mizutori creates modern Japanese wooden sandals (geta) designed for comfort and everyday wear.
What Is mizutori?
Episode 63
"You Really Make These by Hand?"
When visitors come
to see our workshop,
there are two things
we often hear.
The first is,
"You really make these by hand?"
And the second is,
"You make all of this
with such a small team?"
The first few times
I heard those words,
I wasn't quite sure
how to take them.
To be honest,
I couldn't help wondering
if they were thinking,
"Oh...
it's much smaller
than I expected."
That thought
made me a little uneasy.
Many people
discover mizutori
through our products
or our website,
and naturally picture
a much larger company.
Some imagine
a modern factory,
where most of the work
is done by machines.
But the reality
is quite different.
Our workshop
has grown little by little
over the years,
with additions made
whenever they were needed.
It still stands
on the same property
as my family home,
quietly surrounded
by an ordinary
residential neighborhood.
We only put up
our sign recently.
Before that,
many first-time visitors
would simply drive
right past us,
without realizing
they had arrived.
Especially when people
visited from big cities,
I sometimes worried,
"I hope
they're not disappointed."
Even our factory tour
is quite modest.
Because geta
are made through
a number of specialized processes,
our workshop
is responsible
mainly for
the final stages.
So the entire tour
takes only about
thirty minutes.
Sometimes,
as I guided visitors,
I wondered
whether they had expected
something much larger—
something
more impressive.
But after the tour,
the words
people shared with me
were completely different
from what I had imagined.
"This careful craftsmanship
is exactly what gives
your geta
their value."
"I'm so glad
I had the chance
to see
how they're made."
I heard comments
like these
again and again.
At first,
I assumed
people were simply
being kind.
But then,
visitors from overseas
began stopping by
as well.
They looked around
our old workshop,
watched each pair
being carefully finished
by hand,
and their eyes
lit up.
"Cool!"
"I was really impressed!"
Some even told us
that the traditional
tile-roofed house
beside our workshop
made the whole place
feel wonderfully Japanese.
To us,
it's an ordinary view—
one we've seen
every day
for years.
But to someone
seeing it
for the first time,
it feels
completely different.
Watching
their reactions
again and again,
I slowly
began to change.
For a long time,
I thought
our old workshop,
our small team,
and the many steps
still done by hand
were things
I needed
to apologize for.
But now,
I see them differently.
Perhaps
they are exactly
what makes mizutori
who we are.
Our visitors
found value
in something
we had always
taken for granted.
And they were the ones
who taught us
to see it.
Because of them,
today,
I feel proud
of this little workshop.
And from this place,
we will continue
making each pair
with care—
one pair
at a time.
