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"We may possibly simply have lost our appreciation for handmade goods." Igarashi san has been building chochin paper lanterns in his little shop for his life time. His father too, and his grandfatherand great grandfather and even great, great grandfather. The various tools & gear that surround him today, in fact, have outlasted his ancestors, their wooden surfaces worn smooth with age. Since the start of the Meiji era (1868 - 1912) Kanazawa individuals have been buying Igarashi chochin from the store, in the heart of old Kanazawa's merchant center, near the back of the fort. The shelves are stacked high with beautifully decorated lanterns - radiant bursts of colour peppering the confines of the tiny workshop.
Chochin lanterns have a relatively long history in Japan - there is proof of them being used in temples in the 10th century - and were used mainly as a portable means of light. Just periodically used inside, they often put outside a home, temple or organization or else in the entrance, ready to be stopped on a and carried before everyone going out at night. Igarashi-san reckons that at once these were so trusted there might have existed 40 or 50 chochin retailers just in Kanazawa. In these times there remain only himself try чешский бисер and one other local builder in the other fellow and the business (Matsuda-san) has long since diversified, making traditional umbrellas his principal.
Building a chochin is a awkward, relatively delicate treatment despite the magnificently simple appearance of the conclusion product. And, when asked what are the most crucial features in his career his bright eyes dead serious, "patience and concentration" are replied, by Igarashi-san. The average measured lantern based on Igarashi-san, at about 30 cm across, can be produced at a rate of about two each day by one person including most of the painting. However some certainly large ones have gone the Igarashi store over the years - his biggest was a matsuri beast measuring 5 shaku (1 shaku = 30.3cm in the old Japanese measuring process) in length by having an delicate year of the rabbit design onto it. The old lantern manufacturer is realistic concerning the fact that people want cheaper, mass-produced, plastic covered lamps these days - he also carries them himself - but he is confident in the data that a well-made paper lantern is just a wonderful thing, excellent in many ways to these garish contemporary impostors.
"You can fix a good chochin," we are told by him, "you can change one rib or fix a hole in the report no problem." "Plastic lamps don't have any internal frame and can not be patched." A paper lantern irrespective of how well made lasts just about per year (natural beauty is obviously fleeting) whereas a plastic one might last twice that and cost half the maximum amount of. On top of that, we as a culture might have only dropped our appreciation for handmade items. Value is becoming our major drive as consumers. We don't care to know how things were made nowadays, or they were made by who, or else Igarashisan would be the effective head of a chain of stores.
The partitions of the Igarashi Chochinya and his ready-to-hand scrapbook sport countless monochrome images and press clippings showing a proud, broad-shouldered child with strong, heavy hands and a fetching smile showing off elegant report spheres with matsuri lights glimmering in the backdrop. Humbly showing us them, his warm, friendly smile only moves slightly as he tells us that he will function as the last of his family line making lanterns here.
