niime 百科

Encyclopedia of niime

“Niime Residence” finally opens its veil.

In the Showa era, Nishiwaki was called a “cultural industrial city” in the background of prospering Banshu ori. The deceased Kunro Okazawa was the first president of the Cultural Federation and also the first museum president of the Okanoyama Museum. He was the face of Nishiwaki culture as well. And his old home became a new base of “tamaki niime” and will open to be reused as “Niime Residence”.

Following the old Japanese calendar and seasonal changes, I heard that the residence will open twice a month on the new and full moon days.

“Niime Residence” would be an experimental place to make a reality of the niime Village Plan, how we should live in the future. Tamaki, the company’s representative, discusses her visions and thoughts for “the new place”.


Tamaki: When I stepped into the house for the first time, I saw the vision that all the people, young and old, men and women, were enjoying and sharing rich times there. I’m not sure if it’s the past, the future, or my ideal vision that Mr Kunro Okazawa showed me. I was stunned!

— Your ideal vision …

Tamaki: The house maintenance would cost a lot, which the government is supposed to cover. I yearned to be in the rich times of my vision, as if that place was calling me. We bought the property a few years ago. Even though they were in the city plan adjusting area, after overcoming problems, we could open!!

— It was not easy until you came here, but you financially made it!!! Congratulations.

Tamaki: The house is too big. We need to clean up after each cleanup.

— How many rooms do you have overall?

Tamaki: There are about 20 rooms. Upon opening the sliding door in the main building, there is a large hall. Initially, we received assistance from Regeneration of Earth to purify the area and clear the air in the house. For a while, Hatsuko regularly cleaned the house to keep it in good condition, but after she passed away, we had no one to keep the house clean, so the gardens got messy. After having such times, we really worked hard to renovate it.

— How did you renovate it?

Tamaki: Basically, we removed everything that were added later to the house, such as plastic items. We’re trying to make you feel like you’re back in time, so you can experience what it was like when people lived in this house.

— It used to be the gathering place where various people were surrounded by Mr Okazawa as well.

Mr. Kunro Okazawa was born and raised in the Shima district in Nishiwaki, and he was a teacher at Nishiwaki Technical High School. he served as a Hyogo Prefecture assembly member, Nishiwaki federal president, and Okanoyama museum president. After he retired, he pursued several hobbies, including working on haiku paintings, diaries with pictures, and sketches during his trips. He truly was a cultural icon in the Showa era in Nishiwaki.


Tamaki: We had no connection with Mr. Okazawa. That’s why we hope to learn about his life and desires from those who knew him. This place can be where we share his story. I have a desire this time to carry on the activities to enrich Nishiwaki.

— I think this place can be the place to pass on Nishiwaki’s history, which they used to be proud of, a diversified, rich district culture, such as traditional Banshu ori and the creative art of Mr.Yokoo.

Tamaki: Nishiwaki is excellent because there are many observational places, but they are hard to find, right?

— I think so.

Tamaki: I learned about Nishiwaki and the Golden Age of Banshu ori, but I just knew it as knowledge. There is a lot of information that only you could understand via mouth.

— Against the background of prosperous Banshu ori, the town was rich culturally, but I feel that we don't have enough succession of such memories.

Tamaki: I think it is too bad. Even though I don’t think I can make Niime residence a museum, I hope it can be a place where we can pass on the history…or give people a chance to have a place to share stories. Otherwise, the rich culture they once had would disappear.

— In that sense, I am a person who knows the most prosperous generation of the Showa era in Nishiwaki, but I don't think young people today realise it.

Tamaki: Indeed.

— We have to make up for the gap. If we don’t do it, it’s not a true inheritance.

Tamaki: So we have the people who know the old times well talk about it. As I share these stories, I hope people will use this space to share their own pictures, artwork, and stories.

— I think this wonderful residence should have high-quality exhibits for displaying or giving presentations, which can give motivation to creators and speakers.

Tamaki: I hope we take care of it well. Let’s share the things we believe are really good.

— Yes.

Tamaki: While I was talking with my staff the other day, I found out that the thing that is easy to understand is the image of a ‘community centre in Niime Village,’ which is a high-quality community centre. For example, they can be the work presentations of modern artists like AYUMI ADACHI, or “Idoba tamaki” (chit-chat), which we want to do next time. Many people can learn more deeply about new cultures and histories, and I want to use the residence as a showroom to showcase Made in Japan products from tamaki niime.

— I see.

Tamaki: But we don’t open it every day. We will open on the new and full moon days according to the old calendar. If exhibitors continue to manage, it’s possible to open on irregular days. So tamaki niime offers a place, and everyone develops here. Our possibilities are infinite!

— Ah ha…

Tamaki: As it is named “Niime Residence”, I will live here in the future. Since I live with animals now, I can’t live here yet.

— Your final residence…

Tamaki: Our factory makes modern things, while I want “Niime Residence” to make things of old. I want to place non-electronic machines in “Niime Residence” to make things little by little, including the purpose of “an emergency place” where we can do something in emergencies, which adds to the things we can do in difficult times.

— That must be an experimental place that shows how we can take over old lifestyles in modern times and develop them.

Tamaki: We can test them to see if they can really enrich our lives.

— Handmade wooden weaving machines may match the buildings.

Tamaki: I hope we’ll make a place to display them while we use them. According to the seasons, for example, we could pick up plums and make pickles while we create our products, along with different seasonal lifestyles. I wish it were like a grandparents’ house, where children come to play.

— It’s like a place where children come when we do something in an engawa, a Japanese-style open corridor.

Tamaki: I don’t have to be a grandmother; any neighbours will do. As the community becomes smaller due to the rise of the nuclear family and fewer children in our generation, it’s crucial to spend time with many people together, rather than just learning in school. We wish to pass on our wisdom on living there. Of course, we have a well there, so we can have “Idoba Tamaki” (Idoba means wells, there’s a word Idobata kaigi, which is chit-chat) around the well. We can even do “Koshirae kai” or “Haragoshie kai”.

— In Koshirae kai, we use our hands to make things like in the old days, where Niime Residence can fulfil the purpose. What do you think of opening a store?

Tamaki: We could provide people with food and drink. There’s a drink service.

— How about a store?

Tamaki: “tamaki niime” offers purely Made in Japan products. Only the Kamakura store currently sells them. However, since opening “Niime Residence”, we have started displaying them as decorations in the showroom and will also start selling them online.

— Opening on the new and full moon days, which go along with the old calendar, including making good body rhythms. Does this mean that you want to reawaken the original way of life?

Tamaki: Yes, it does. I have been giving a prayer to the Shinto altar on the 1st and 15th, but we have changed it to the new moon and full moon since this year, because I feel the earth is giving energy to us from the moon and the sun as we live in nature. I am trying to work in the old calendar because I feel richer in following the earth calendar than the world calendar…it is unfortunate that we no longer experience the calendar in the same way we once did with our five senses. So Saturdays and Sundays are not very important. The essential days are the new and full moon!!

— You feel the rhythm of calendar change with your five senses.

Tamaki: Since it is a new trial, I want to experience living with the moon. That’s why we decided to open twice a month, on new and full moon days, to start.

— This is a new experience as well.

Tamaki: Ms. Ae excels at selling pure domestic products, thanks to her experience in Kamakura. So we have her come here on the new and full moon days in Nishiwaki to work as a manager.

— In the rhythm of the old calendar, there’s a natural agricultural way of planting seeds, which is an old way of farming.

Tamaki: I hope we can follow those directions in the future.

— How about “Haragoshirae kai” or food?

Tamaki: We have the main house and annex, but we’ll only be opening the main house this time. There are six 8-tatami rooms tatami rooms, which make a 48-tatami rooms. There is a 2-tatami room in the middle, which connects a 50-tatami room together, and the winds go through straight from the front garden to the middle garden.

— That’s great…

Tamaki: That makes us feel excellent. Cleaning the house the other day was surprisingly cool without air conditioning. I brought my dogs Shin, Jiji, and Limo there. There’s a wall around the building, and I shut the front door and made my dogs play. They surely spent a rich moment. There are houses, gardens, fields, and even a well. If something happens, I feel safe that I could live here. There are many fruit trees and greenhouses. Ms ADACHI decorated her works in the room on the second floor, which goes up to the attic, where there are large beams, which give you a good atmosphere.

— Let them incorporate their imagination until they actually see it. Finally, please talk about your hopes and desires for “Niime Residence”.

Tamaki: I want this residence to be the place for sending messages to the world. I want to inspire the world with suggestions about what future lifestyles might be like. Based on my assumption that the old lifestyle was rich, I aim to prove it here. For those visiting from around the world, I encourage them to experience this place. I want to cooperate with people in the community!

— Along with the Japanese traditional lifestyle, it is the place where you suggest sending whole messages for your future lifestyle.

Tamaki: The people in the district originally had a rich lifestyle, which is our ideal retirement life. We want to learn by working in the fields while speaking with the moon; that’s how they spend the day. I want to pass on such a lifestyle to younger generations.

— I hope people stop by “Niime Residence” on their way home from the EXPO 2025.

Tamaki: We wished for people to visit Nishiwaki and experience our tamaki niime creations,but unfortunately, we couldn’t offer accommodation, or they couldn’t stay longer to fully appreciate the richness. That’s why we provide a relaxed space, “Niime Residence”, for sharing time with you, and “Niime House” as a comfortable stay. We are located in the Monryu area, which has suitable, blessed water for growing rice, and there are hot springs, which we provide “Niime Hot Spring”, and “Niime Forests” where we grow trees to make ingredients for dyes. Everything is being prepared so that people can experience it. We are ready to serve them. Led by Tamaki’s vision, “niime Village” was slowly realised through the communications with staff workers and many people.

From opening “Niime Residence”, I learned that some facilities and projects have also begun operating and are now entering a development phase.

Beginning with clothing, they added to our food and residence, examining our fundamental way of living. From the Navel of Japan to the world, they create a suggestion that excites everyone by sending messages on how to live, along with the natural changes.

They constantly seek ideals and walk in new experiments. In such efforts and works, that’s how “tamaki niime” express themselves as being one and only.

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