Heirs to Kyoto Talent: Wooden Tub Craftsman Ensures Graceful, Flawless Curves; Charms Shared with Next Generation

Yomiuri Shimbun

2 days ago

KYOTO — Well-proportioned wooden tubs, called 'oke' in Japanese, are built with unparalleled precision, slowly and steadily crafting each one by hand with great care.
Using a hand plane's cutting blade, Taichi Kondo meticulously shaves the gently curved surfaces of the planks on a stand, precisely adjusting their sizes. The planks are made from splitting Yoshino cedar and Kiso sawara cypress wood.The skilled wooden tub craftsman then aligns the planks side by side in a cylindrical shape. There cannot be any gaps between planks; not even a sliver of light can escape. This process requires years of experience to pull off, and there is no room for error.
Kondo, 52, runs Okeya Kondo, an oke shop in Kyoto's Murasakino district, which is home to many of Kyoto's traditional industries, including textiles. When Kondo is busy breathing life into the wooden tubs, the workshop is filled with a tense atmosphere, as he is making 'lifetime pieces' for their future owners.
Once the staves are finished, they are joined with rice glue and bamboo nails. All that is left to do seems to be fit the bottom panel in place for it to become a sturdy container, but it is not that easy.
'The upper edges of the staves need to be thin, while the bottom edges need to retain more thickness to maintain strength,' Kondo said about his self-set guidelines.Kondo's oke tub does not have a simple cylindrical shape. It has varying curvatures in different areas, requiring the use of planes of different shapes. He occasionally runs his hand over the surface to verify that it is smooth as he continues to give it a graceful curve.
'Oke are simple tools, but here in Kyoto, rough and rugged products won't be accepted,' he said.
According to Kondo, elegant shapes and delicate styles are preferred in ryotei, Japanese restaurants, and ochaya, teahouse facilities providing entertainment by geiko and maiko.
Kondo uses 300 different planes depending on the sizes of the products, which range from guinomi drinking cups to bathtubs. However, there are almost no metalwork craftspeople capable of manufacturing the planes he uses, so Kondo spent about 10 years collecting the tools from such places as an antique market at Toji temple in Minami Ward.
The walls of his workshop are lined with planes of all sizes.
Love at first sight
Born in Osaka Prefecture, Kondo studied art and design at Kyoto Seika University. After completing his graduate studies there, he worked as an assistant at Osaka University of Arts and was involved in sculpture.
A turning point came shortly after the end of his four-year term. Kondo was invited by an older graduate of Kyoto Seika University to work part-time at his family business. The person was Shuji Nakagawa, whose family runs an oke tub shop in Sakyo Ward, and whose father Kiyotsugu Nakagawa was designated as a living national treasure in woodworking.At the time, Kondo had thought that plastic buckets and bowls were the norm and was not familiar with wooden tubs. However, when he saw a wooden bath bucket crafted by a woodworker, he was struck by its beauty. It was love at first sight. The woodworker was known as the most skilled in Kyoto and would later become his teacher and mentor.
Kondo gradually learned the craft while helping at the shop. He trained for about seven years from 2002. In 2009, at the age of 36, he opened his own workshop in the Murasakino district and became independent.
In the past, wooden tubs were used as cooked rice containers, laundry tubs and other essential everyday items. In Kyoto, each local community had one oke tub shop, and in the 1960s there were 300 in the city. Today, only a few remain.
Nevertheless, as an oke specialist, Kondo chooses wood and other materials that are appropriate for the tub's intended use. Kiso sawara cypress, which is used for sushi containers, absorbs excess moisture to help the cooked rice maintain its proper luster. Yoshino cedar, which is used for guinomi sake cups, has a fragrance that complements Japanese sake. He accepts various custom orders, ranging from Shinto shrine utensils to ladles for scooping sauce for grilled eel.
Unique products
Kondo buys wood in Nara and Nagano prefectures. He then exposes it to rain, wind and sunlight for several months, which causes the water-soluble resin contained in the wood to dissolve. As it dries, the wood expands and contracts repeatedly.
'As oke are used continuously under harsh conditions, they must be finished in a way that minimizes warping during use,' Kondo said.Recognized for his technical expertise and dedication, Kondo was selected as an up-and-coming craftsperson with particularly high skills by Kyoto Prefecture in 2012. He became a master of traditional crafts in 2017, certified by the Tokyo-based Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries to those with exceptional skills.
Believing in the potential of wooden tubs, Kondo also creates unique products such as wine coolers and 'oke mugs,' the latter of which can be used as both a cup and a small bowl. These products are popular, as they are more likely to keep their contents hot or cold due to the insulating properties of the wood.
To allow people to experience the charm of wooden tubs, Kondo demonstrates his craftsmanship at department stores and other venues.
'Many young people take the time to pick up and look closely at my products,' Kondo said. 'Without people using the tubs, I cannot continue making them. I want to do my best to pass on my tub-making skills.'
***If you are interested in the original Japanese version of this story, click here.
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