Passing on the Tradition of Satsuma Tinware for 108 Years

First, could you tell us about your company?

Our company manufactures and sells products using a metal called "tin." We started this business in 1916, and this year marks our 108th anniversary.

We now manufacture about 300 different types of tin products, including tumblers and tea caddies.

Impressive! Why do you have such a wide range of products?

We have been creating products that are favored for different lifestyles over time. Naturally, the longer we continue manufacturing, the more diverse our range becomes.

One of the unique features of tinware is that it does not break or rust. Many people choose tinware as gifts and it pleases both the giver and the receiver.

Kagoshima is famous for shochu, and there is a culture of drinking it. Drinking shochu from tinware makes it taste even better.

Your tinware has won several awards, hasn't it?

We began receiving awards when our chairman, Manabu Iwakiri, presented a piece of tinware to Emperor Showa when he was about 30 years old.

Manabu Iwakiri was selected as a "Master Craftsman of Today," a recognition of outstanding craftsmen. He also received the "Yellow Ribbon Medal," an award for those who have made pioneering contributions to industry.

That’s an acknowledgement of your technical excellence. Are there differences between Japanese tinware and those made overseas?

Since the ways tableware is used differ between Japan and other countries, the products produced are also different. For example, we have a culture of using chopstick rests in Japan, but this does not exist overseas. Thus, most of the tinware abroad are Western tableware.

In recent years, traditional yet simple products like tumblers have become popular in Japan.

When developing new products, do you incorporate trends and customer opinions?

We do. Our company often attends exhibitions, and we take back customer feedback from these events to improve our products. We always make it a point to listen to what our customers have to say.

The Manufacture of Tin Products is Entirely Handmade by Craftsmen

How many years does it take to become a full-fledged craftsman of tinware?

It takes about 30 years. I'm 50 years old now, and I've just become able to make products that I can present to customers.

Since this is a business where we receive money, we can't create sloppy products. It takes almost 30 years to be able to create good products.

That's a long time. Could you tell us about the process to make a product?

First, the large chunk of the raw material, "tin ingot" is melted.

Next, the melted tin is poured into a mold, and once it solidifies, the tin is removed from the mold. This is called "roughing out," however, the product cannot be sold as it is too heavy, the periphery is rough, and dirty.

Therefore, to make it clean, it's shaped using machinery. This work is called "roughing out."

Roughing out is done by hand, not by machinery. The roughed out material is rotated on a machine, a chisel is gently applied, and it is carved by hand to achieve an appropriate shape and thickness.

After roughing out to some extent, patterns are hammered onto it, or surface processing called "etching" is applied. In total, there are about 13 steps until a product is made.

So you shape it with the feel of your hand.

Tin is a bit soft, and will easily bend when it heats up, so we adjust the strength by feeling with our hands.

Actually, tin is not a metal suitable for mass production. As tinware is all handmade, the finished products differ greatly depending on the craftsman.

We only ship products that look beautiful, so we carefully select the finished products.

What happens to the items that you decide cannot be shipped?

Items that can't be shipped are melted down and reused. Unlike other products, tinware is recyclable. It's an eco-friendly product that creates no waste.

You mentioned earlier that there are about 13 manufacturing processes. Can you tell us which processes are technically difficult or are high difficulty products?

Creating items such as tea caddies and teapots, which are highly sealed containers, is the most difficult. As I mentioned earlier, it takes about 30 years of training to be able to make these.

The most difficult part is the lid of the tea caddy. To enhance the airtightness, the lid cannot simply fall off, and at the same it cannot be too tight that it fails to open. Making it close just right is difficult.

Items that require very high precision are carved purely by hand. Also, since they are handmade, it's the craftsman's goal to be able to replicate the product at the same speed multiple times.

Do you have anything that you value in preserving these traditional techniques?

"Preserving tradition" is not just about technique, but I also think it includes employing new people.

Also, given how fast times are changing, we also have to adjust our selling methods. Previously, about 90% of our customers purchased from department stores. However, now is the age where people shop online.

I took over the family business 30 years ago when there were no smartphones. To adapt to the changing times, we need to embrace new trends.

As for the method of making tinware, good things that have existed since old should be kept. We need to pass on these techniques, so we hire young people and pass on the skills to them.

Passing on Tradition to the Next Generation Through the Experience of Touching Tinware

What are the overall challenges in the industry that you think about, Iwakiri?

Before the war, there were about 30 tinware manufacturers in Kagoshima Prefecture, but now there are only two. The reason for such a decrease is partly due to the air raids during the war that burned and destroyed the workshops, but also due to the soaring prices of the raw material 'tin ingot'. The price is now about five times higher than when I took over the family business.

Since we cannot mine the raw material domestically anymore, we have to import it. However, in recent years, the cost of raw materials has changed, or we haven't been able to import even if we want to.

We can't work without the raw material, so securing it is very important.

So you can't get tin in Kagoshima anymore, can you?

To be precise, tin is available, but it seems difficult to extract due to labor costs and other factors. When our company was founded, we could extract it even in Kagoshima.

In the past, tin was readily available in Kagoshima, and this led to our development as a production area for traditional crafts.

I imagine that the quality of the raw material varies depending on where you source it from. Does this make a difference in the finished product?

Indeed, the quality of the raw material inevitably differs between manufacturers. We once tested using a cheaper material, and when we looked at the finished product, it was clearly different.

The color was not good, the feeling during cutting was different, and it was more prone to corrosion. There were times when I could tell the difference during the manufacturing process, but there were also times when I couldn't tell the difference until it became a finished product.

The selection of the proper raw materials makes a difference in the quality of the finished product, which also leads to a credibility issue for our customers.

Can you tell the quality of the raw material by looking at it?

To some extent, yes. In our company, we have fixed import sources, but we used various tin ingots to decide on those sources. While utilizing years of experience and intuition, we procure reliable materials from selected manufacturers.

So you put a lot of effort into securing good raw materials on a steady basis. Finally, could you tell us about any challenges you would like to tackle in the future?

I believe that my mission is to pass on skills and such to the younger generation. Until now, we have only been making and selling tinware, but recently we have started offering workshops because we want people to feel closer to tinware.

We believe that providing experiences to touch tinware is a way to connect with potential future customers, and we want to convey the goodness of tradition through these activities.

Every year, during the summer vacation, we have people coming to Kagoshima to experience traditional crafts. We guide and help them create pieces, and it brings us joy to see everyone happily making their own.

Our company is located in Kagoshima Prefecture, which is at the southernmost tip of Kyushu and is not very well known, but we would be delighted if you could stop by when you visit Kagoshima Prefecture for sightseeing.