Creating the best work I can do [Rengeso Motomachi Kobo]

Manufacturing
Creating things
Craftsman's Landscape

This issue's site
[Occupation] Furniture craftsman
[Craftsman name] Rengekusa Motomachi Studio Uchida Katsuto
[Location] Shin-Yamashita, Yokohama

Carefully, slowly, and with thought.
A section introducing manufacturing sites that make use of handcrafted techniques.
This time, it is said that it can be used by three generations of parents and children.
Yokohama Furniture. Over 150 years have passed since the opening of Yokohama Port.
We continue to inherit our techniques and culture, and continue to manufacture custom furniture.
We went to Rengekusa Motomachi Workshop, which repairs furniture.

With the opening of Yokohama Port, the history of Yokohama furniture began with the repair of Western furniture brought over from across the sea. Japan's woodworking techniques, which have long nurtured a culture of wood, gained a reputation, and soon Japanese people were making authentic Western furniture. Rengeso Motomachi Kobo, the only workshop carrying on the history of Yokohama furniture, is lined with rows of high-quality solid wood. The reason for the focus on materials is "quality, not quantity. By interacting with high-grade wood, we further improve our craftsmanship and believe we can provide furniture in the best possible condition," says Uchida. He also adds, "We craftsmen are not artists; our job is to provide the skills to materialize our customers' ideas." Even today, this is where the finest work is being done, creating masterpieces that will bring a smile to someone's face.

Located in the warehouse district of Shin-Yamashita, close to Yokohama Port and above the Kariba Line of the Shuto Expressway, Rengeso Motomachi Koubou is a furniture maker founded in 2001. We visited Katsuhito Uchida, a furniture maker with an unusual background, originally a fashion designer.

The high-ceilinged, spacious workshop is filled with natural solid wood. The moment you step inside, you are greeted by a cool breeze and the overwhelming scent of wood tickles your nose.

It was 10:00 a.m., and craftsmen at Rengekusa Motomachi Workshop were already working on the wood.

First, I asked Uchida about Yokohama Furniture.

Let's go back more than 150 years to when Yokohama opened its port to the world. Western furniture came all the way across the ocean to Yokohama along with many Westerners. It seems that Yokohama furniture began with repairing the Western furniture that Westerners had brought with them. Westerners were amazed at how Japanese craftsmen were able to repair furniture better than they had imagined. It was far superior in terms of precision, speed, and cost to furniture from their home countries. Gradually, the skills of Japanese craftsmen gained a reputation, and they began to go beyond repairs and even make furniture.

So, what exactly is "Yokohama furniture"? "To be honest, there isn't much difference between Yokohama furniture and other Western furniture. Later, furniture adapted to Japanese specifications began to be made in various parts of Japan, but here in Yokohama, there was no need to change the way it was made. The environment was such that it didn't need to be adapted to Japanese specifications. This is because many foreigners lived in the Yamate area, and it was furniture that they would use."

"It may sound bad to say that there has been no evolution, but it just goes to show that the best style for making furniture has been firmly established. If I had to answer the question, 'What is Yokohama furniture?' I would say that it is 'Yokohama furniture.' Of course, while inheriting the techniques, Rengeso Motomachi Workshop has evolved to make furniture that suits the lifestyles of modern people (laughs)."

That's what Uchida says. As mentioned above, his unusual career story is also fascinating. From a young age, he was interested in design, architecture, and interior design, and loved making things. His love of clothes led him to dream of presenting his work at Paris Fashion Week, and he became a fashion designer for a major apparel manufacturer. However, after a few years, he began to question the specialized labor system typical of large companies, and quit his job. While absentmindedly watching TV at home during a leave of absence, he came across a furniture craftsman silently planing under a bare light bulb, and thought, "This is it!" He decided to "change his material from cloth to wood and express himself." He immediately attended a vocational training school, where he learned about furniture making, and then got a job at a furniture store in Motomachi, Yokohama. Surprisingly, the person working in that furniture store's workshop was the very same craftsman he had seen on TV working under a bare light bulb, the very same person who had convinced Uchida to become a furniture craftsman. "Wow! I was so excited to see the craftsman I'd seen on TV right in front of me. He was like the ace, the fourth batter among the craftsmen. So naturally, he got good materials and good jobs. I was envious of that, and while silently working on cutting wood (cutting logs and large pieces of wood into lumber of the required dimensions and quality), I remember feeling a strong desire to become like him someday. At the site at the time, there was no one to teach me how to make furniture, so all I could do was watch and learn from the methods of my seniors."

"My master had a warehouse. He kept a lot of finished items there. I even used a crowbar to break some of the furniture into pieces to see how it was made (laughs)."

After more than a decade of experience, he established Rengeso Motomachi Kobo. "I decided to open this workshop because I didn't want the flame of Yokohama furniture to go out, and also to train young people. I want to inherit, revive, and prosper the techniques of Yokohama furniture that have been passed down for over 150 years...and I also want my presence to be a source of fertilizer for young craftsmen...With these thoughts in mind, I chose the name of my shop after Rengeso, a flower that fertilizes fields."

When asked what Uchida focuses on when making and repairing furniture, he immediately replied, "The customer comes first. I always try to express my own taste within the framework decided by the customer. A craftsman is not an artist. It is about accurately grasping the customer's requests and responding to them with all our might. We believe that we are here to provide the technology to materialize those requests. We simply try to do the best job we can...that's all there is to it!"

This is a TV stand that is eagerly awaiting its delivery to a customer. It was created by Uchida. While focusing on a simple design that expresses the gentle grain, clean lines, and beauty of solid wood, he added a playful touch with marquetry and glasswork.

This stool, currently in the making, is called "Posture." It is a rocking chair designed for long hours of desk work. This chair was created in response to complaints from staff working at the workshop desks that their shoulders and backs hurt.

This is a cushioned chair with elegant lines, one of Yokohama Furniture's signature features. You may be hesitant to lean your body against the ultra-thin backrest, but it's carefully designed to bend comfortably and reduce strain on your lower back.

Finally, we asked Uchida about his future dreams. "I want to create furniture that knows no borders. Free furniture that is not bound by categories such as Western or Japanese furniture, and is made with the sole aim of making our customers happy. From the port of Yokohama to overseas. 'Yokohama furniture' has its roots in furniture that was imported across the sea more than 150 years ago, and now it has become furniture that crosses the sea and blends seamlessly into the lives of people in foreign lands... It would be fantastic if we could become something like that."