Long Time
Keiswi’s history is long.
No, it wasn’t always called Keiswi, it was the Sugano Seisakujo.
That’s why,
It’s more correct to say the history of its origins is long.
(I’ll expand on the Keiswi company name later, so we won’t discuss it here)
According to its website, the company started in 1957, but
In actuality, the history of the sheet metal shop is even longer.
Sugano’s grandfather,
Shunkichi Sugano was a sheet metalsmith during the Meiji era.
The sheet metal work for the restoration of Osaka Castle,
Had craftsmen called in from all over the country,
And he had the mettle to be the head craftsman who led the work.
At that time, more than the present day,
There wasn’t very much sheet metal processing work,
But in its place, there was a need for processing of galvanized iron and tin plate.
His hands were deft, and he hated to fail.
Mr. Sugano’s grandfather Shunkichi
Did what other sheet metalworkers couldn’t do
Using his relentless effort and concentration to bring shape to things.
His experiences from continual trial and error,
Built up over the years,
Brought him high value and trust from clients.
This way of doing things,
Helped him survive the Great Kanto Earthquake, and the burnt-out landscape of the post-war period.
The business was passed from his grandfather to his father, Yoshihiko
And then that skill and spirit was passed down
To Keiichi Sugano.
“It was more my grandfather than my father,
who taught me my skills.
Well, rather than teach me,
I guess you could say I watched him and stole his techniques.
Both my grandfather and my father,
They hated to lose.
If the other craftsmen couldn’t do good work,
Their anger would rain down.
I guess they got irritated,
Since they personally were able to make good things.
If what I made wasn’t good enough,
They’d just toss it across the room without a word. (laughs)
Craftsmen were all like that, in the old days.”
Through the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa eras,
Galvanized iron, tin plate, and sheet metal,
Keiswi did every job with care,
Establishing themselves with a high level of expertise.
“But if you want to talk about skills,
There are lots of guys at Keiswi
With better skills than me.
They learned directly from my father and grandfather,
And they’re still here supporting the shop.
That’s how I’m able to run a shop that I’m proud of.
It’s true, every time I visit Keiswi,
I sense the raw seriousness
Of the the people working there
While seeming indifferent,
They maintain a surprising level of concentration
In regards to their work.
And,
One thing I feel more than anything,
Is how the workers put their whole body and spirit into their work
You couldn’t make that kind of workman’s atmosphere if you tried.
That spirit is somehow hanging in the air.
Watching them at work,
Despite being coworkers,
They hardly speak a word.
Despite their wordlessness,
It’s somehow very calm and harmonious.
In the world, there is a tendency to believe,
“If I don’t put it into words, you won’t understand!”
“If I don’t develop a logical hypothesis and explain it, you won’t understand!”
The rejection of nonverbal communication
Is not a new thing.
It has been done in all corners of the world, for a long time.
It’s certainly true.
Words are a very effective method of communicating,
And the same goes for logic.
But the feeling one gets when observing these craftsmen,
Is that words are a limited thing,
And not a very useful communication tool at all.
They use breath, spacing, facial expression,
Things like this to do their communication, I suppose?
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this resembles the way they don’t explain their techniques using words.
These men watched their forefathers work,
Looking with their eyes, moving their hands,
Letting the skills soak into their bodies, learning the tricks of the trade.
They didn’t learn each skill through words.
It was through the senses of sight, hearing, touch, and sometimes smell,
That helped them to put those difficult techniques to memory.
In this way,
They don’t talk much, but that doesn’t mean they are poor communicators.
In fact, it could be they are quite sophisticated at it.
Once you get used to the world of wordless exchange of information,
Communication using words along starts to seem clumsy and ineffective,
And as a result they’ve become mute.
This has gotten a little off track now, but
Surely that’s how it works.
The workers at Keiswi
With their workmanlike atmosphere
Communicating freely without words
Evokes something in the viewer.
That “something” is the history that has brought forth this silent, workmanlike environment.
At Keiswi,
Shunkichi Sugano, and Yoshihiko too,
Communicated their skills to these workers with lots of feeling and very few words.
And it is through these very workmanlike workers,
Who have brought forward these skills through to the present day,
Giving life and new possibility to the products they make now.
Keiichi Sugano,
Who saw the workings of the factory going on before his eyes,
Ever since he was a child, understands this better than anyone,
That the strength and skills of these men are what makes Keiswi,
In fact, Keiswi is what it is because of the workers’ great skills.
He seems to know this well.
This author once innocently remarked to Mr. Sugano,
“The workers, they hardly speak at all.”
And in response to this frivolous statement,
Mr. Sugano gave a simple, yet deeply philosophical response.
“Well, they’re not salesmen or anything. They’re craftsmen.”
The Development of Aero Concept.
Once a sheet metal shop reaches the third generation,
There’s an invaluable base of technology and calculation that has been built up.
“Why would a workshop with such a history as Keiswi has, undertake something like Aero Concept?”
The skills are unshakably backed up, and naturally have gained high acclaim. As a workshop, the highest level of craftsmen are stationed there, so there’s no need to take risks and try exploring new endeavors.
At any rate, how an old fashioned neighborhood workshop
Was able to come up with such a solid and contemporary idea
Such as Aero Concept
Is beyond explanation.
Having held an Aero Concept card case in my own hand,
The aura it posesses is
Clearly
A big step away from words like, “sheet metal workshop,” “neighborhood factory,” and “old-style working men.”
If I had to choose,
I’d say it doesn’t seem like something a factory workman made,
But rather something a famous architect or designer,
Had made in collaboration with an old-fashioned neighborhood workshop.
That is the credible, easy to believe story.
But why?
Being asked this, Sugano responded.
“I just made something I wanted for myself.”
He coolly exaggerates, just like always.
But,
That can’t be so.
It’s not such a simple thing
To bring such a perfectly complete product into the world.
Everyday products that we take in our hands without thinking,
They require the scrutinizing gaze of a flank of experts, pooling their knowledge
Before a single commercial product can come into the world,
You’ve got to have
A project planner, a marketer, a designer,
An engineer, a manufacturer, a salesman,
A distributor, and an advertiser.
A single product passes through these hands
As in a relay, and only then does an idea bear fruit
And become a product sold on the market.
This sequence of events,
Is undertaken by manufacturers as a matter of course,
Taken almost too much for granted that this is the way to struggle towards success.
The kind of money that goes into the field of product development is no small figure.
That’s why,
Reducing product development costs,
Doing preliminary studies, narrowing down the product’s target market,
Doing things like this is all figured into the cost, and
It goes without saying that it’s the most important work a manufacturer does.
New products are announced all the time,
And they all must compete for the attention of the consumer.
However,
It’s necessary to take care in adopting those ideas.
With a rock-like stance,
Making one product and putting one product on the market.
Even then, it’s not typical to succeed in
Connecting that product with successful sales.
There have been many exciting stories
Of dramatic product development,
Documented on television programs and news shows.
So this is not a new concept for anyone.
Even with all that,
This man named Sugano,
Offhandedly says, “I just made something I wanted.”
Is he really telling the truth?
This doubtful writer
Went to visit him.
Exactly why did this prescision sheet metal workshop man, with his unshakable foundation in technique and stable income, take a step into a completely unknown field?
