niime 百科

Encyclopedia of niime

Yoshitada Ito, who was respectively called “Ito Sensei” by Tamaki and her staff, passed away last December at the age of 84. He had been working at the local Nishiwaki machinery store, fixing various types of weaving machines for a long time during the golden era of Banshu ori, which began in the Showa era.

Fifteen years ago, in 2010, Tamaki, a designer, pursued the best creation by buying a traditional power loom and weaving it herself. It was an unconventional approach. From the beginning until now, ‘tamaki niime’ has created the Only One shawl to pass down through the generations, and in their efforts, Mr Ito was always with them.

Ms Tamaki started talking about many episodes while remembering the days with Mr Ito, which is inevitably a significant brand history moment that you can call a document of ‘tamaki niime’ ’s creation from the beginning.

I divided it into two parts: part 1 and part 2, with deepest condolences. Reflecting on their 15 years of ‘tamaki niime’, which involved a three-legged race with Ms Tamaki and Mr Ito, I have inscribed it in the ‘niime history’ for future generations.


Tamaki: He played a part in developing the concept of the Only One Shawl.
Tamaki mumbled to herself as she looked at the chronology of ‘tamaki niime’ first book, ‘tamaki niime ARETO KORE (tamaki niime, This and That by Tomoko Tabata, issued by Furaisha), which was released just this year.

Tamaki: Let’s see when we had the power loom. It was 2010! It’s been 14 years since we first got help from Mr Ito, the same year Remo(*) was born. I think my turning point was in 2010. In that spring, we moved to ‘589’ (**), and in the fall of the same year, we introduced belt-type power looms.
(*) Tamaki’s pet dog, a toy poodle
(**) The first Shop & Lab at the edge of the central town of Nishiwaki

—— When you moved to ‘589’, didn’t you already have a plan for the Shop & Lab?

Tamaki: No, I had no plans to have a power loom when we moved in. The first shop was situated on a very narrow street, making it difficult for cars to access and hard for people to find easily. I found it a challenging environment to operate in, which is why I decided to start my own business. As I was thinking about it, the owner of the vacant property came to talk to me about whether we were interested in using it.
—— Hmmm…

Tamaki: I asked him where it was, and I knew it wasn’t far on foot, and we could also live there. So I went to see it after I closed the shop in the evening. Wow! I really liked it. Even though it was a little way back from the main street, the property was large and had a parking space, which used to be a sorting area for wooden pipes. They divided the wooden pipes among the weaving companies and collected them to recycle, which is part of the history of Banshu ori. I really liked it, so I decided to rent that place.
*The tubes that rolled the threads for Banshu ori.

—— Was that when you went to learn from Mr Nishikaku to develop shawls?

Tamaki: I think it was before or after the time to make the first shawl. We were still selling shirts and pants when we just moved in ‘589’. Maybe it was about the time when we had samples of shawls. Later on, we decorated shawls and fabrics Mr Nishikaku wove for us. I think our considerable transition period was just in 2010.
—— So when you moved in ‘589’, you didn’t have a power loom yet for a while, right?

Tamaki: We got it about 6 months later. We moved in the spring, and after that, Misaki had a baby, and Sakai came in. Then, Hatsuko joined us, followed by Mr Chatani. Later that year, we got power looms. It was such a changing year for me.
—— It was a big transition year.

Tamaki: It was also the year when we decided to go for the shawls. We made the foundations for ‘tamaki niime’ to have the Shop & Lab that year. We decided on the place and the goal we should pursue for the shawls and found the power looms while developing them and securing spaces to place them, knowing the best ways to proceed. We moved a lot in a year. That was awesome!
—— You didn’t move in ‘589’ because you were going to get the power looms?

Tamaki: No, no. The GAW Exhibition* was held in Nishiwaki in 2010, and we offered the space ‘589’, to artists, while we exhibited at another place. We didn’t have the power looms at that time.
*GAW exhibition started in Kabukicho Golden Street, Shinjuku, Tokyo in 1999, which is an art exhibition on the streets like an art museum. They acquired art pieces from select galleries and displayed them on the streets, on the eaves of houses, on walls, in vacant homes, and in other public spaces. The GAW Exhibition, part 12, was held in Nishiwaki from July 25 to August 28, 2010.

—— n the GAW Exhibition, did you exhibit products like shirts?

Tamaki: No. We did something weird. (laugh)
—— Something weird?

Tamaki: It was a structure of three-dimensional polystyrene foam printed 玉木新雌 (tamaki niime in Japanese) wrapped in cloth.
—— It was the object art using the cloth of Banshu ori?

Tamaki: I’m not sure if it was an object of art or not. We decorated it at the entrance of the old Murakami dental office. We did such a thing.
—— I really wish to see it. Well, returning to the discussion about Mr Ito…

Tamaki: One day, we went to see if there was a power loom at a store, and they took us to see it at Mr Tsuchida’s house. Wow!!! I really wanted to buy it! Even though we decided to buy it, how did we do it?
—— Even though you decided …

Tamaki: When we considered how and who delivered it, a worker from the Sasakura equipment store, where Mr Tsuchida was a customer, met us. The worker at the Sasakura equipment store was Mr Ito.
—— So, Mr. Tsuchida introduced Mr Ito to you.

Tamaki: Yeah, that’s right. Mr Tsuchida said an equipment store might help deliver it, so he introduced me to Mr Ito.
—— I see.

Tamaki: So I said to him, “I want to take this machine to my factory! I have never used it, but can you help me to use it?” And he said, “You said something interesting. Okay, I got it! I will do it!”
—— Wow, he thought it was interesting.

Tamaki: If I asked other people, they would probably tell me that I had better not do it, but Mr Ito accepted it…. I thought I had made it. I was happy.
—— It was the beginning of all, where everything started.

Tamaki: It was the beginning. We moved the power looms in and equipped them. First, I had a problem because I asked to place them diagonally, not parallel, in the square building, as I wanted to show a factory to the people. Coming in through the entrance, I wanted to show the looms from a side angle, because the picture from that angle is beautifully.
—— I see. This has been the original concept of showcasing the factory to attract people to this day.

Tamaki: I was unsure if I could weave or not. If I were unable to weave with this machine, I would have placed them as decorations. I was going to equip them as decorations while I tried to play with the machine. I didn’t think that an amateur could handle it easily. I was unsure if I could do it, but I was interested in trying it out.
—— At that time, Master Nishikaku warned you that he didn’t know how long you could depend on him, so you may need someone to take over, right?

Tamaki: Yeah, he told me so. We were supposed to find a young person to take over Mr Nishikaku’s job. But I knew there was no one like Mr Nishikaku, such an interesting person, so I thought I had to do it.
—— Hmmm.

Tamaki: I wondered what kind of weaving machines I should get if I were to get one. The one Mr Nishikaku used was an air weaving machine, the newest style, which has a limited softness of fabrics. He told me he can’t make the fabric softer with this machine. If you desire more softness, you have to modify the machines to change the function. I wanted to create extremely soft fabrics, so I asked him which machines, at present, can weave the softest fabrics. He told me that they are no longer sold, but the ones that still exist are the power looms in this Banshu ori product area. So, I really wanted to use it!
—— I see…

Tamaki: If I started using an air weaving machine, I certainly wouldn’t have used power looms. I was an amateur with no experience, which I thought was suitable for starting with a complex machine, conversely.
—— Ms Tamaki, is that your thought?

Tamaki: Yeah, if you do it, it’s more fun to try with hard ones, right?
—— More fun with hard ones…Ms Tamaki, you really have a challenging spirit.

Tamaki: I would be more excited. So I decided to try it.
—— I see.

Tamaki: When I told Mr Ito that I wanted to place the machines diagonally, he shouted, “What? You put them diagonally? Why?” So, I explained to him the details at the factory: ‘When customers come in, I want to surprise them with ‘wow’, that’s why this angle is the best!’ My idea then amused him. If other machine workers hear my idea, they would complain that it’s not efficient, considering its effectiveness. But he accepted me and was amused by my idea. I thought he was such a good partner.
—— Your idea amused him. He is absolutely the one for you.

Tamaki: Yeah. We had a lucky chance to meet him. I could meet him without having to search for him. He found my idea amusing and shared some of his old stories with us. In the prosperous era of weavers, machine shops had to be prepared for emergency maintenance 24 hours a day whenever weaving customers needed them. Because if machines stopped working, weavers would be unable to make a living. To keep machines running, workers in machine shops were expected to repair them as quickly as possible.
—— Like emergency workers.

Tamaki: Yeah, just like them. Machinery workers were summoned by weaving shops, which yelled, “Where are you now? Hurry up!!” But after they fixed the machines, customers were thrilled, saying, “Oh, you did well! Let’s go out to eat!” They treated machinery workers to a meal. (laugh)
—— They treated the old guys in Banshu. (laugh)

Tamaki: Mr Ito said that the weaving shop owners treated the machinery workers to a lavish feast, and they had a great time. Hearing about such episodes from Mr Ito, I felt that the prosperous era was magnificent and lively.
—— …I regret not interviewing Mr Ito.

Tamaki: Yeah, it is really too bad. Please have Mr. Nishikaku conduct many interviews.
—— He may have remembered the real thrill in the golden time through his work with Ms Tamaki.

Tamaki: Yeah, probably. He may have felt something extraordinary, which was the excitement that someone different had arrived.
—— It was like a real lively feeling.

Tamaki: Yeah, because Mr Ito had a personality that he couldn’t stay home quietly. He always drove outside on a day off from work with a big camera. He loved cameras as well, taking pictures of sunsets or mountains. He was very energetic. I couldn’t believe his age.
—— He passed away at the end of last year. How old was he?

Tamaki: He was 84 years old. He was really fine, but he said he was having a hard time in the heat that summer. So I told him not to work too much. From 2010 until his passing, he visited our company at least every three days.
—— He had been taking care of the machines….

Tamaki: When our machines had troubles, I called him. Every time I called him, anywhere he was, he said, “I am at Imabari now, but I will go home and come to your place right now.” He was always like that.
—— That’s amazing. By the way, did he go to Imabari on business?

Tamaki: I wonder if he went for leisure or work, because Imabari is a towel product place. He seemed to travel to many locations for his work.
—— Knowing machines in other companies was his strength as well.

Tamaki: Yeah, that’s why we could get towel weaving machines through connections with Mr Ito. We asked him to help us because we couldn’t keep up with the number of towel products on our own. I asked him if any machine makers could collaborate with us on our unique work, and Mr Ito suggested consulting with young workers at weaving companies for their maintenance. That’s how we could get help from another company. Mr Ito made connections for us.
—— When did it happen?

Tamaki: That was between 2011 and 2012. Our shawls became popular even though we didn’t know how to manage our business, despite receiving many demands. Knowing what we wanted to make, we were looking for weavers who could work with us, and Mr Ito helped us to find them.
—— I see… Mr. Ito supported you from behind the scenes in many aspects to develop ‘tamaki niime’ manufacturing. At ‘589’, you placed two belt power looms.

Tamaki: Yes. We did. They were placed opposite each other.
—— Did you get them from the Uchida store?

Tamaki: Yeah, we got them as a set at one time, so we can consider them when we need to get parts. While we make two machines work in the same way, we can compare them to identify what’s wrong when one machine has trouble. As an amateur with machines, I would learn by comparison, observing how one that works differently functions correctly. Since I didn’t have any instructions, I decided to keep working with them while searching.
—— I see. Mr Ito also performed the machine settings.

Tamaki: Yes, he did!
— Mr Ito was a professional in maintenance. Did you ask someone how to weave with the power looms?

Tamaki: Mr Ito taught me how to weave as well, because no one could teach us.
—— Even Mr Nishikaku?

Tamaki: He has a different type of weaving machine, which is an air weaving machine. He said he doesn’t know about old machines and had even forgotten about them. I said, “I understood it.” (laugh)
—— Aha… (laugh)

Tamaki: I asked Mr Ito to teach me. He taught me about laying the warp threads on the weaving machine and introduced me to other professionals, such as those who tie the threads and *thread the warp threads. Mr Ito introduced me to everything!
*It is a manual task to pass through the warp threads one by one in the heddle along the fabric designs.

—— It was all thanks to Mr. Ito’s human network. (laugh)

Tamaki: He told me that there were people like this and people like that, and asked if I wanted to see the weaving machines that someone wanted to get rid of, so I said yes. I went with him and acquired a rapier loom, and I even added more machines, all thanks to Mr Ito’s help. I am so thankful for him!
—— Without Mr Ito, you couldn’t have made ‘tamaki niime’ creations.

Tamaki: No, we couldn’t have done it. As I asked to get more and more weaving machines, he responded flexibly and went to find them and came back shouting,”I found it! “. Mr Ito was a Go-getter.
—— Awesome…

Tamaki: He was really an interesting person. He enjoyed working with my ambition. He was the type of person, “Don’t worry! leave it to me!”
—— So, did you casually ask him what you wanted to have like this and that?

Tamaki: Yeah, I told him that I wanted to do this and do what I wished. For example, when I said,” I want to weave towels.”, he replied, “No problem! I’ll go find it”.
—— Right after that, he went to Imabari.

Tamaki: He knows some people there and came back with things that he got from there, saying, “I got good ones.”
Since Tamaki embarked on her adventure of creation, which has continued to the present Shop & Lab, she has had a very dependable teacher, Mr Tadayoshi Ito, who has always helped her.

Talking about Mr Ito is like talking about the creation of ‘tamaki niime’, which cannot be separated. As I listened to Ms Tamaki’s passionate talk, I felt the same way.

In the following interview, you can hear about Ms Tamaki’s core, precious episodes with realism, which were the times when she started weaving by herself with Mr Ito’s encouragement, even though she was just a designer. Please look forward to !!

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