A Fusion with European Traditional Techniques: The New Value of "Ozu Washi" from Ikazaki Shachu

2025.02.17

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#History

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"Ozu Washi," handed down in Ikazaki, Uchiko, Ehime Prefecture, is a traditional form of paper that traces its history back 350 years to when it thrived as a source of income for the Ozu Domain. A craftsman combines this Ozu Washi and gilding to breathe new life into the paper. That craftsman is Hiroyuki Saito, representative of Ikazaki Shachu.

Gilding is a European traditional technique of decorating materials such as ceramics, wood, cloth, and paper with metal foil. How did this technique, handed down in Europe from olden times, meet the traditional Japanese craft of Washi and develop into the present? We talked to Saito, who is constantly exploring new value for Washi.

PROFILE

Hiroyuki Saito

Born in Ebina City, Kanagawa Prefecture. Graduated from the Department of Physics, College of Science and Technology, Nihon University. After graduation, he worked for a telecommunications IT company. He worked as a system engineer for ten years and in planning and sales for three years. In July 2008, Hiroyuki Saito founded Ikazaki Shachu Inc. in Ikazaki, Uchiko Town, Ehime Prefecture. As a registered JAPAN brand business, the company manufactures and sells products mainly made from hand-made Ikazaki Washi. He is striving within what is called an "I-turn entrepreneurship."

From System Engineer to the World of Washi

Tell us about the founding of your company.

I am from Ebina City, Kanagawa Prefecture, and before moving, I worked at a telecommunications company in Tokyo as a system engineer and in planning and sales for about 13 years.

My wife is from Ikazaki, and her family's business is a sake brewery that's been around for generations. The opportunity for founding the company came when my father-in-law, a member of the Chamber of Commerce who wanted to invigorate Ikazaki's traditional hand-made Washi, approached me.

It seems the desire to promote Ozu Washi was something that the entire Chamber of Commerce was thinking about.

Yes, although it was a town-wide initiative, we faced issues such as the aging of craftsmen and the declining demand for Washi.

In 2006, the Chamber of Commerce was selected for the "JAPAN Brand Production Support Project" by the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency. In short, it's a project to create products using Japan's traditional manufacturing techniques and sell them domestically and abroad.

As part of this project, the Chamber of Commerce went to see "Maison & Objet Paris," an international interior design trade fair held in France.