of Osteria e Bar RecaD and Champi, and Goto Hime-daruma Craft, the creator of the utmost cuteness, the Hime-daruma, just to name a few more. It has been too short a time too to explore the artisans in depth, as each offers wisdom that we can benefit from.
However, it gives us a model of regional revitalization, one that consists of pride of its history, reverence for nature, and gratitude in artisan works. When I did the interviews, it seemed to me it was destiny that brought these artisans to gather at Taketa. How all the artisans found Taketa when they needed a place. Perhaps it is how Taketa City needed them too, and the ultimate denominator in their relationship was nature.
