YAME, Fukuoka -- Having had his fill of the outside world by working for the operator of a mall for fashion boutiques, Hiroki Ito saw the light -- at least the glow of the lanterns.
Ito decided that he would indeed take over the family business, becoming the eighth generation owner of chochin lantern maker Itoh Gonjiro Shop, which has been a fixture in Yame, Fukuoka Prefecture, since the later years of the Edo period (1603-1868).
Established in 1815, Itoh Gonjiro Shop is said to have started as a traditional craft products merchant, but eventually began specializing in producing paper lanterns.
Ito, who was born in 1990, had intended to take over the family business ever since he was little, but was also curious about the world out side of that. At a fashion building in Fukuoka's Tenjin district, he was put in charge of an entire floor and engaged in promotional activities at the mall.
But a piece of his heart always remained at the lantern shop. "I actually told the company, 'I'm going to quit soon,'" Ito said of when he was hired.
Although it is not well known, Yame and Gifu Prefecture are the two major lantern production centers in Japan. Surprisingly, Tokyo and Kyoto are nowhere near the two in terms of production volume.
Itoh Gonjiro Shop has earned a niche with its decorative lanterns displayed at festivals, shrines and temples, and restaurants in Yame, where production of lanterns for local Bon festivals is flourishing.
Several years ago, Ito found a traditional Japanese house within the rustic white-walled part of town and renovated it into a workshop. In contrast, his scraggly beard and penchant for street fashion hardly conjures up the image of the traditional craftsman.
"That would be overdoing it if I wore samue [Japanese work clothes] while working in a workshop built in an old house like this," Ito said.
Ito knows image is important, but there is also a place for the understated. Such is the sense he obtained through his many promotional activities.
Career turning point
His career reached a turning point when an offer came to make a lantern to be dedicated to Kushida Shrine in Fukuoka's Hakata Ward, known for the Hakata Gion Yamakasa Festival.
The shrine gave him the freedom to make the lantern as he liked, and Ito visited many times before coming up with one that used a sacred ginkgo tree at the shrine as the motif. "It was difficult at times, but being entrusted to make the lantern as I wanted made me very happy," Ito said. The task gave him a boost in confidence.
Instead of paper, Ito has made lanterns using such material as denim, and sometimes decorates them with yokai monsters or shunga (Japanese pornographic paintings). "I don't want to be bound by stereotypes," Ito said.
By sublimating the traditional craft of lantern making into a form of art, Ito is creating new brand value for Itoh Gonjiro Shop.
While pursuing the disposing of stereotypes, Ito remains fully aware of the value of history and tradition. His decision to use an old house as a workshop resulted from a willingness to be flexible about the image that the public wants a craftsman to have. "I feel the weight of a history that dates back to the Edo period," he said. "I want to cherish the 'intensity' of something that doesn't change."
All of Kyushu and beyond
Even as the coronavirus pandemic has forced the cancellation or postponement of many festivals, orders have remained as steady as before, Ito said. In fact, his sphere of activity is steadily expanding, and he turns his eyes to all of Kyushu and overseas.
He previously supplied a lantern for the Disney live-action movie "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms" (2018), and has been asked to create one for a feature-length work produced by a major U.S. video distribution company.
Ito said his dream is to hold an exhibition in New York. "There are people with discerning eyes in New York. So I want to take a shot where the hurdle is the most difficult. Once the pandemic is contained, I would like to go and look at possible venues," Ito said in a tone brimming with confidence.
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A bamboo strip is wound to make a spiral shaped frame for a Yame chochin lantern.
A lantern dedicated to Kushida Shrine
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