Part 1
Part 2
-You have been involved in yarn dyeing for a total of over 62 years, working at Kawashima Textile until retirement, and then teaching at the school.
Actually, about three years before retirement, I was removed from the dyeing room and was transferred to another department. My boss at that time was someone who worked in the same Dyeing Department when I joined the company, and had thought "It is wasteful since he has dyeing skills. It is a loss for the company as well. We should use it somehow." Just then the previous dyeing teacher was leaving, and I was transferred to the school. If I hadn't met that boss, I would have left at retirement age and would not have continued dyeing. That is how I am here now.
-I didn't know something like that happened.
At the time of the transfer, my boss told me, “Just teaching is not good enough. I want you to teach with the intention that you are passing on the skills of Kawashima Textile,” and that has left a lasting impression on me. So when I teach, those words are always in my mind, and I try to keep myself focused, thinking that I cannot teach irresponsibly.
When the school opened (1973), the president of the company had a strong hope to make this school a base for handweaving culture, not only for teaching. Also at that time, the trend of supporting arts and culture by companies was widespread throughout Japan, called Mécénat. Kawashima Textile is also a school that was created with the idea of contributing to society with the culture of textiles and the technique of handweaving. When I came to the school (concurrently taking over from 1996, full-time since 1999) It was a place where everything about handweaving such as engineers, researchers, artists, from designing and disassembling textiles would come together. Did you have designing and disassembling classes, Kondo-sensei?
-Yes, we did. It was called "Kishoku-ron (weaving theory)," and we disassembled actual fabric and "read" them to make weaving designs, wrote weaving drafts, and researched the density and material. We don't have a disassembling class now, but students study weaving drafts in other classes such as "Kiso Ori (Basic Weaving)" and "Tenbin bata (Countermarch Looms)." Perhaps having these kinds of classes is due to the fact that Kawashima Textile works with restoration of cultural properties.
One of the school's missions is to pass on Kawashima Textile's handweaving skills and textile culture. When the school started, they were recruiting students with a high ideal that people with first-rate skills gather here to teach skills and culture. However, as generations change, the people gradually change. How should we pass these things on as the people change? This school started with engineers from Kawashima Textile, but as the years go by, the graduates become teachers. They were taught by teachers from Kawashima Textiles, so I think those skills are still being passed on.
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| Practicing his swing before class has been a daily routine for years. |
-You have been working at the school for over 20 years. Where does your motivation to continue come from?
When I first came to school, I was very intentional about the succession of skills, but after I actually started teaching, I didn't really think about it. But I don't want to repeat the same thing for 20 years, so I am gradually changing the content depending on the year. Students continue to come up with new things, and each time I discover something new. Especially students in the second year of the Professional Course make their work with a specific goal in mind, so they come up with things that I can't imagine, and each time I think with them. It's fun because there is a lot of communication, and it doesn't end with just teaching something. So every year, looking forward to what the new students will be like, and what they will make, is a strong motivation.
-A life spent together with dyeing. What does dyeing mean to someone like you?
I think it is a connection with people. I teach about 100 people each year, including students in the professional course and workshops, and I continued doing that for 20 years, so that would be more than 2000 people. There are so many interactions with people. My greatest joy is when the students finish the class and say "Thank you very much" as they return home. The students who come to this school have a passion to learn, so many of them work hard. The greatest happiness is to teach people who want to do it. People often say I am "always smiling" or "gentle," but I'm wondering if my personality naturally became that way because people say thank you to me. That is why I can interact with people, smiling.
-You are also active in golf. What does golf mean to you?
It's a source of health that I have a strong connection with. I can keep my energy and physical strength. The time when I can no longer play golf would be the time I quit my job (laughs). I don't feel any stress working at the school. In a normal workplace, human relationships are complicated and stressful, but here it feels more like a workshop than a workplace. I feel more stress playing golf (laughs). It's a good balance, and that leads to good health. I started playing golf around the time I was 35, and it will be nearly 50 years now. It could be that I am able to play golf because I work, and the joy of playing golf doubles because I work hard.
-Is there anything you want to say to those who want to study at the school?
The difference from other schools is that at the root, there is a hope to pass on the skills and that the students learn from them. That the facilities accompanying that are well equipped. Since we teach based on a deep philosophy, students can learn dyeing and weaving techniques in depth.
That is something I want to tell the people involved in the school now, including the teachers. I want them to keep in their hearts when interacting with the students, the hopes that Kawashima had when they first opened the school. If they do, I think it will gradually come across to the students. It's not just teaching. I want them to feel that.
-In the history of Kawashima Textile School, which is about to reach its 50th anniversary, there are things that have been passed on, such as the philosophy and skills. I felt that once again by hearing it directly from you. I started as a student and am now a full-time instructor here, and feel that what people who come to study at school want to make, have changed as the times have changed. There are some things that we can't do as they were in the old days, but as the fundamental skills, techniques, and attitude towards creating stay the same, I will continue to convey them with care. Thank you very much for your time today.
I wouldn't look back on my work if I didn't have the opportunity to do an interview like this. I was able to reflect on it again. Thank you very much.
There is one last thing I want to say. Now, I hope to be of help to everyone, even a little, rather than doing my best. It is relevant to the philosophy of the school when it was established, and the social contribution of the company. That is how I feel now at over 80 years old.
