JP/EN

Encyclopedia of niime

‘Mittsu kai’

2019 . 08 . 01

Tamaki
“Are we gonna talk about ‘Mittsu kai’ this time? Then, wouldn’t it be better to ask our staff? “



Sakai
“I guess, Fujiryu.”



Tamaki
“Fujiryu and Fujita.”



Sakai
“Let them join.”



‘Mittsu kai’; the 3rd Relocation Anniversary Event of ‘tamaki niime’ will be held for 6 days from Saturday, August 10th to Thursday 15th this year. The Shop & Lab will be staged with scale-ups and more events every day.


Tamaki leaves the planning to the reliable staff this time and seems to intend to turn the ‘Mittsu kai’ to the side that enjoys like a customer.


(Fujita and Fujiryu; Ryuta Fujimoto joined.)


Sakai
“We are going to promote the ‘Mittsu kai’ at the next ‘niime Encyclopedia’. What’s the highlight?”



Tamaki
“This time, since Fujita offers various creators to come over to our Shop and the ‘Koshirae kai’. So, I don’t know much about the details. I’m very excited because it’s a surprise.”



– You enjoy the feeling that you were a customer. (laugh)





Tamaki
“I’m definitely the number one customer. So, if I don’t like it, I would complain a lot. (laugh)”



Fujita
“First of all, I like the participants’ creations very much. And they like ‘tamaki niime’; we have something in common. Their creations have to be loved by our customers as well. I assume that the customers can see the favourite point in each participant’s creations. Mainly I give offers to the creators whose works goes well with ours.”



– Firstly, Fujita likes the creations of the participants, and has chosen them considering various elements such as compatibility with ‘tamaki niime’.





Fujita
“I ask the creators who I often see at different events, and of course, I want them to come to ours as well. The participants also like ‘tamaki niime’, so I expect them to have fun with us when they come.”



Tamaki
“There are various events all over Japan, such as ‘nuno-haku’. Fujita is the person who travels to those places with our creations. She has many connections, and they became friends with the creators who are participating in events in a similar way. She invited them to Nishiwaki based on such connections.”



Fujita
“Mr Kubota; a Mashiko-yaki (pottery) creator is coming from Tochigi this time.”



– All the way from Kanto region …





Fujita
“Yes. I have met her quite a few times. When I first saw her, I felt I liked her as well as her creations. (laugh) “



–It’s intuition, isn’t it?





Fujita
“Additionally, some participants display their creations at the same retailers’ shops. So, we have been familiar with each other’s creations for a long time. When I actually met creators, and we had a lively conversation. Then we have a chance, the ‘Mittsu kai’, to ask them, they are so glad to participate.”



Tamaki
It’s our first time to have this kind of big event. We only had a few participants last year. This year, however, we intentionally overlap the schedule of the participants to let them deepen their relationship. Isn’t it interesting? Let’s enjoy not only one thing but various things at a time. I wonder how this will work out.”



Fujita
“We imagine a combination of participants that will make customers enjoy shopping.”



– Do you have more to appeal (other than that)?





Fujita
“Let me talk about the “Koshirae kai”. On the 14th, there was a workshop named “Making accordion(s) with paper”. When I imagined the creators coming to our Shop, I expect we can play the paper accordions, and it will brighten up the atmosphere, and we’ll have fun.”



Tamaki
“There is no live performance this time. So it is the only music experience during this event.”



Fujita
“Also, when I talked to Fujimoto, who is in charge of the “Koshirae kai”, there are many workshops for adults; however, there isn’t enough for children to enjoy. So I asked Papernica. (showing the photo) Really cute palm-sized accordions will be made at the ‘Koshirae kai’.”



Tamaki
“The sound is cute. Like pi-pi-pi… We can play ‘Neko Funjyatta; The Flea Waltz’ together.”


(Fujita plays the sound of ‘Papernica’.)


– Sweet sound. Is it all made of paper?





Fujita
“100% paper.”



– It’s meaningful, isn’t it?





Tamaki
“There are many interesting people out there.”



– Mr Shimazu, ‘Small handcrafts using old cardboard boxes’ from the ‘Koshirae kai’ in May will participate again.





Fujimoto
“Right after that event, I offered him, and he said that he would go.”



– The theme of this ‘Mittsu kai’ is “To please the senses of people”.





Tamaki
“Yes!”


– And ‘Koshirae (creation), Koshirae (creation), Koshirae-ru (create)’. ‘Koshirae (creation)’ is the keyword, isn’t it?





Tamaki
“It is ‘Koshirae (creation)’ this time.”



–I feel it’s stepping into a profound place.





Tamaki
“I heard a lecture the other day… Do you know what the difference is between us; animals and plants?”



– Whether they move or not?





Tamaki
“That’s right, and plants can transform their energy through photosynthesis to make nutrients. However, we move by ourselves to receive energy. For that reason, we have senses. The brain evolves when humans develop the functions of each of the senses, so it’s not wrong to say our “please the senses”!



–First of all, it was intuition, wasn’t it?





Tamaki
“I’ve been sewing buttons on shirts for the first time in 10 years. At first, I was not doing so well, however, after trying five times, I felt I was getting back to the feeling, and even I could chat while sewing. After all, I realized the importance of moving fingertips. Recently I stopped using my computer. I quit lots of things because I was busy growing people; however, I liked it in the first place, so I thought it was wasteful if I don’t enjoy it. I thought it would be significant to enjoy myself. So, if I am guided by intuition, I should try it. This ‘Mittsu kai’ must be interesting if I can enjoy what I want to do with our customers. “



–It is an event that customers can get involved actively …





Tamaki
“I think so.”



–… I think that is amazing.





Tamaki
“Not as customers or staff.”



–There is no barrier, right?





Tamaki
“I would like to break that barrier!”



–I felt that the buds came out in May when I saw the ‘Koshirae kai’ where Tamaki and her customers joined together. I feel like this is an extended version.





Tamaki
“I think that’s it. We will have an encounter there. “



– Mr Fujimoto mentioned that as a goal.





Fujimoto
“At this event ‘Koshirae Kai’, ‘MATCHA STORE’ that handles Taiwanese tea comes on the 14th. He was initially a home-delivery service driver and was attracted by Hakka tea, which I drank by chance in Taiwan. As for making tea, there are workshops for mashing and drinking beans, lectures on tea, and for sale. The ‘Koshirae kai’ always has the theme of creation. When we think about ‘how to make food’ closer to us, we should invite someone who is very sharp in this way.”



– It is wonderful.





Fujimoto
“This time, a curry shop ‘Hinhoi’ and a vegetable dining ‘Horieza’ that regularly participate ‘Hara goshirae kai’ will be making spices as one of the workshops. It’s a way of approach from food.”



–From the ‘Hara goshirae kai’ to the ‘Koshirae kai’. Isn’t it a feeling of crossing the border?





Tamaki
“Something, deformed. It’s awesome this time.”



Fujimoto
“I am proposing the original creation as well. Especially when I thought about how we could dig deeper into the textile fabrics and knits in our Lab, I wanted to try ‘(yarn) spinning’. I asked a person who lives in Sasayama and makes a tool called ‘ spindle’. He creates and spins it by himself. He has a spinning wheel as well. I asked him because I thought he could show how the thread was made to the customers well. He is also a farmer and has a workshop where people can learn how to make bamboo baskets by a craftsperson. He has been proposing a self-sufficiency lifestyle.”



Tamaki
“Bamboo is an excellent material. We absolutely got to learn the skill because we should not lose the way to make tools with it.


 
– Bamboo baskets have been used for a long time, and it is an essential technique.





Tamaki
“I would like to try it! Next.”



Fujimoto
“I think it’s because of the event that you can actually see and experience the origins of creations. For example, even if someone is passing by in front of the event, it is reflected in the edge of someone’s eyes and might gain interest. I think it is meaningful because I believe that it might be connected to the next.”



– I’m really looking forward to it.





Fujimoto
“Also, as the keyword of ‘Koshirae kai’; to be a communicative place, to learn how to be environmentally-friendly through creation, to enjoy creation itself. I would like to convey as much as possible. So we also invite people who are interested in the technical parts of while enjoying the workshop. I asked ‘Gendaifu Kintsugi; the modern-style gold splicing’, because I wanted to know more. Repairing broken things is no longer familiar, yet which is gradually becoming more exciting.”



– There are so many. This is awesome.





Tamaki
“Isn’t it crazy? You must be getting too excited to choose. Don’t you wanna come every day?”



– Really crazy. Also, this is a profound event.





Fujimoto
“I think there is depth, and I think it’s interesting without any reason.”



– It is unconditionally, exciting and fun, right?





Tamaki
“Firstly, please come to the entrance of ‘Awareness’.”



– The ‘Mittsu kai’ this time is a scale-up event because of the contents, at the same time, I think there is less gap or wall between the staff and the customers and the distinction between participants’ category and roles are disappearing. It’s incredible.  Now, there is a form of “blending” that Sakai said at the “Futatsu kai” last year.





Tamaki
“Like deforming liquid. I don’t get involved this time.”



– I feel that the “niimeism” is sufficiently chewed into the program of this event.





Tamaki
“They are really talented, aren’t they?  Very helpful.”



Fujimoto
“We have more.”



– More!!





Tamaki
“That’s not enough!! It’s a prologue so far. (laughs)”



Fujimoto
“The talk event!”



Tamaki
“That’s it.”



– Oh! … It has depth …





Fujimoto
“This is the most recommended part at this time. This year, in three days, “Shuccyo Shigoto Bar; Business trip bar” will be held on 11th and 12th. A talk event, which is usually held in Tokyo over a drink by a Japanese website “Nihon Shigoto Hyakka; Nippon Job Department” is coming to be held in Nishiwaki. “



Tamaki
“Fujimoto asked them to introduce us someone who seems to fit ‘tamaki niime’.”



Fujimoto
‘Chiisana Syokuryo Seisaku Naito; Small Food Policy Night’ will be held by Mr Manabe from Kamiyama, Tokushima. He is focusing on food education through activities; ‘the Food Hub Project’ that connects agriculture to the next generation. And ‘Jizokukanoujya Naito; ‘Sustainable Night” will be held by Mr Takahashi from Transition Fujino, which is located in an attracting transition town in Fujino, Kanagawa.”



Tamaki
“We are going to make a solar power panel. Self-sufficiency. Instead of buying electricity, we’ll make our own energy like plants.”



– And on 13th, I heard that there is a talk session between Mr Shiramizu and Mr Yamada. Mr Shiramizu is the representative of ‘Unagi no Nedoko’ in Yame City, Fukuoka, who came to ‘tamaki niime’ to have a talk session with Tamaki and Sakai last year. And Mr Yamada is from ‘Bike is life’, which is located in Kurume City.





Fujimoto
“And ‘Jiyuu Kenkyu; Summer Independent Project” means that the staff of our dyeing, weaving, knitting, and sewing teams consider what they can do with customers using their facilities at ‘tamaki niime’. 100% ‘Jiyuu Kenkyu’ with using hands. Because it is a summer break. This is also open to children.”



– Wow….





Fujimoto
“Also, we’ll have a rental cycle this year. ‘Bike is life’, which has been running a rental bicycle with ‘Unagi no Nedoko’ in Kurume, will come to let the customers visit Nishiwaki as much as they like to explore for a day on a bicycle. In the tabe room, there is a bookstore by ‘HABookstore’. “



– Well, it’s getting more exciting.





Tamaki
“Isn’t it crazy, this time?”



–It’s over crazy.





Tamaki
“You can experience everything in Nishiwaki for 6 days without going to events all over Japan.”



–Another chemical reaction may happen.





Tamaki
“That’s what Sakai always says. Hoping something might happen naturally between people.”



Sakai
“I’m sure it will happen.”


– A food creator from the ‘Hara goshirae kai’ may attend the ‘Koshirae kai’. I feel that kind of things will happen. Like, let me try because I can do it.



Tamaki
“Yeah. More and more things will be connected.”



Fujimoto
“Not only for this event but for the next one.”



–It’s getting more and more crazy…





Sakai
“It’s a ‘documentary’ in a way. I appreciate that different people get involved, having different ways of spreading the information, more people know, and some kind of movement happen from here.”



– Shops, creations, food, talk, etc. …




The “Mittsu kai” is a big event held in Nishiwaki; ‘the navel of Japan’ where you can meet the new sensations that are sprouting around Japan.


It would be a waste not to participate in the 6 days that will be an epoch-making event ahead of the coming era.



Original Japanese text by Seiji Koshikawa.
English translation by Adam & Michiko Whipple.