Junichi Nabetani
Born in Tokyo in 1966. As the third generation owner of Nabeya Glass Crafts, which was founded in Ota Ward in 1949, he has been involved in Edo Kiriko together with the fourth generation owner, Kaito Nabeya. In 2009, he was certified as a traditional craftsman. In 2013, he won the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Commerce and Information Policy Director-General's Award at the Edo Kiriko New Works Exhibition.
What are the people involved in Edo Kiriko thinking as they face each and every piece of work? In this series, "Artisan Interview," we visit studios and talk to them. This is the second installment, and this time we are featuring Junichi Nabetani, a traditional Edo Kiriko craftsman with solid techniques and a high level of knowledge about glass.
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--Your family business is an Edo Kiriko workshop, so please tell us the story of how you became a craftsman.
When I was a child, my friends didn't know about Edo Kiriko. Also, when I was a child, the tools weren't as advanced as they are now, so all the work was hard labor. Watching my father working until he was exhausted every day, I felt that "this is hard work," and I thought that Edo Kiriko would not be viable as an industry in the future.
I entered the workforce at the age of 23, but at the time, I just thought that a job would give me a sense of fulfillment. At the same time, I didn't want to do a job that wasn't fulfilling. Later, I realized that a job doesn't give you a sense of fulfillment. It's something you feel for yourself. I had decided on my own that Edo Kiriko wasn't fulfilling.
So after graduating from school, I got a job related to computers. I had a feeling that the industry was going to be booming, and I was also looking forward to it. But even though I got in, I couldn't get into the department I wanted. I quit after exactly one year, and at the same time, I no longer had anything I wanted to do.
However, I couldn't just hang around doing nothing. At that time, my father told me, "Are you going to do Edo Kiriko? If you don't, it's easy for me to crush it in my generation." Since I was going to crush it anyway, I thought I'd get involved once, and entered the world of Edo Kiriko at the age of 25.
I didn't take over the family business right away, but instead worked for Kagami Crystal, Japan's largest crystal glass manufacturer. They handle all the steps of glass manufacturing, which is the base for Edo Kiriko. They buy the materials, melt them with heat, shape the molten glass, color it, and polish it. They do everything from start to finish, so it was a great learning experience for me as a craftsman.
I promised to work at Kagami Crystal for three years, and in the first year I learned the basics of glass. From the second year onwards, I studied Edo Kiriko at an affiliated company and also became involved in manufacturing. The more I got involved, the more I felt attracted to Edo Kiriko, but it was hard to make up my mind to make this my life's work. It takes me a long time to make up my mind (laughs).
I started to think that Edo Kiriko was creative and fascinating when I was 33 years old. It had been about eight years since I started working with glass. Two or three years after I returned to my parents' home, I finally came up with the shape I wanted to make.
After that, I continued to create my own works while working for a while. It was hard to work on my work and my art at the same time, but that's how much I loved Edo Kiriko. In 2009, I was recognized as a traditional craftsman, and my work won the Koto Ward Excellence Award at the Edo Kiriko New Works Exhibition. After that, customers started buying my work, and I was very happy that someone was pleased with what I made, and I felt that Edo Kiriko had a great future.
To maintain the quality of the workshop
--What do you pay the most attention to when working with Edo Kiriko?
Maintenance of tools. How can we use the things we use every day in the same condition the next day? Until then, I had always thought of it as something like "daily improvement," but that changed after I was given the title of traditional craftsman in 2009.
To begin with, I thought that the quality of the work would not change so much depending on the tools. It doesn't matter who uses what tools, and even if the tools are a little rough, as long as the craftsman's skills are there. But that's just me. I don't do the manufacturing in the workshop every day by myself, but everyone who works there does it in harmony. We all use the tools, too. So I started to think that if that's the case, we need to maintain the tools so that everyone can use them in the same way, then we won't be able to improve at this job together.
One of the reasons I started thinking this way is the evolution of tools. For example, there is a machine called a grinder used for cutting. In the past, there was vibration and it wasn't possible to cut with high quality, but now it cuts perfectly. Swoosh. The cut surface is very clean. Also, the most important tool for grinding glass is a diamond wheel. Depending on the area to be ground, diamonds of various sizes, angles and shapes are used, and each diamond is properly cared for and managed. They are not left lying around or stored in the wrong place.
It's a very basic thing, but we want the tool to be in the best condition no matter who uses it next. And we want the same model to have the same quality no matter who makes it. The craftsmen working in our workshop are responsible for maintaining the tools they use. After all, it's the tools that actually carve the product.
It's a personal piece, so it can't be helped if it takes a long time or the design isn't great. That's what I strive for every day. Apart from that, maintaining the tools is essential to continue Edo Kiriko as an industry.
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"It takes time to fall in love with something," said Nabetani as he laughed about his past. As a traditional craftsman and the third generation owner of a workshop. Although he has a calm demeanor, his words are powerful and passionate as he looks ahead to the future of his workshop and Edo Kiriko. In the second part, we will ask him about his thoughts on Edo Kiriko and his works.
You can actually see Junichi Nabetani's products at Muromachi Glass Crafts Shirokane store. They are not sold online. They are only sold at the Shirokane store.
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