Tile culture spread throughout Japan due to Edo period fire regulations. Shimizu was once a major production area, rivaling the three largest production centers in Japan. However, the Tanabata Flood of 1974 swept away all facilities and historical documents. Today, there isn't a single tile kiln left in Shimizu.
Reina Nagasawa, Shizuoka Prefecture's only female "Onishi" (demon tile artisan), has visited eighty-something artisans one by one, documenting their skills and memories that have only been passed down orally. This led to the creation of tile accessories. We interviewed Nagasawa, who is working to bring back scenes with tiles to Japan, drawing from the history of a lost production area.
Reina Nagasawa
Born in Shizuoka Prefecture. A tile artisan who is the daughter of the second-generation owner of Nagasawa Kawara Shoten Co., Ltd. As the only female "Onishi" (demon tile artisan) in Shizuoka Prefecture who trained as an Onigawara artisan, she creates tile accessories under the name "Kirei."
(*Article content is based on information at the time of the interview)
#4 Edo's Fire Regulations Protected Homes from Fires
At the time, tiles were the only non-combustible roofing material.
── Why did tiles become so widely used in Japan in the first place?
Actually, there's a good reason why they spread explosively during the Edo period. Until then, most roofs were made of wood or shingle, but tiles don't burn, do they? At that time, tiles were the only non-combustible roofing material.
In the Edo period, if one house caught fire in a row house, the fire would spread, leading to a huge conflagration. So, a fire regulation was issued during the Edo period, stating that tiles should be used because they don't burn.
When a house burned down, tiles could be used to crush it and prevent the fire from spreading. That's why they spread so explosively.
── I have the impression that tiles are "heavy and vulnerable to earthquakes"...?
Actually, in the past, they were deliberately designed to fall off. Back then, building standards were lax, so houses would collapse. The construction method was to protect the house by intentionally letting the tiles fall.
Since then, building codes have changed, and there's no need for tiles to fall, so now, tiles are actually constructed not to fall off, and they're just as strong as other roofing materials.
── Are tiles actually more advantageous in terms of cost?
The most popular roofing materials right now are slate and metal sheeting, which are cheap to install. But actually, in the long run, you have to erect scaffolding every 10 years and completely repaint them, which can cost hundreds of thousands of yen.
Tiles are a roofing material that doesn't need painting. So, in the long run, the cost is actually lower, and since the price of metal has been rising recently, the initial cost isn't that different either. That's the truth about tiles.
The weight of the roofing material is also surprisingly important. It's not just about being light; a certain amount of weight helps stabilize the house and makes it resistant to wind.
#5 Shimizu Kawara: The Memory of a Lost Major Industry
What the Tanabata Flood took away. Now, in an area with zero kilns, gathering stories from artisans in their 80s.
── Please tell us about the history of Shimizu tiles. When did it begin?
Going back to the very beginning, the first mention of Shimizu tiles made from Shizuoka soil was at the*1Obane Haiji Temple, built in the Hakuho period.
At that time, tiles were introduced by artisans from Baekje, a kingdom on the Korean Peninsula, along with Buddhism. So, tile artisans themselves were a group of craftsmen exclusively employed by the powerful figures of the time.
They were dispatched to various regions to build important temples and provincial temples, where they would gather local soil, build kilns, and fire tiles.
Later, during the construction of Sunpu Castle, excavations revealed that soil from Shimizu was used.
It is known that the tile artisans of Shimizu flourished particularly from the Edo period onwards.
*1 Obane Haiji Temple: An ancient temple of powerful clans built during the Hakuho period.
── How did it go from its heyday to its current state?
It reached its peak after the war, producing high-quality tiles comparable to the three largest production areas in Japan. However, 50 years ago, the Tomoe River overflowed due to the Tanabata Flood, and facilities were washed away.
While other regions were transitioning to conveyor belts and being pushed by production capacity, the Tanabata Flood hit, washing away their facilities. They lacked the strength to rebuild and subsequently declined.
Currently, there are zero places in Shimizu that have tile kilns.
── How did you gather information about Shimizu tiles from there?
At that time, most techniques were passed down orally, so there isn't much physical material. Many valuable documents were swept away in the Tanabata Flood, and many people say they simply threw them away.
So, I went around interviewing the artisans who are still alive today and wrote everything down. I also received tools from them, which have become incredibly valuable.
I asked about 10 people. I also spoke with their descendants.
By asking where the soil was taken from, how it was transported, where it was fired, and what kind of kiln it was, I came to understand that Shimizu tiles were deeply rooted in the local community.
The soil was sourced from Udo-yama and Noujima mountains within Shimizu, and transportation utilized the Tomoe River for water transport.
Since Shimizu had a thriving timber industry, wood shavings were used for firing. I gathered all this information from the daily lives of people back then. Also, all the people I interviewed who are still alive are over 80 years old.
── Do you have any memorable episodes?
Everyone always says that it was a family business. They touched clay from childhood, and their parents would tell them, "If you're going to study, then work," to the extent that it was truly a family affair.
When it rained, the children would help carry the dried tiles, and they also helped with the firing. That it was such a family business is what really struck me.
Also, as I was researching, it was by chance that a certain person, Mr. Ohashi, who had won a major award, happened to be the great-grandfather of one of my classmates.
But when I asked my classmate, they didn't know anything. Even their father didn't really know what he did. But when I researched it, I found out that he was a wonderful person and made these amazing demon tiles.
It's recently become quite frightening to realize that even if someone is truly great, if no one researches or talks about them, even their relatives can forget about them.
Shimizu tiles are becoming one of those things. Various traditional Japanese cultures are disappearing now, aren't they?
Even though they were famous back then, children living here now don't even know of their existence. That's why I'm working to collect information and share it with many people, hoping they will learn about it.
#6 I want to bring back the landscape with tiles to Japan.
The day I fell in love with my father's back. My passion for tile culture infused in accessories.
── Could you tell us how you got into this job?
It started when I had the opportunity to help my father, and we went together to an informational meeting for elementary school students about career education.
I had seen my father working and thought tiles were cool, but I didn't know what was so good about them.
While helping my father and explaining the good qualities of tiles, I myself learned even more than the children about how wonderful tiles are.
And I wondered why my father never talked about this, so I wanted to help him spread the word. That was myきっかけ (trigger/reason for joining the company).
── Are there any memorable episodes of your father that you found particularly cool?
My father participated in a tile grand prix where they competed on how beautifully they could install tiles, and he won first place and received the Governor's Award.
I watched him practice. Even a slight misalignment would cast a shadow and be noticeable. Seeing him in practice, striving to eliminate even the slightest shadow, was when I first realized how dedicated my father was to tiles, and I thought he was so cool.
── You also mentioned that you make accessories. Why did you start making tile accessories?
Many people think of tiles as something you consider when building a house, something old-fashioned. So, I wanted them to be incorporated as a material by those people too, which is why I made them into accessories.
When I joined the company, my father asked me, "I'd like you to make tile accessories," and I said, "Okay," and that's how it started.
From accessories, it has now expanded to various interior items such as aroma stones, trays, and bracelets.
The aroma stones incorporate the traditional carving methods of demon tiles, and because they are absorbent, you can also infuse perfume into the accessories.
As you use them, they change from a smoked silver color to a gradually glossy black, so you can enjoy that aging process as well.
Furthermore, by stacking tiles and firing them, we create a "rainbow" pattern, or firing unevenness, on the fired surface. Before turning silver, smoked silver goes through red, yellow, blue, and black, and these color variations become a rainbow, allowing us to deliver one-of-a-kind pieces. We are probably the only ones doing this nationwide.
── Please tell us about your future aspirations, Reina.
For us, the main goal of our activities is to make people understand how wonderful tiles are.
Nowadays, many people ask house builders to construct their homes, and they are becoming less familiar with tiles.
That's why we transform them into small items, so people can enjoy the warding-off power of "onigawara" (demon tiles) even inside their homes, and feel the power of tiles in their daily lives. We are working with the desire to bring back a landscape with tiles to Japan.
