令和6年能登半島地震｜壊滅的な輪島塗業界を、立て直したい

■Our townscape is changed by the horrible earthquake

 

I am Takahiro Taya from the Taya Shikki Lacquerware. Thank you for visiting our page.

We received many comments of support and assistance from many people after the Noto Peninsula earthquake of 2024.

 

The earthquake cut off roads in the Noto Peninsula. Immediately after the earthquake, it was difficult for relief supplies and rescue vehicles to enter the area and remain isolated.

 

The earthquake destroyed Taya Shikki’s head office and atelier. It is no longer possible to manufacture. In addition, a newly constructed gallery was burnt in front of my eyes in a huge fire.

 

 

The warm messages and support we received from home and abroad made us feel that we were not alone.

We sincerely appreciate it. Thank you very much.

 

 

Taya Shikki Lacquerware was founded in 1818. It is not certain when Kihei Taya, the founder of the company, founded the business, but the year of Kihei's death is used as the year of foundation. Ever since then, the family business has been producing Wajimanuri lacquerware.

 

My grandfather developed sales channels for Ryotei and department stores, while my father created avenues for online sales and the restoration of cultural properties.

I focus on corporate sales of Wajimanuri and overseas sales.

In addition, all of my grandfather's, father's and my businesses have become the mainstay of Taya Shikki Lacquerware.

 

 

We believe that we are a lacquerware shop that has always valued the traditional Wajimanuri lacquerware technique, while flexibly adapting to new things.

We still have many young craftsmen of our own and also work with many young craftsmen who work as a freelancer. Somehow, we want to protect the work of our young craftsmen against this earthquake.

 

■About Creator of this project: The Three Arrows

 

As a company in the sales division of the Taya Shikki Lacquerware, The Three Arrows Inc. has taken on the challenge of new business ventures, rental traditional crafts business and restaurant management, and has undertaken all the pre-sales crowdfunding of new products to date. Therefore, The Three Arrows Inc. is the creator of this crowdfunding project.

The representative of The Three Arrows Inc. is me, Takayahiro Taya. The company was founded in 2020 to create new possibilities and speedy movements in traditional crafts fields.

 

 

With this crowdfunding, we will make every effort to ensure that the work is spread evenly to as many lacquerware makers in Wajima as possible.

We will take action with speed because we believe that the most important point for the continuation of the Wajimanuri lacquerware industry is that all makers who are willing to recover from the earthquake can produce Wajimanuri lacquerware again.

 

We believe that the craftsmen and the master of lacquerware makers need to receive orders from you to be able to think about the future without anxiety.

We would be grateful for your support.

 

 

■For overseas supporters, we sincerely ask for your donations.

We want to ship our future products to overseas supporters, too, however, it takes a long time to finish Wajimanuri products right now. So we sincerely ask you to donate to our project without rewards. We appreciate your warm heart and your cooperation.

 

We write about the process of how to complete the donations. Although it might bother you as you need to register your email address first, it would be great if you support us, and the Wajimanuri industry.

 

©︎BenjaminBeechey

 

 

 

 

■What is Wajimanuri?

Wajimanuri is designated as a national Important Intangible Cultural Asset in Japan.

Domestic wood is used for the base, and natural lacquer is used from the base to the top coat.

 

The base includes the Nunokise technique, in which cloth is applied to the wood to increase its strength, and the Honkataji technique, in which diatomaceous earth is mixed with lacquer and rice glue and applied three times, characterised by the strength of the base coat.

 

It takes 124 subdivided processes and six to seven craftsmen to make one Wajimanuru lacquerware. We believe that having professional craftsmen for each process allows us to produce lacquerware of a higher quality.

 

When we are ready for shipping to overseas countries, we will announce it to you. It would be great if you were interested in our products when it is ready.

 

 

 

■Why we decided to rebuild our company

 

On the day of the earthquake, my grandmother was buried alive, so I walked around the whole of Wajima town looking for SDF personnel to rescue her. What I saw at that time was the devastating situation of Wajima.

 

The symbol of Wajima, Asaichi-dori Street, was burnt to the ground and the building of the famous Wajimanuri company, Goshimaya, collapsed on its side. My grandmother was rescued by SDF personnel, but I could not get the devastating scene of Wajima town out of my mind, and it seemed impossible for me to stay in this town, to make Wajimanuri, or for here to recover.

 

 

However, I received more than 1,000 comments, messages and emails of support on my mobile phone, and there was no end to the number of people who bought many items from our online shop, saying that they would buy them whenever the delivery time was right.

 

I knew we couldn't lose, and I started to think that I wanted to revive our business at all costs. When I spoke to the craftsmen during the evacuation, they had no doubts about the revival of the Taya Shikki Lacquerware and seemed to think that it was normal for them to continue working as craftsmen even after this horrible earthquake.

 

 

I reminded myself that the Wajimanuri we have made has lasted because of the efforts of our craftsmen and the love of our customers, and I vowed to continue the culture of Wajimanuri at all costs.

 

 I have been working with the determination that if Wajimanuri disappears, there will be no more lacquerware in the world. We started crowdfunding because we wanted to continue Wajimanuri and create a platform for our customers to support the industry.

 

©︎BenjaminBeechey

 

 

■We are sure we will revive the Wajimanuri industry

 

We want to revive the Taya Shikki Lacquerware from this devastating situation. This is my strongest desire.

 

However, if there is only our company in Wajima, it is not the Wajimanuri industry, and as long as there is a traditional craft called Wajimanuri, many makers must become stronger as a manufacturing area. This earthquake has made it impossible for most makers to manufacture.

 

However, we believe that many makers want to revive their business, just like us, Taya Shikki Lacquerware. We hope that this crowdfunding project will help not only the Taya Shikki but also as many other craftsmen and makers involved in the Wajimanuri industry as possible.

 

 

In Wajima town, about 5% of the population is employed in the Wajimanuri  industry.

Although the number of people working in the industry is decreasing compared to the 1990s, many people are still making a living in Wajimanuri.

 

There are many young craftsmen and artists in their 20s and 30s.

 

In order to pass on the tradition of Wajimanuri, which has been handed down for hundreds of years, to the next generation, we cannot afford to lose it now.

With your support, we can preserve the traditional techniques and spirit.

 

Please help us.

Please support us.

 

 

 

■Message from Takahiro Taya (10th generation of Taya Shikki Lacquerware / the owner of The Three Arrows Inc.)

 

 

Thank you for visiting our project page.

 

I was very worried about how we could best convey the current situation in words.

The current situation is as reported in the media, but the harshness and reality in the affected areas are even greater than what is reported in the media.

 

However, we have received messages of sympathy and support from all over Japan and from all over the world, and we have received not only messages but also various kinds of support.

 

There are many painful things, but there is no other experience like this where I have been able to experience so much kindness from people.

 

I have been touched by people's kindness far more often than I have cried because of the pain.

 

We cannot be defeated by the earthquake.

The Noto Peninsula was devastated to the point that it cannot be rebuilt.

Most of the symbols of Noto are gone.

 

However, there are many Noto people who do not give up.

Although tangible objects and industries were destroyed by the earthquake, I believe that Noto people can recover if they have the spirit of the Noto people.

 

Wajimanuri is one of the symbols of Noto area and I believe it is an important industry. Many people are involved in it.

 

What I can do now is to tell the world about the current situation and help all the people involved in Wajimanuri.

 

I can't think or act on the scale of the recovery of Noto as a whole area, but I hope that we can light up Noto from Wajimanuri.

 

Of course, the most important thing is to stand up ourselves, but I also feel that it is necessary to receive the feelings of those who support us.

 

Thank you very much for your support.

We will definitely carry on the wonderful lacquerware culture of Japan and convey it to the world.

 

 

 

■For overseas supporters; How to donate

 

1. Please follow the instruction below from #1 to #5. 

You need to register your email address at first, sorry to bother you.

 

 

 

 

 

2. Once you register your email address, choose your donation.

There is 10,000 / 30,000 / 50,000 / 100,000 JPY (*administration fee of around 200 JPY will be added)

 

*Please make sure that you need to choose a donation written in the English language. It will appear at the bottom.

 

3. After you choose your donation, choose ‘Credit Cards’ as your payment method and fill in your card information, please!

 

You'll done!

Thank you very much for your donation!

 

 

<Notification>

*Please note that the organization and the system can not cancel and refund once you complete donations.
*About rewards written in Japanese; the shipping of our future products will be made only for the Japanese address. 

 

 

We appreciate your warm support and cooperation.

The Three Arrows Team