[VILLAGE Report vol.30] More Than 90% of Eyeglass Frames | Fukui Prefecture

Fukui Prefecture’s nationally designated items are Echizen Lacquerware, Echizen Washi, Echizen Forged Blades, Echizen Ware, Echizen Tansu, Wakasa Lacquerware, Wakasa Agate Work seven items in total.

And outside the designations, there is one more major number.

More than 90% of eyeglasses

Fukui Prefecture, centered on Sabae City, makes more than 90% of Japan-made eyeglass frames.

It began in 1905. It is said to have started when craftsmen were invited from Osaka to begin making eyeglasses as winter work, when snow made farming impossible which is considered the trigger.

In Nagano’s Iiyama (vol.28), I wrote about how snow gave rise to Buddhist altars and paper. Fukui’s eyeglasses also began from the same idea of "long winters."

Then in the 1980s, Sabae mass production of titanium frames succeeded in doing so for the first time in the world. Titanium is light, does not rust, and is less likely to cause metal allergies. However, it is extremely difficult to process.

Because they took on something difficult, they became irreplaceable. It is the same way of surviving as Tosa Washi in Kochi (vol.17).

The northernmost of the Six Ancient Kilns

Echizen Ware is one of Japan’s Six Ancient Kilns. In this series, following Bizen, Shigaraki, Tanba, Seto, and Tokoname, it is the sixth. With this, all Six Ancient Kilns have appeared.

Echizen ware is also fired unglazed at high temperatures. In the past, it was jars and large pots —a production area for large vessels used to store water and seeds. They were widely transported along the Sea of Japan coast by Kitamaebune ships.

Blades, paper and lacquer

Echizen Forged Blades is said to have a history of about 700 years and became known nationwide as a production area for sickles. Kitchen knives are Sakai (vol.23); sickles are Echizen. Even blades have divided roles.

Echizen Washi is the eighth kind of paper in this series. Its distinctive feature is "large sheets of paper can be made" It is used for fusuma sliding-door paper and large-format Japanese paintings.

Kochi is for restoring cultural properties, Mie for dyeing stencils, Gifu for UNESCO, Nagano for snow bleaching, Tottori for development, and Fukui for large-format sheets. Every papermaking region is doing something different.

Echizen Lacquerware is also known as a production area for commercial lacquerware, and has made many vessels used in inns and restaurants.

The two of Wakasa

Wakasa Lacquerware is a technique of embedding eggshells or seashells in lacquer, then polishing them out to create patterns. Wakasa Agate Work is a craft in which agate is heated to bring out its color, then carved.

As with Yamanashi crystal (vol.29), a production area that cuts stone exists here as well.

Seven items plus eyeglasses

Seven designated items and an industry with more than 90% domestic market share. Fukui is a prefecture that has numbers in both tradition and modern industry.

What they have in common is fine handwork that can be done indoors in winter that is what they are.

Next issue, we go to Ishikawa. We will talk about gold leaf.

References: Fukui Prefecture, Sabae City, Echizen City, Echizen Town, Fukui Optical Association, Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries

—The Value Village Editorial Team