"If nobody else is going to do it, I'll give it a try!"

So, a strange sense of justice (lol) to "do an honest job" welled up inside me, and while I was thinking about the problems with clothes brushes, I came across a brush maker. The bristles used for calligraphy brushes are fluffy and soft, but when you put ink on them they become firm, so they don't leave any kinks when you write, and they have a gentle touch. When I learned that, I thought, "These would be perfect for brushing out dust and dirt from delicate fabrics."

That's when I came across horsehair "tail hair." Horsehair is thick and stiff, making it suitable for body brushes, but "tail hair" is like the down in fur. When explaining it to customers, I often use the analogy of "the difference between feathers and down." Tail hair is essentially the down portion, and its price is about 20 times higher than that of horsehair.


The characteristic of "Owaki hair" is that it brushes the fabric thoroughly without putting stress on it, has a soft touch, and has firm resilience, but ordinary brush makers don't think of using such expensive hair to make clothes brushes. So I thought, "If no one else is going to do it, I'll give it a try." When I made them, the cheapest one was 43,000 yen at the time.

Tools must be suited to the circumstances of their time. If they remain unchanged from the past, they lose their meaning as tools. I believe tail bristles are best for clothing brushes.

Clothing brushes from left to right: Wool brush ¥47,300, Wool and cashmere brush ¥55,000, Wool and cashmere brush ¥110,000, Silk and cashmere brush ¥132,000, Vicuña brush ¥165,000

The brushes were finished, but selling them was the hardest part for me... (lol)

Then, I managed to make a brush for the tail feathers, but I didn't know how to sell it, so I bought a computer around 2000, and an acquaintance created a website for me. But I didn't get any orders (laughs). Around that time, a Japanese agency that handled a famous Italian brand contacted me saying, "We found you online and would like to see your product," and they really liked it, so we started doing business together. After that, a newspaper came to interview me, and when the article came out, there was a great response.
I was happy because I knew there were people who wanted this kind of brush.

So, we received an order to demonstrate the product at a department store, and when we did, it sold well. After hearing about it, the women's clothing buyer from Shizuoka Isetan called us, and we went all the way to Shizuoka. The following year, that buyer returned to Shinjuku, and when we started demonstrating the product at the main building, the store manager at the time happened to pass by and recommended it, saying, "This would be better at Isetan Shinjuku Store, Men's Building ." Thanks to this connection, our product is now featured year-round at Isetan Shinjuku Store, Men's Building .

Page 3 | A word from Kazuo, the master of clothing brush making.