walk behind floor grinder

Yamanashi Prefecture is located in southwestern Tokyo and has hundreds of jewelry-related companies. Its secret? The local crystal.
Visitors to the Yamanashi Jewelry Museum, Kofu, Japan on August 4. Image source: Shiho Fukada for The New York Times
Kofu, Japan-For most Japanese, Yamanashi Prefecture in southwest Tokyo is famous for its vineyards, hot springs and fruits, and the hometown of Mount Fuji. But what about its jewelry industry?
Kazuo Matsumoto, president of the Yamanashi Jewelry Association, said: “Tourists come for wine, but not for jewelry.” However, Kofu, the capital of Yamanashi Prefecture, with a population of 189,000, has about 1,000 jewelry-related companies, making it the most important jewelry in Japan. manufacturer. Its secret? There are crystals (tourmaline, turquoise and smoky crystals, to name just three) in its northern mountains, which are part of the generally rich geology. This is part of the tradition for two centuries.
It takes only an hour and a half by express train from Tokyo. Kofu is surrounded by mountains, including the Alps and Misaka Mountains in southern Japan, and the magnificent view of Mount Fuji (when it is not hidden behind the clouds). A few minutes walk from Kofu Train Station to Maizuru Castle Park. The castle tower is gone, but the original stone wall is still there.
According to Mr. Matsumoto, the Yamanashi Jewelry Museum, which opened in 2013, is the best place to learn about the jewelry industry in the county, especially the design and polishing steps of the craftsmanship. In this small and exquisite museum, visitors can try polishing gems or processing silverware in various workshops. In summer, children can apply stained glass glaze on the four-leaf clover pendant as part of the cloisonne enamel-themed exhibition. (On August 6, the museum announced that it would be temporarily closed to prevent the spread of Covid-19 infection; on August 19, the museum announced that it would be closed until September 12.)
Although Kofu has restaurants and chain stores similar to most medium-sized cities in Japan, it has a relaxed atmosphere and pleasant small town atmosphere. In an interview earlier this month, everyone seemed to know each other. When we were walking around the city, Mr. Matsumoto was welcomed by several passersby.
“It feels like a family community,” said Youichi Fukasawa, a craftsman born in Yamanashi Prefecture, who showed his skills to visitors in his studio in the museum. He specializes in the prefecture’s iconic koshu kiseki kiriko, a gem cutting technique. (Koshu is the old name of Yamanashi, kiseki means gemstone, and kiriko is a cutting method.) Traditional grinding techniques are used to give gems a multi-faceted surface, while the cutting process done by hand with a rotating blade gives them highly reflective patterns.
Most of these patterns are traditionally inlaid, specially engraved on the back of the gemstone and revealed through the other side. It creates all kinds of optical illusions. “Through this dimension, you can see Kiriko art, from the top and side, you can see the reflection of Kiriko,” Mr. Fukasawa explained. “Each angle has a different reflection.” He demonstrated how to achieve different cutting patterns by using different types of blades and adjusting the particle size of the abrasive surface used in the cutting process.
Skills originated in Yamanashi Prefecture and passed on from generation to generation. “I inherited the technology from my father, and he is also a craftsman,” Mr. Fukasawa said. “These techniques are basically the same as ancient techniques, but each craftsman has his own interpretation, their own essence.”
Yamanashi’s jewelry industry originated in two different fields: crystal crafts and decorative metal works. Museum curator Wakazuki Chika explained that in the mid-Meiji period (late 19th century), they were combined to make personal accessories such as kimonos and hair accessories. Companies equipped with machines for mass production began to appear.
However, the Second World War dealt a heavy blow to the industry. In 1945, according to the museum, most of Kofu City was destroyed in an air raid, and it was the decline of the traditional jewelry industry that the city was proud of.
“After the war, due to the high demand for crystal jewelry and Japanese-themed souvenirs by the occupying forces, the industry began to recover,” said Ms. Wakazuki, who showed small ornaments engraved with Mount Fuji and a five-story pagoda. If the image is frozen in the crystal. During the period of rapid economic growth in Japan after the war, as people’s tastes became more critical, Yamanashi Prefecture’s industries began to use diamonds or colored gemstones set in gold or platinum to make more advanced jewelry.
“But because people mine crystals at will, this has caused accidents and problems, and caused supply to dry up,” Ms. Ruoyue said. “So, mining stopped about 50 years ago.” Instead, large quantities of imports from Brazil began, mass production of Yamanashi crystal products and jewelry continued, and markets both in Japan and abroad were expanding.
Yamanashi Prefectural Jewelry Art Academy is the only non-private jewelry academy in Japan. It opened in 1981. This three-year college is located on two floors of a commercial building opposite the museum, hoping to get master jewelry. The school can accommodate 35 students each year, keeping the total number at around 100. Since the beginning of the epidemic, students have spent half of their time in school for practical courses; other classes have been remote. There is room for processing gems and precious metals; another dedicated to wax technology; and a computer laboratory equipped with two 3D printers.
During the last visit to the first-grade classroom, 19-year-old Nodoka Yamawaki was practicing carving copper plates with sharp tools, where students learned the basics of craftsmanship. She chose to carve an Egyptian-style cat surrounded by hieroglyphs. “It took me longer to design this design instead of actually sculpting it,” she said.
On the lower level, in a classroom like a studio, a small number of third-grade students sit on separate wooden tables, covered with black melamine resin, to inlay the last gems or polish their middle school projects the day before the due date. (The Japanese school year starts in April). Each of them came up with their own ring, pendant or brooch design.
21-year-old Keito Morino is doing the finishing touches on a brooch, which is his silver structure paved with garnet and pink tourmaline. “My inspiration came from JAR,” he said, referring to the company founded by contemporary jewelry designer Joel Arthur Rosenthal, when he showed a print of the artist’s butterfly brooch. As for his plans after graduation in March 2022, Mr. Morino said he has not decided yet. “I want to be involved in the creative side,” he said. “I want to work in a company for a few years to gain experience, and then open my own studio.”
After Japan’s bubble economy burst in the early 1990s, the jewelry market shrank and stagnated, and it has been facing problems such as importing foreign brands. However, the school stated that the employment rate of alumni is very high, hovering above 96% between 2017 and 2019. The job advertisement of the Yamanashi Jewelry Company covers the long wall of the school auditorium.
Nowadays, jewelry made in Yamanashi is mainly exported to popular Japanese brands such as Star Jewelry and 4°C, but the prefecture is working hard to establish the Yamanashi jewelry brand Koo-Fu (Kofu drama), and in the international market. The brand is made by local craftsmen using traditional techniques and offers affordable fashion series and bridal series.
But Mr. Shenze, who graduated from this school 30 years ago, said that the number of local craftsmen is declining (he now teaches part-time there). He believes that technology can play an important role in making jewelry craft more popular with young people. He has a large following on his Instagram.
“Artisans in Yamanashi Prefecture focus on manufacturing and creation, not sales,” he said. “We are the opposite of the business side because we traditionally stay in the background. But now with social media, we can express ourselves online.”