How did Fujii become an Edo-style pouch craftsman? What are Edo-style pouches?

Could you tell me about the reason you became an Edo-style pouch craftsman?

 

 Since I helped my father with his job since my childhood, I became an Edo-style pouch craftsman in due course. I began to seriously learn pouch making after the age of 20, and have worked as a craftsman for about 37 years.

 

Could you tell me about what your job involves?

 
 Processes of pouch making include cutting, edge skiving, sewing and finishing. I do not mass-produce pouches, and many of them are small, so, in many cases, I make pouches from the first to the last processes in a consistent way. I also make over other products into pouches. For example, I once made pouches out of a used short coat and hand towel. Some people ask me to make wallets out of obi that they inherited from the deceased because they will share the wallets among relatives.
 

Edo-style pouches

What kind of products do you make?

 
 I study and make pouches, which were used in the Edo Period. Originally, my family made tobacco sacks. I have selected and made pouches that reflect the image of Edo, such as drawstring pouches, traveling sacks and carrier-bags.
 

What kind of materials do you use?

 
 I mainly use leather, but sometimes use buckskin with patterns. A pouch made of buckskin with patterns has an atmosphere of Edo. I also use pieces of cloth. In addition to leather, I use everything that can be processed as materials for pouches.
 

In addition to traditional pouches, do you make redesigned pouches?

 
 When what people put in pouches changes, I am motivated to make new pouches in response to the change. Many tablets are now sold, so I plan to make a pouch that can be used as a tablet case. The point is that when what people put in pouches changes, pouches also change.
 

Fabrication techniques

Could you tell me about detailed work processes?

 
 For example, in the case of a typical tobacco sack, it is difficult to process edges of leather, which is folded after being cut, if the edges are thick, so the edges are skived by a machine. The skived edges are easy to be folded. After that process, the leather is backed. It is backed by a backing material such as cardboard. After this process, the leather is cut and fabricated. Then, I sew the fabricated leather by hand or a machine, and compete the processes by putting a stretcher into it.
 

Could you tell me about stretchers for tobacco sacks?

 

 In the case of a tobacco sack into which core stretchers are inserted later, I stretch the tobacco sack by inserting the divided stretchers later. In doing so, the tobacco sack is gradually rounded and thickened. When the stretchers are tightly appressed to the tobacco sack, I round off it by beating it, and make the stretchers closely-attached to the inside of the tobacco sack. Then, I beat it from the outside or push a roller against it to round off it further. Finally, I complete it with ironing. That is the reason the stretchers are divided. If leather is soft, it stretches. If it is hard, it does not. So there are several core stretchers that are used to make fine adjustments according to types of leather. Since there are a variety of tobacco sacks, such as wide or deep ones, different sizes of stretchers need to be used.

Insert a stretcher into a tobacco sack, and round off it using "Yose-nen," or tool to pinch, and a roller.

At which process is a special skill needed?

 
It takes a skill to round off this portion. Leather partially stretches, so it is easy to round off it. Although it is possible to round off cloth, it does not stretch as leather does. Some parts of a tobacco sack are just glued together, so I select the best glue to firmly glue them. Although there are several glues, such as "Saibinol," or vinyl acetate resin adhesive, glue and rubber cement, it is necessary to use different glues for different tasks. It is not possible to make a tobacco sack with one type of glue.
 

Tools

Could you tell me about tools you use?

 
 For example, pouch craftsmen use Yosenen to round off corners of a pouch. It is an important tool. There are also knives that are used to cut leather. I use those knives to cut leather according to paper patterns. I also use rollers to finish pouches. The rollers are useful to firmly paste leather. I had mainly used hammers before, but rollers are more useful when pasting leather together with even pressure.
 

Do the present tools differ from the past ones?

 
 A hydraulic cutting machine is useful, but, in the past, such a machine did not exist. So, in the past, craftsmen beat quenched cutters with wooden hammers to cut out patterns. Also, sewing machines have been used since relatively early times. Craftsmen had already used sewing machines frequently when I was a child. I think a Sewing machine is a relatively old tool.
 

Pride as a craftsman

Could you tell me about your commitment to Edo-style pouches?

 

 Since I want to gain publicity for Japanese style, for example, by depicting family crests or Sanskrit characters on pouches, I'd like to make pouches for people who have a liking for Japanese style. Embroidery on pouches is done by a craftsman using a sewing machine with one needle. That embroidery is excellent. I like it. It is a calligraphic style unique to a craftsman. I think foreigners are very pleased if they are presented with pouches on which their names are embroidered in Chinese characters. Speaking of technical things, for example, I focus on sewing straight. I feel uncomfortable if I could not sew straight. I pay attention to that point.

 

What is your pride as a craftsman?

 

 I never get tired even though I have worked as a craftsman for 37 years. Although at first I made a lot of mistakes, pouch making has gradually become more enjoyable. If I make mistakes, I feel frustration. However, as I have gotten older, the number of failures has decreased, and my ability to devise good ways and means has developed. Of course, although sometimes I cannot do it well, I hit upon good ways and means while making pouches. For example, I hit upon a way to make a bulgy-shaped pouch by sewing crimped leather or cloth. It did happen. 　In the past, many craftsmen got jobs from manufacturers or shops, and made same products all the time. If they make same shaped products, they can increase efficiency, but they do not contrive ways to make products. If they do not make a variety of products and figure out new ways to make products, better products are not produced.
 For example, when I tried to cut and fabricate silk that was lining cloth of a wallet, the silk became frayed. When I hesitated about what to do, I recalled that dry goods stores used "Hotsure-dome Kako," or process to fix frays. So I tentatively applied a spray glue to the silk. As a result, the frays were fixed. I thought I made it. When I feel I made it by contriving a variety of ways and means in this way, I find pouch making very interesting.