Footprints of the Handmade Variety

8 Apr 2008 Category: Business, Japan, Product

Footprints of the Handmade Variety

Yamato makes high-end leather sandals completely by hand. The sandals made by this little company, located in Matsuyama City, Ehime, have even trod the runways of Paris Fashion Week. But the flashy lights of the catwalk are nothing in comparison to the glowing spirit and perseverance of the man behind this spunky business.

Interviewed by Takafumi Suzuki
Translated by Claire Tanaka

I understand you’re making a really unique sandal, which is totally different from your usual line.

You’re referring to our line of sandals made with washi paper. We have always been a manufacturer of high-end leather garden sandals, but we made the washi sandals for an exhibition overseas, and it went over really well, so we developed the design a bit and have been producing and distributing them mainly in Europe for the past three years. I figure we’ve sold about ten thousand pairs. But, it just didn’t go the way we wanted it to, so we’ve stopped production for the time being.


The sole is made of washi paper

The straps are beautifully done

They’ve gotten so much attention; I’m surprised to hear you say it wasn’t going well.

It’s true, we did have them used during Paris Fashion Week, and famous high-end hotels overseas sell them, and in Japan we have select boutiques stocking them, and the media has given us some attention, and that has all had a collective good effect, but our overseas distributors were behind in their payments… (laughs) But that’s business, isn’t it (laughs). The look and level of quality has had a great response overseas, that I know, but we just couldn’t get the sales numbers at the price we felt was appropriate. There is real price competition in the sandal business. Not only that, but the productivity level for manufacturing totally handmade sandals is quite poor.


Lots of different patterns

Glowing colors characteristic of washi

You make all your sandals completely by hand?

Yes. With shoes, it’s possible to automate the process to a certain degree, but you can’t do that with sandals. It’s because there are so many small delicate parts that you have to fit together. It’s also hard to coordinate stock of all those parts.

I had no idea that it was so hard to make sandals productively.

That’s why we’re going to China and Vietnam and training people. If they can learn how to make them right, we might be able to profitably sell high-end sandals overseas again.

There may be lots of machines, but this factory isn’t automated by any stretch

But, if you do that, won’t all your technical expertise be leaked overseas?

You’d think so, but unfortunately we’re having the opposite problem. They just can’t seem to learn how to make them properly. We teach them just the same as we always do, but they just can’t do it. I can’t explain what exactly is wrong, but there’s just something that isn’t right (laughs). If you line them up, try them on, you can tell the difference. Something is definitely wrong (laughs). That’s why we have to put the finishing touches on everything here in Japan.

You’ve obviously got very high standards.

I’ve been in the sandal business since I was a kid, you know. Also, I really am fond of the manufacturing process, and I feel I understand how artisans love to do quality work.

It’s all in the details – even the packaging is beautiful

So tell me, how did you get into the sandal business?

I always intended to take over my father’s sandal shop. The people around me and my mother and father all told me that’s what I would do, so they did a real good job of brainwashing me (laughs). But, I was a baseball player, and after I graduated university I could have joined an amateur baseball team. But rather than be a ball player who peaks in his 30s I figured it would be better to get into the sandal business (laughs). I talked to my dad about it, and it was a matter of sandals vs. baseball and I ended up going with sandals.

So, was your father the founder of the company?

Yes. My mother was working in a neighborhood shoe factory, and my father got a job there as an artisan, and that’s how they met. After they got married, they teamed up with another family and formed their own company. At that time, sandals had just hit Japan, and so all you had to do to sell them was produce them. I remember scenes of a leaky seaside shack full of sandals, which would be piled up on a cart and taken away to sell. From then until the bubble, the staff grew to about 90 people, and they were making up to 2500 pairs per day.



So it was all smooth sailing, then.

Well, there was this one time when the factory caught fire and burned down (laughs). It just happened to be exactly one day after the company’s insurance ran out, and we couldn’t get any money at all from insurance. If it had been the day before, they would have paid it, though (laughs). But, both my mother and father are not the type to let that kind of thing get them down, so they kept on going.



You’ve got to have an iron will to get over something like that. What kind of people were your parents?

My mother is a really strong person, and my father is quite humanistic. He was originally an artisan, but he also has an entrepreneurial sense. My father loves making things, but he also loves making people, if I do say so myself. Making a company is to make people, is what I mean. Developing human resources. My father has something he likes to say, and it’s become a favorite motto of mine, “Companies and people always have a sunrise.” Even when things don’t go well, you don’t let it get you down, but you keep up the momentum of the sunrise. People will gather and bow down to the sunrise, but they turn away from the sunset. My father has retired now, and he’s founded several new companies. He’s managing four different companies now. He really practices what he preaches (laughs).

This is how it looks inside a sandal factory!

Tell me what you plan to do next.

I think it would be really fun if we could do a collaboration with an Italian workshop. We could combine their materials and design with our technical expertise. We could start production in Italy and do the finishing touches here in Japan. We have started talking to one place, but they still haven’t sent us any samples (laughs). Those guys really are laid-back, aren’t they (laughs). But personally, I don’t want to forget how important it is to keep trying new things. But there’s no point if you can’t make a good go of it, financially (laughs).

Yamato
Nakanishi-gai 1035-1, Hojo City, Ehime

Tamotsu Tokorotani
Born in Hojyo City, Ehime, in 1964. President of Yamato

43 Comments

  1. Is there a website where you can buy these, they’re great!

    Posted by: Mike on April 11th, 2008 at 4:31 am

  2. thankyou for the post.

    Posted by: edohsama on April 11th, 2008 at 6:04 am

  3. Please answer the question. Where can I buy them from.

    Posted by: Mike on April 11th, 2008 at 6:53 am

  4. Good morning Mike - we’re in Japan, hence the delay (your comment was at 4.30am here).　Yamato have an online shop. The descriptions are in English but the cart is in Japanese, unfortunately. http://www.yamato-tokorotani.com/

    We might be able to help some time in the future, so you’re welcome to leave a contact email with the contact form on the right of this page, and we’ll get back to you.

    Posted by: admin on April 11th, 2008 at 7:08 am

  5. Very Sorry forgot the time difference. You work very late there.
    I think they are really excellent but they are very expensive.
    I do not think I can afford to buy them. Thank you for your help.
    Mike.

    Posted by: Mike on April 11th, 2008 at 7:21 am

  6. iOOSHe

    Posted by: JgcCohMkYgabomu on May 18th, 2008 at 3:14 am

  7. I have bought my wife 2 pairs of these sandals and I can absolutely say they are the best pairs of shoes I have ever purchased. The quality is no less than perfect. May they never stop producing these shoes this way. Bite the bullet and buy a pair of these shoes, you will understand what I mean the minute they slip on your foot. Good luck

    Posted by: Jason Rosenbloom on January 27th, 2009 at 6:31 am

  8. Dear Tamotsu
    Fascinating story. I bought a pair about 5 years ago in Tokyo and they are the best shoes I’ve ever had. They’ve been on many trips around the world and I practically live in them during Summer and they’re still in excellent condition and still so comfortable. I want to buy more! Can you advise how I can do this? I live in Australia.

    Posted by: Bernadette Uzelac on November 17th, 2009 at 7:28 pm

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