This abandoned can of dried seaweed has a fascinating tale behind it.
I’d like to tell you the story of this little ‘Nori tin’
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One day, Takahiro Yagi san was struck by a heart-wrenching feeling when he saw a seaweed tin, it was old but commonly seen in ordinary households, and which, no doubt, have been emptied after being eaten and thrown away without a second thought.
Takahiro Yagi is the sixth generation of Japan’s oldest tea caddy maker, KAIKADO.
Founded in 1875, when tinplate was imported from the UK, the first generation began producing tea caddies by hand, a process involving 130 steps.
His fine craftsmanship and quality were widely acclaimed.
However, when the Second World War broke out.
The tea caddy making tools had to be given up and sent out to the countryside as the country called for the valuable commodity of metals.
It was impossible to continue making tea caddies if the tools were lost, Yagi san’s grandfather dug into the ground, buried the tools underground and hid them, and continued to make caddies in secret.
For this, his grandfather was imprisoned.
Even so, he never gave up making tea caddies.
After the war, Japan entered a period of rapid economic growth.
Mass production by machine began, and tin cans quickly became popular in ordinary households.
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Decades later, on that day, Yagi san saw how tin can was thrown away without hesitation.
He picked it up, took it back to his workshop and transformed it into Kaikado tea caddy, using a technique that has been handed down for over a hundred years.
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Kaikado caddies are smooth and precise, and when you gently release your hand, the lid closes without a sound, as if under your breath.
The high degree of airtightness is a sign of a superior craftsmanship.
The artistic beauty at the utmost simplicity.
And on top of that, it is an everyday object, something that accompanies us in our daily lives.
The sight the lid slides down slowly and noiselessly on the smooth shining surface, is a moment when the artisanal skills of the human hand emerge as a movement before your eyes, like a living creature.
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” I believe it’s meaningful to make something that will be used for a hundred years. I want to pass the skills and the philosophy on for hundreds of years to come “
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Things that can be used for the next hundred years.
And then another hundred years after that.
If I get one of Kaikado’s tea caddies this year,
In 2122, my loved one will put tea leaves or something else in it.
It would be placed gently on a shelf in the year 2122, or in a futuristic closet.
The future, can be, an age in which people do not own things.
Even so, this tea caddy of Kaikado will surely find another use and survive, as it’s imbued with such ‘will’ and ‘soul’.
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”When plastic first appeared, it was touted as a great material. But now there is a movement to reduce the use of it. Views on materials change with the times. In such a world, I want to stay making products that can last for 100 years”
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There are many different positions that have lasted for generations, for example, Roman emperors or in businesses that has been in existence for generations.
When looking back over those long successive years, there are several generations of innovative figures who appear at some point in time.
I feel Takahiro Yagi san, the sixth generation, is one such figure in the history of Kaikado.
His ability to read the current trends, his drive to build a team, his ideas of collaboration, and the inviting personality he exudes.
It’s easy to see why the media are all excited to push features of him.
Beyond that, however, I think that Takahiro Yagi san’s attraction to people is the strong sense of commitment that runs through his roots.
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When we hold something in our hands, we do not simply want to possess it, but we want to feel the story behind it in the palm of our hand and to our heart.
That abandoned Nori can has now been transformed into something new, through the spiritual- filter of Kaikado.
The message of this is clear, if you think for a moment.
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Keeping tradition alive is a major challenge for Japanese craftsmanship today, but when I hear anecdotes like this, I am reminded, that it is inevitably about the people.
The appearance of such a person is, after all, a coincidence.
But perhaps the passage of time acts as an inevitability.
Tradition gives birth to the future.
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On this day in Britain, which is celebrating the jubilee of the 70th anniversary of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
while the word ‘history’ is raining down like confetti.
The story of the “Nori can” in Yagi san’s hand touched my heart.
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And now to me, I can’t wait to start my history of Kaikado tea caddy.
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【 KAIKADO 】
Japan’s oldest tea caddy maker, established in Kyoto since 1875. The process created by the first generation is still maintained today and all production is carried out by hand. Its craftsmanship and value are recognised worldwide and it has been selected for the permanent collection of the V&A Museum in the UK.
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✅ 🎥 To Watch Video of KAIKADO Tea Caddy, Visit ➡️ The.Japan.Set Instagram
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