DESIGN

Kokontozai: KASHIYUKA’s Shop of Japanese Arts and Crafts /[Kumano Brush]

『カーサブルータス』2022年6月号より

June 8, 2022 | Design | KASHIYUKA’s Shop of Japanese Arts and Crafts | photo_Keisuke Fukamizu hair & make-up_Masako Osuga editor_Masae Wako　translation_ Mika Yoshida & David G. Imber

Searching all of Japan for handcrafted items that express its heart and soul, our proprietor, KASHIYUKA, presents things that bring a bit of luxury to everyday life. For this trip, initiating her second circuit of Japan’s 47 prefectures, she’s visiting her home ground of Hiroshima prefecture. Here she comes to know the legendary Kumano fude, brushes meticulously crafted by the women of Kumano.

Houkodou studio produces brushes in the Kumano fude tradition in Kumano-cho, Hiroshima prefecture. Our slightly startled shopkeeper, KASHIYUKA exclaimed, “so white, so glossy!” observing the goat hair with which artisan Ms. Suikō Kagawa makes her calligraphy brushes. While she sears the bottom of the knot with a hot iron she ties it tightly, pulling the hemp yarn that binds it with her teeth.

The Kumano fude, a handcraft that emerged from Hiroshima prefecture, is regarded as the finest cosmetic brush in Japan. I’ve always had an affinity for them, and only lately learned that their origin is the calligraphy brush. I wanted to know more. This time around I visited Houkodou [Hōkodō] studio in the town of Kumano, the Aki district of Hiroshima prefecture. It’s a long-established purveyor, dating from 1900.

Purchase No. 49【Kumano Brush】Soft, with backbone, taking more than 70 steps to complete — a brush that is, itself, a masterpiece.

“The Kumano brush craft began at the end of the Edo period [1868]. Over winters, Kumano farmers would travel eastward to Wakayama prefecture for work. There they purchased brushes made in cities like Nara and Arima, and sold them on foot. Eventually they turned to making the brushes themselves in Kumano, and during the ensuing Meiji era their brushes became famous throughout Japan,” explained Ms. Suikō Kagawa.
A nationally-certified traditional craft artisan, she was born in Kumano and has been involved in brush making for over 60 years. I was surprised, on my visit, to see the variety of animal fibers used for calligraphy brushes. The lineup includes deer, horse, tanuki (the Japanese racoon dog) and others. But what grabbed my attention was a pure white wool… but not sheep’s wool, this was Chinese goat. So mellow and gossamer-like, it seems to gently melt into my hands!