As an Edo-style bamboo blind craftsman

Could you tell me about the reason you chose to be a craftsman?

 
 I had no special reason. I had no intention to be a craftsman. I did not want to be a craftsman rather than having no intention. A craftsman makes something all day without rest, so it seems very hard. I remained at a laboratory and kept studying after graduating from university. However, later, I became a craftsman. Well, I used tools and helped my father's job since my childhood. I have worked as a full-time craftsman for about 25 years.
 

Could you tell me about the history of Tanaka Seirenjo?

 

Studio

  I am the 5th descendant of the founder. Originally, my family was a rice wholesaler at Omori. Later, my family changed its trade, and began to make bamboo blinds. At first, my family's studio was located at Honjo Wakamiya-cho, and later moved to Taito City in around 1905.

Edo-style bamboo blinds

How have bamboo blinds developed?

 
 People who wove bamboo gathered in places where bamboo, that is, material for bamboo blinds, could be obtained. In such places, people split bamboo and made bamboo blinds. Bamboo blinds were also made in consuming regions. For example, although it is no longer the case, Osaka, Nagoya and Kyoto were famous as places where bamboo blinds were consumed. Bamboo blind craftsmen also exited in those places, and laid in a stock of bamboo from neighboring areas. Tokyo is not a place where a lot of bamboo can be obtained, so craftsmen in Tokyo get bamboo from suburbs. I think craftsmen also did so in the Edo Period.
 

In the case of Edo-style bamboo blinds, have they developed in a consuming region?

 

 Yes. In the past, materials were brought in Edo from many regions according to demands. Taking advantage of moats and rivers, distribution systems were built. Materials were carried by boat. Therefore, many craftsmen lived near those water channels, such as Kanda. The same can be said for not only bamboo blind craftsmen but also other craftsmen. There were riverfronts around Iidabashi, from which materials, such as wood, were landed and transported. Also, there were many craftsmen in Ichigaya. Since there was a riverfront dedicated to bamboo in Kyobashi, so it was called "Take-gashi," or bamboo riverfront. The Sumida River became a distribution center, so Taito City has had the largest number of craftsmen.

An antique map of Edo: Owned by the National Diet Library

What types of bamboo blinds are there?

 
 Basically, I make anything that customers want. Bamboo blinds fall into 4 general categories. "Sotogake Sudare" is hung outside of a house for keeping off the sun or as a screen. "Uchigake Sudare" is used in Japanese-style rooms, shrines and temples. Nowadays, it is sometimes hung on windows. There are also small bamboo mats, which are used for making a sushi roll or used as "Banju," or mat on which Japanese-style confections are put. I have also recently made table covers and coasters out of bamboo. Finally, there are applied bamboo blinds, including ones that are put on folding screens or sliding paper doors. Some customers ask me to make bamboo blinds that can be put on their crafts. Those special bamboo blinds are sometimes ordered.
 

What kind of materials do you use?

 
 Besides bamboo, reed, cudweed, cattail and bush clover are used. I use different materials for different purposes according to characteristics of the materials. For example, I split bamboo, and make thin bamboo sticks. The bamboo sticks can be shaved to straighten the shapes. In the case of a bamboo mat, it is better to make the outer side of the mat flat, and the inner side semicylindrical or triangular if making serrated surfaces on food such as steamed fish paste. Other materials are used as they are, that is to say, in their natural forms, so they are not processed like bamboo. Bush clover can be tinted and polished, but it is curved because it is thin. When it is straightened with fire, its texture gets better. Since it is straightened with fire, it cannot be exposed to rain.
 On the other hand, cudweed and reed withstand exposure to rain, so they can be placed outside of a house. Cattail is naturally whitish and easy to turn black, so taking advantage of that characteristic, they are used in places such as a tea room that has an atmosphere of elegant simplicity.
 

 
 Although we, in some cases, recommend bamboo blinds, of which material characteristics suit particular places, for customers, if customers express their preferences, we introduce materials to customers, and use proper materials. Bamboo blinds do not play the leading role in a house. Bamboo blinds that keep off the sun are needed only if there is a house. Therefore, it is necessary to make blinds that fit colors of a house, wall and customer's preference.
 

Manufacturing processes

The manufacturing processes of bamboo blinds vary according to their shapes?

 
 There are two types of manufacturing processes. When I make bamboo blinds, I cut bamboo to proper length, split it after washing and drying, and process bamboo sticks according to uses. In the case of other materials, there are a variety of processes and finishes according to materials. Since sticks made of materials other than bamboo have a variety of colors and characteristics, I should carefully sort out the sticks. Although I dispose of unusable sticks, sticks with wormholes and stains are still left in the final process. Thickness of sticks is also uneven, so I should sort out them according to their thickness and colors. After the materials are prepared, I can weave the sticks in accordance with orders.
 

Could you tell me about tools?

 These (left image) are called "Nagetama." I wind threads that are cut to proper length around Nagetama, and then weave blinds. The thread length varies according to length of blinds, and the number of the threads and spacing of them also vary depending on their shapes and materials. Also, I use different Nagetama for different types of blinds and materials.

  This (lower left image) is "Keta." It is a kind of stand on which blinds are woven. Shapes of materials are irregular, so I remove curved materials to weave blinds. If I weave blinds out of curved materials, there is a possibility for the materials to be entangled. Types of threads include cotton, silk and linen threads, and synthetic fibers. Each thread has different characteristics. For example, cotton threads shorten when they get wet. Synthetic fibers are weak against friction. Therefore, I should use proper threads.

 

Utilizing techniques to make new products

Are there some special orders from customers?

 

 Once I was asked to weave unusual materials into blind-shaped products. Example of the materials include metal and acrylic boards and rods, and aluminum pipes. If materials are straight, I can weave them. However, it takes ingenuity because, if I use different materials, weights of completed products are different, and some materials cannot be woven with traditional threads.For example, when I weave materials with wires, I cannot use traditional Nagetama because it is too light. So I once used Nagetama weighing about 2 kg. As a result, it worked. Craftsmen are so-called low-tech techies. They devise and make products taking advantage of skills they have acquired, and also make appropriate tools. In this way, they handle a variety of jobs.