Kanazawa City has been the center of gold leaf production in Japan for over five hundred years. However, for a long time it was only used by manufacturers in other regions as an ingredient in making their own products. Kuniko Asano took this material and used her own techniques to transform it into a vast array of original products, making Kanazawa’s gold leaf into a household name. This week, PingMag Make spoke to her about her ideas about business and the art of making things.
Interviewed by Takafumi Suzuki
Translated by Claire Tanaka
Special thanks to Hiroko Torigoe
How did you get into the gold leaf business?
Originally, my life had nothing to do with gold leaf. I’m from Kyoto, and when I lived there I just worked in an office. When I got married, I joined a foil industry family, but at first I was just a housewife. But I saw my husband’s work, and a part of me felt rather curious about it. The customer was king, and they were in a position where they could return products as much as they wanted. I was in charge of family finances and I had loans to take care of, so when my husband got paid in kind, that was a problem. I was just trying to find the cause of the problem.
So, what was the cause?
First of all, at that time, foil was only provided to customers as a raw material. It would be then be used as a material in some other product, and our company’s name would be lost in the process. For example, Nishijin would buy it and turn it into Nishijin textiles, or Mikawa would use it to make their Mikawa Butsudan buddhist altars. So I thought, we have to make some products that we can sell to customers directly, instead of going through other industries. If we don’t do that, the Kanazawa foil name will be lost. So I told my husband that I thought we had to develop our own gold leaf products, and make Kanazawa foil itself into a product, or we’d be in trouble.
The leaves of foil are cut one at a time with a bamboo frame
Handling the foil is delicate work
So you were a housewife while also being an employee of your husband’s company at the same time?
No. I was always a housewife. Until the oil shock, I never even touched the foil. Our children were crying, but he still wasn’t willing to change the way he did business. I felt so strongly about doing something to help my husband and my family. That’s why I gave my opinion. But he told me, “If you want to do that, don’t do it here.” And in the end, I was kicked out of the family.
You were a housewife and a mother, never touched foil, and were thrown out of the family! The effort it must have taken to start working in the foil industry under such conditions must have been nothing short of colossal!
Effort doesn’t even begin to describe it! Really, I had no idea what I was doing (laughs). But I didn’t want to fail, I wanted to fight. After all, I’d been thrown out of the family and the family business. I didn’t get divorced until last year, though. But I started learning about making things, and developing products all on my own. I learned about making things from my mother. She liked to sew western-style clothes as well as Japanese-style clothes. She could take cheap little scraps of cloth and transform them into beautiful and original dresses. I grew up watching her. By making something yourself, developing it, by adding techniques, you can add value to a product. I had that knowledge on my side.
This pounding process is called koma-uchi
The foil pounding machine makes an impressive noise
When you were working by yourself, what did you make?
Tea saucers, little plates, and trays. I couldn’t afford to buy wooden materials, so I used plastic. And I didn’t use gold leaf, I could only use silver. I just didn’t have the money. So at first, I used techniques to change the color of the silver.
Did you teach yourself how to change the color of silver?
It was a coincidence. In the beginning, I was raising my children and developing products in my home, by myself. One day, my child touched the silver with dirty hands, and the silver changed color. I thought it looked pretty neat (laughs). If you don’t treat silver, it turns a dull grey, and if you put it in some natural spring waters, it can turn black. I studied color-altering techniques like that, and made my own original products. Of course, at first I couldn’t get anyone to accept my work. But I never gave up, even if people got angry with me. In the end, that was something my customers had an emotional connection to. The first place to accept my products was a department store in Tokyo. “They’re very beautiful, aren’t they,” they said.
Did you have someone who introduced you to the department store’s distribution channels?
No. I just thought, I go shopping at department stores, so I should try and sell my things to a department store (laughs). I didn’t even phone. I just brought my saucers and trays in, and asked the elevator girl, “Where should I bring my products?” (laughs) At that time, I thought all the successful people did it that way. I didn’t know any different. I just connected together all the things, techniques, people, and markets that I found in my own way. I figured that was all I had to do. At first it was just me, all alone. I had one desk and one telephone in my tiny home. Finally, three years down the road, I was able to hire some part-time staff. And then I built a factory, a head office building, and the company got bigger, and I’d start to feel scared sometimes and think “Am I really doing all this?”
The foil fits into the nooks and crannies of three-dimensional objects seamlessly
The unmistakable gleam of gold
But now you’re in quite a unique position in the gold leaf industry.
I may not be at the top, but I’m certainly unique. Every technique is unique. My company’s concept is that we may not be able to make mass quantities of anything, but we are the only ones in the world who can make them. In other words, our customers are paying for that emotional connection. Other companies, and other countries, can’t copy that experience. Our plant is capable of making a wide variety of products in small quantities, so even if we get an order for just one or two things, we can cover it. Our stance is, “half done by machine, and half by hand”. We make sure to keep that personal touch. I’m not fond of mass production. You save up for something expensive, and then you take good care of it. I think that’s the way things should be.
Attack what needs attacking, protect what needs protecting. It’s both masculine and feminine, isn’t it.
Personally, I feel my business sense is masculine, and my attitude towards making things is feminine. I’m very strict when it comes to manufacturing. It’s because I pour my love into it. I never miss a technical meeting, design meeting, or a planning meeting. I’m always there, giving pep talks. I started out doing everything myself, so I’m quite picky about details. Even now, I’d say I’m faster at packing than the staff are (laughs). Accounting, sales, marketing, product development, I did it all myself. But even so, the only reason I did that was because I didn’t have the money to do it any other way (laughs). That’s the fodder for what I do now.
Hakuichi
2-1-1 Morito, Kanazawa, Ishikawa
Kuniko Asano
born in Kyoto. Founder, Hakuichi.
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PingMag MAKE is the sister site to PingMag. We use an interview format to put the spotlight on a wide range of people active in rural areas. We document the voices of these unknown heroes and broadcast them to the world. It’s the Japan-based magazine about people and making things, coming out once a week. We’re passing on the passion, ideas, skills, and life stories of people who are building today and exploring tomorrow: craftsmen, engineers, entrepreneurs, and inventors. Stay tuned!
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Inspiring in every way!wonderful!
Posted by: sally vincent on March 11th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Inspiring, as Sally said. What a strong, fierce spirit this woman has.
Posted by: Jessant on March 11th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Incredible, I can only imagine how hard it would have been to start a business.
Her hard work paid off.
Posted by: Manjit Bedi on March 11th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Goodness! this is an inspiring story..
she must be so proud of what shes built
Posted by: milo on March 11th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
how inspiring- great interview.
Posted by: xie on March 12th, 2008 at 2:53 am
What a wonderful and empowering story–and what delightful work being done, bringing such beauty to the world.
I love that fish mural!!
Posted by: greg on March 29th, 2008 at 2:54 am
awesome
Posted by: onur gunduz on April 19th, 2008 at 8:22 am
very inspiring
Posted by: herbert baglione on April 21st, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Never EVER mess with housewives… Great article. Thanks PingMag!
Posted by: Cyberpukish on July 8th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
I wish her all the BEST in life. I am also in the same business.
Posted by: Kuldeep Jalandra on September 16th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
I wish her all the BEST in life. I am also in the same business.
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Personally, I feel my business sense is masculine, and my attitude towards making things is feminine. I’m very strict when it comes to manufacturing.
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