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Encyclopedia of niime

Three internship students talk about tamaki niime.

2023 . 06 . 22

On the day I was interviewing at the Nakahata dormitory while I stayed there, internship students Izumi, Chika and Haru happened to be there from Osaka.

They are studying in the production department of a four-year program at Ueda Yasuko Dressmaking School. Not only learning designs and ceating, but they are totally learning about producing clothing, including planning, sales promotions and sales. They once came to observe the Shop & Lab for their school training and came again with their desires.

Nowadays, people’s needs are more diversified and classified, and the fashion business world is asking for environmental concerns and persistence, just like the SDGs say.

When choosing materials and making clothes in divided labour companies, it’s hard to find companies where you can see the whole process of production. Haru came here because he believed this was where he could know all the processes from manufacturing to selling.

Ikumi is still trying to figure out what he wants to do now. For now, he wants to try and experience. He was interested in them because they made things from the very beginning.

Chika told us she felt so interested in ‘tamaki niime’ when she came for school training. She was curious about how they recruit trainees and applied for internships without much thinking.

They love clothes and learn eagerly about various things. Still, they wondered what kind of work or directions they should take…in a homey atmosphere; while picking takoyaki at the Nakahata dormitory, I could listen to their worries while they carried hope.

On that evening, when they had finished ten days of internship, I asked those three students, who were ambitious to get everything, about their feelings about internship training. I could listen to their lively opinions.

Chika
‘How was the internship?’… it was different from what I thought.


Ikumi
It was. I had an image that this company is very much like an apparel company.


—— I see.

Ikumi
It was completely different in many areas.


—— Were you disappointed? (laugh)

Chika
No, it’s a good disappointment. (laugh)


Ikumi
I butchered a deer. They asked me casually, “Don’t you want to try it?” I probably wouldn’t have had a chance to do it elsewhere, so I did it.


—— Were you all right?

Ikumi
Yes, I was ok. It was fun. Deer are considered harmful animals and have been gotten rid of, but here, they cherish deer’s lives and make them worthwhile.


In ‘tamaki niime’, they make the staff get hunter licenses, keep the meat frozen to feed an Akita wolf named Shin, and they also have the plan to tan the skins and use the materials of products.

—— Butchering deer was shocking to you, right?

Ikumi
Yes, it was. I didn’t think I would work on the farm, either.


—— You guys worked on the farm, too?

Chika
Yes, we worked there for two days.


Haru
We spread fertilizer with our hands. More than we expected… it was heavy labour.


—— It was challenging physically.

Haru
About the work inside, the ‘washing’, for example, we had to hold the wet washed materials at once with our hands to put in the container.


Chika
We got all muscle pain. (laugh)


—— Which sections did each of you go to work?

Chika
We went to the same sections …


Ikumi
Yes, we rotated each section. We had ‘weaving’, ‘sewing’, and ‘harvesting’ every two days, and ‘dyeing’, ‘washing’, and ‘knitting’ for each day, totalling ten days with a day off.


Haru
Even though we came here after checking out the company on Instagram or websites, there’s so much we needed to learn.


—— I see.

Haru
They have farming or many suitable environmentally friendly activities, but such information has yet to reach all. That’s what I have been thinking about during my internship. ‘tamaki niime’ fans would know, but people who look on the net wouldn’t know besides their products of clothing.


Chika
There was a meeting after the morning greeting gathering; they discussed how to have sales promotions, where they exchanged new ideas we had never learned in school.


Haru
They were discussing how they should extend their marketing. I felt an authentic business world atmosphere beyond my thoughts, and I couldn’t even imagine what I was learning at school.


They experienced the reality of ‘tamaki niime’, where staff members exchanged opinions freely. They had a strong impression because it is the site where the Showroom and Labs are next to each other, and the process from the product creation to sales promotions are connected seamlessly.

Haru
Completely different team members suddenly started talking passionately. That was unexpected, and I was shocked.


Chika
Yeah.


—— They look like they are meddling with other teams. (laugh) They are communicating pretty well.

Tamaki and Sakai have been telling the staff about no-wall or no-hesitation-discussion, which teaching has been practised among staff. They talk frankly about what they want to say. Live conflicts of opinion give them power and make a brand’s propulsion.

‘tamaki niime’ goes from a fashion to a nature brand, not limited to dressmaking. I listened to the opinions of those three, who peeked at the world of ‘tamaki niime’ and its direction with youthful and fresh sensibility.

—— You came here for training with your feelings of loving clothes, right? But did you have something that you felt shocked about here?

Haru
I have been making clothes. I usually get wool or chemical fabrics when I want soft fabrics; however, the staff here use only cotton fabrics with their technology.


—— Yeah, yeah.

Haru
They could get the desired colours because they dyed with their hands. They are confident of knowing how to get them.


—— They must be proud of themselves or have pride in a good way.

Haru
Because of having them, they could do many things. Every staff member loves this company, right? (laugh)


—— You feel such air, right?

Haru
Learning from their teachings, such as selecting colour threads or ways of colour coordination, was so fun that I could try it, too.


Tamaki was unsatisfied with commercial fabrics, which led to Banshu-ori, and she made products tagged with weavers. She started weaving by herself for fabric development.
Her spirit for creation has been received by the brand of ‘tamaki niime’ creations, and now it stimulates those young internship students.

—— How about you, Ikumi? I heard you were thinking about your direction before this training.

Ikumi
Um, I liked farming a lot. I began having an interest in the first industry.


—— How about dressmaking?

Ikumi
I had a chance to dye with a simple method of uneven dyeing here. It was fun. They told me I could think of different ways of dyeing, making, and selling the products. The staff told me they were so happy to see the products they made sold.


—— There’s a series of ‘someasobi’ (dyes play).

Ikumi
That’s it! They provide us with such neat things.


In each creation process, you can experience the elements of play and fundamental enjoyment while creating your own ideas, and ways of selling are prepared in advance.

Ikumi
I really wanted to try it.


Chika
Hehe. (laugh) We had only a day. (laugh)


—— You wanted to have more training, right? The staff must be pleased to hear that.

Haru
Every staff member is very sweet. Everyone teaches us whatever we ask. (laugh)


—— Everyone wants to be eager to teach you.

Haru
If I ask one question, they answer me back 100.


Chika
They explained to me all about weaving machines.


—— Wow. (laugh)

Chika
Even though we had nine days of training, I could only learn a little in each subject. If I could stay longer, I may get more.


—— Around that, is what you learned here connected with learning at your school? Including what you have learned about producing clothes….

Haru
At the discussion in the presentation time after the morning greeting gathering, we could understand what they talked about because we learned marketing in school, or when they taught us about the kinds of threads and sewing machines or ways of sewing, we had knowledge about them and could ask questions.


—— Because you have the basic knowledge.

Haru
Since they have so much knowledge, we have learned a lot.


—— That was great. I am glad to hear that.

Chika
Learning at school was just words or pictures, but watching them persuaded us. I could deeply understand many things. Choosing threads and me weaving with a circular knitting machine, the final product was done nicely, but watching it closely, the way of weaving was different from what I imagined. I finally knew how it should be after I weaved with my hands.


—— You experienced weaving the product.

Chika
Yes. I had an experience selecting the colour threads while making a cloth.


—— You saw the selected threads you chose becoming a cloth. Did you have a good feeling about what you did?

Chika
I was so excited. (laugh) They were different every time from what I imagined.


Ikumi
That’s for sure.


They had the experience of picking up colour threads for knitting a whole garment, such that you can knit an entire piece of clothing without seams and picking up the colour threads for shawls woven by looms. They also made choices of four colour combinations according to the theme, such as men, women, spring, summer, fall, and winter.

Haru
I was told they would use the good ones as products.


—— That sounds like a contest. Were there any colour combinations that were used?

All
Yes, there were!


Ikumi
As I selected colours, I found that I always pick the same colours. I was asked if I knew my own colour palette in my head. Looking at my choices, that was really true.


Chika
What colours did you use?


Ikumi
There were no yellow or green. I used blue or black and a lot of fluorescent colours.


Chika & Haru
Wow.


Ikumi
I didn’t use brown, either.


—— You selected colours with your feelings at that moment, right?

Ikumi
Yes, I did. I just picked them up on my inspiration at that moment. I have a rigid way of thinking. I am not using colours freely at all.


Haru
I made eight patterns of colour combinations. Even though I used many different colours, as I watched them well, at least one of my favourite colours was in each combination.


Chika
We can tell that Haru likes Garson.


—— That’s interesting. (laugh)

Chika
I was told that I picked them up evenly. Maybe it’s because I like to make Misanga…


—— Oh, I see.

Chika
But I couldn’t imagine what the final products look like.


Haru
I just had an idea today since they have many colour variations and focus on making one-item products. Could customers pick up four colours for the shawl patterns to make their own shawl?


—— It may overcome the walls between consumers and producers. It may be the ultimate manufacturing.

Chika
It certainly is.


Ikumi
Ultimately, they become the company that provides all experiences, called ‘experiencing consumers’.


—— They provide materials and experiences.

Chika
We were given many experiences during training.


Haru
We came here on free days, picked up colour threads and wove by looms, washed and got it dry, sewed it with a sewing machine, and took it home.


Chika
We stayed overnight at the dormitory. (laugh)


—— Incidentally, we sold them, too. (laugh) It can be the all-business package from suggestion plans…it may not be impossible.

Haru
Our school focuses on teaching us business production, so I was thinking about it all the time while having this training here if we have another new way of sales.


—— You may be suitable for working at ‘tamaki niime’.

Chika
I am still thinking about what I should do. I asked staff members why they came here and many things. Rather than having a reason for wanting to work here absolutely, they happened to get here while searching for jobs, or some are not interested in apparel at all and came from entirely different places, and there are various others.


—— That’s true.

Chika
It looks fun to be here. However, I don’t need to decide what to do now about my job search.


Enjoy everything every day. Do what you feel excited to do thoroughly every day…walking through each different experience, each one aims for nature brands to extend themselves freely on creative manufacturing. ‘tamaki niime’ may be the diverse group of people who agree with change and development like an ecosystem.

Chika
It feels like something other than a company. Everyone is friendly and lively. It’s hard to believe there’s such a company.


Ikumi
Even part-time workers look happy. One of them told me that she thinks before going home that she had another fun day today.


Chika
We make threads from cotton fibres and dye them.… as I have experienced all the processes, I recognized that making one piece of clothing needs many people’s hands.


—— However, you can find it here.

Banshu-ori production district is a very rare place in the national weaving districts where it’s mostly possible to have all manufacturing processes completed. ‘tamaki niime’ also works with connected companies and has a self-completed system.

Haru
This January, we had a Banshu-ori collaboration collection at school. They ordered fabrics from another factory. Even though they called them the same Banshu-ori, they are so much different.


Adding the original material of soft Banshu-ori, they grow cotton and make threads and purses for creativity in every process. That’s why young aspiring creators must feel very attracted to the existing laboratories that produce variations of creativity.

—— Well, at last, would you tell me what you think of the Nakahata dormitory?

Haru
It was too far to commute by bike. (laugh)


Ikumi
I thought it was just by the company, but it was absolutely different.


Haru
After graduating from school, I imagined my life would be like this.


—— You saw your future. (laugh)

Haru
Coming home, the children welcomed me. I felt like I was in a family there. They are sweet.


—— Aren’t you scared of dormitory mother?

Chika
Staying at the Nakahata dormitory, I saw everyone working at ‘tamaki niime’; they come home and take care of children while making dinner and working for chores, making ends meet, getting up in the morning ……wow they are great.


Ikumi
Raising children is a lot of work. (laugh) When two kids were fighting, I didn’t know how to stop it.


Chika
You were panicked. (laugh)


Ikumi
What can I do????? (laugh)


—— That was one of the lessons, right?

Chika
That’s the training for being a daddy. (laugh)


After ten days of rich training, I met those three again, who left me with the impressions of fulfilled faces and bouncy voices.

‘tamaki niime’ is a seamless company that has no lines between play and work. Three people felt a very unique creative environment on their skin.

Surprised and confused by the difference from their fashion brand image, they initially captured the essence of ‘tamaki niime’ with their young flexibility and senses, mingling with them. I am so happy to feel hope for their future.

Experiencing a natural brand of ‘tamaki niime’, three people will grow flexibly by three different characters. I hope and expect for each one’s future.

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

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