<English follows the Japanese>
箱を作ってもらいました。筆箱の3倍ぐらいの長さの箱です。
何がはいっているのか？
刃渡り20ｃｍ程の包丁。クロワッサンの生地を切るのに重宝していますが、もともとは岩国寿司を切る包丁。（詳しくはブログ
岩国のお土産）
近所の木工工房、木の子さん でつくってもらったの。 家具を作った際の端材がたまたまマホガニー。高級木材の箱で包丁入れができちゃいました。ラッキー！中はウォールナットのアクセントで包丁を固定。これでむき出しで物騒な包丁が箱に収まりました。
さて、そもそもですが、、、本当は鞘とセットで購入したかったのだけど、最近鞘を作る職人さんが減っていて、包丁より高いそうです。 … でも 日本→刀→鞘… え゛～、サムライの国なのに。。なんで ？！
刀職人や鞘師に限らず、、、職人さんの数って減ってますよね。う～ん、日本よ、このままでいいno
だろうか？
今後のブログで詳しくご紹介しますが、ギフトパックを準備している課程で京都の職人さんたちと繋がりました。（シュトレンのラッピング、カノエオリジナルです♪）
カノエと同世代の職人さんたちですが、作品はこの世のものとは思えない素晴らしいものばかり。これから少しずつご紹介していきます。（あ、そして、近日HP上でアップされる予定のカノエのギフトパックも！）
そんな訳で、ブログも時々英語併記します。もっとたくさんの人に、世界中の人々に素晴らしい日本の美を知ってもらいたい！
I have
bought a cooking knife, the blade was so long that it is a limit dangerous. So I was desperate for a box where I can store it safely. (before someone gets hurt.)
This long knife is meant to
be used for cutting Japanese food called “Iwaguni
zushi 岩国寿司,” which is a huge rice cake. (Match
with the size of a wedding cake! LoL) Iwaguni It is regional food so you only see thme in Iwaguni，which is located in the southern part of Japan, Yamaguchi Prefecture.
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| Photo from Yamaguchi Prefecutre_ｈｔｔｐ//www.pref.yamaguchi.lg.jp/gyosei/kanko/photo/A_iwakuni/iwakunisusi.html |
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| Photo from Photo from Yamaguchi Prefecture_http://www.pref.yamaguchi.lg.jp/gyosei/kanko/photo/A_iwakuni/iwakunisusi.html |
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I am not
a sushi chef; I am a baker. So I use it for cutting a dough to make croissants. What
a sharpness! I better be careful not to cut down my all figures…
I myself
surprised the Japan knives quality. In general, they cut veggies and meat so fine but cut comes without effort. I have used (and am still using) ZWILLING, for example but the delicate Japanese food
can be done only by Japanese knives. Of course, it is inheriting the sward
technique. (Yah, Samurai culture!)
I am
happy to acquire a hand-made steel knife created from a skilled craft man. But
really, the blade this long (20cm), shouldn’t it come with a case or cover ??
I proposed
a craft man that I would pay for a case if it doesn’t come with it for free.
Ant the guy answered that he doesn’t mean to be cheap. (I never said that !).
It is just not available. Being as a steel craft man he can also do farm
equipments, (hoe, sickle and scythe etc…) and those day-to-day tools have still the constant needs. Whereas a sward smith, it is only for a sward
but nothing else. Many retired without successors. (Until this point, I never really give a though who would be making a sward case. This is another sector of skill of artisan. )
So this is why I had to settle with a box in stead of a sward case. Lucky, there is a cabinet maker (yes, another craft man) near by my town. He used the leftover mahogany piece for my knife box !
But really, how could it possible to have such a hard time to find a sward smith in the country of Samurai...
And this isn't it. Along with my business preparation, I discovered that other artist sectors, even in Kyoto, the situation is
the same. Less and less successors. I am worry that we soon will be on the verge of loosing them all.
How I got to know Kyoto Artists is this. For my recently opened bakery
shop, I wa
preparing for gift packaging. (EC Shop, mid-high price range. Rather
than day to
day bread, mine is for special occasion so I needed something
special to warp my
high-end products. )
As I was looking for traditional taste with harmony of modern chic, I connected
with some of artists from Kyoto. We worked together and created an original
wrapping. This with a trigger of acquainted Kyoto top artists. I personally met
them and visited their atelier. They are about my generation and probably a
new generation for Kyoto artist. They are willing to try something new. And as
for me I could do something to introduce them to the border audience, outside
of Japan. You never know. How and
when things start. What I know for sure now
is that Blogging about them and about their work has no limits nor boundary.
