I’m sure Mr. Sugano also depends on those mass-produced consumer goods as well, but when it comes to to his Aero Concept products, he has never come close to thinking of producing them on a mass scale in order to make some money.

Sugano: “Why, I wouldn’t want something like that myself. I started making this stuff because I wanted it for myself, so what would the point be to make something I wouldn’t want? These days, things like dishes, handbags, electronics, there isn‘t much difference between one product and another. I don’t think so anyway. That’s why the user has other ways of finding value in things. That could be the brand history, the recognition level, the quality, the carefully selected materials, the sophisticated level of customer service, or a long warranty. But, all those things are all ends to a means, aren’t they? You can take all that, mash it up and make the perfect system, but if there’s no birth parent, there’s no value to the product, is there? Personally, I’m not interested in something like that. That’s why I make what I want. If I can make something that I like, I’m satisfied. If someone likes something I’ve made and buys it from me, I’m even more satisfied. It’s very sad when an object has no birth parents.”

But, when pressed on exactly how Aero Concept was developed, Mr. Sugano is reluctant to talk.

Sugano: “On Saturdays and Sundays, when I had free time because there was no work, I used my extra time and extra materials and made it a little bit at a time, stopping along the way, then making a bit more, and so forth. Even though it was extra materials, it still cost money. I’m using the same materials that go into making airplane and shinkansen parts, so it really is expensive. I was using those expensive materials, so I couldn’t make a lot at one time. That’s why I enjoyed myself, getting this far this week, making up to that point next week. This month I don’t have money for materials, so I’ll leave it for now. It was like that.”

Research about design and technique were clearly done in this weekend handyman style, naturally attained. Read the brand policy that Mr. Sugano had a friend write for him when Aero Concept went public and it’s unclear, yet still somehow explained how the brand came to be.

Sugano: “This product policy was written up about seven years ago. When I think about it now, I think it’s a little off. Suzuki, you’re a professional writer. Could you take a look and give me some ideas?”

With this, Mr. Sugano showed me the following paragraph. As far as I could tell, being in a position to distance myself and look at it from an objective point of view, it certainly doesn’t present Aero Concept as a brand in a clear way. However, it does convey how the normally cool Mr. Sugano was passionately pursuing the “things I want for myself” when the project was founded.

Aero Concept is a product development and sales business targeting the end user with products made using industrial production expertise and planning and design skills honed over countless years in the business making airplane parts for companies such as Boeing and Airbus. The policies of the products we make are, high quality processing skills, accuracy, and manufacturing that spares no effort. After over two years of accumulated design and research about processing techniques, the product concept is “Airplanes – Outer Space – Atmosphere.” The products made will be mainly furniture, interiors, briefcases, lighting fixtures, sports products, and more. This is not merely design for design’s sake, but manufacturing sprung from an airplane shop. We’re making a new design style that has not been seen before. These products will be fitting of something coming from a place where the world of 1/1000mm processing and play/skill/prescision; processing with a playful heart come together to make a product. We’d like to meet the end-user through this kind of manufacturing.
Aero Concept.
This is the firm, but steeped in joy, policy of we craftsmen.

By reading this paragraph, it’s possible to learn a number of things about the brand. It’s a brand with high quality processing skills and accuracy. They are dedicated to manufacturing without sparing any effort. The brand design for Aero Concept took about two years. He wanted to bring together a sense of fun and everyday use as “manufacturing sprung from an airplane shop.” And so on. Even if Mr. Sugano doesn’t like his product policy, it does present several clear points. The behind-the-scenes story of the start of Aero Concept is certainly not the stuff of TV documentaries, full of clamour and disagreement, devastating setbacks and soaring glories. The reason for this is that basically Sugano himself was the only person involved in the development of the brand. Of course, Mr. Sugano had the help of the skilled craftsmen in the workshop, but the work was basically carried out in his own slow, meandering way. That’s why there are no meetings, let alone any project progress schedule management or budget. It was development of a brand by a weekend handyman.

Sugano: “Even so, you can’t really say it like that. I do have some ten-plus staff here. Some of them were against it. Their main job is to make these internal components for airplanes and shinkansen trains, and I started making this weird other stuff. Yes, well, even so, in my case, I just mumbled along to myself and worked on my projects. I figured I’d get it eventually.”

I’m very sorry for the readers who were hoping for some kind of climax and denoument to this tale, but the tale of the development of Aero Concept has absolutely no legendary qualities to it whatsoever. Well, it’s not that it’s not legendary. The legend is going on inside Mr. Sugano himself even now. “Not like that, this is better. No, I should do it this way. If I get this person to help, it’ll work out.” This meditation-like internal process and actual physical labor comes together and takes form, going out into the world. He digs down into the well inside him and arrives at the thing he wants for himself. It isn’t passed through anyone else’s filter. When he reaches the limits of his technical ability, he has the suppport of skilled craftsmen, but at the base of it all, Mr. Sugano decides everything according to his own tastes. Currently, the Aero Concept lineup is all born from Sugano’s personal aesthetic sensibility. Now, what kind of preferences does this Sugano have, and what kind of education, what kind of things was he surrounded in as he grew up? This naturally becomes the next point of interest.

one for all, all for all

Even before the company went bankrupt, Mr. Sugano had always made things for himself with his free time out of leftover materials. He was satisfied with his workmanship, and satisfied with the finished product. At any rate, he was the only end-user, so it wasn’t hard to make something that only existed to please himself. What for him was a playful pastime was the art of taking the image he had in his head and using his hands to use the materials and tools at hand to create a real object.

In all the little workshops in the world, there must be lots of old guys out there doing the same thing. Making useful things in spare moments. But the special thing about our Sugano is that the quality of his work is far from usual. This writer has seen the first document cases and briefcases that he made, and their beauty is difficult to put into words. When he says, “I just made something I wanted for myself.” He’s not just saying, “Look, I tried making this!” This is the work of a man who is so thoroughly devoted to detail, he creates with an enthusiasm that says, “I’m going to make this!”

Sugano: “We’ve always looking at the internal airplane parts and shinkansen parts, and feeling a beauty from them. They really are beautiful to us. And I thought, if I could make something from those precision-crafted sheet metal parts that I could carry around with me, I’d really like that.”

Inside Mr. Sugano’s head, a three-dimensional image of Aero Concept was there from the beginning. This could be close to what people like Ken Domon, Yonosuke Natori, and Ihei Kimura called “shutter izen.” This term is used commonly among photographers, and it refers to a style of photography where, instead of taking hundreds of shots and chosing the best one, the photographer already has an image in his own mind and all that is left is to go out and find the subject, adjust the exposure and shutter speed, and take the picture. Before the message is transformed from matter into image in the outside world, it has to be drawn clearly on the inside, in the mind of the photographer. Mr. Sugano, a lover of photography himself, has referred to shutter izen before. So surely he has, either consciously or subconsciously, used this method in his work making Aero Concept.

The one thing that stands out most from talking with Mr. Sugano, is how he never wavers from that initial image. Keiichi Sugano’s ideas and Keiichi Sugano the maker are totally connected, and this is what makes his work complete. Work that is completely unwavering. It’s not a simple thing for makers in any industry to do this. They have salesmen, marketing people, planning divisions, designers, promotion staff, PR people, a company CEO, and stockholders. That initial vision, that first image gets changed along the way due to the plans of the company. And then the production design, marketing research, and manufacturing is all altered and shared by the entire team. Amidst all that, it’s certainly not a simple task to create something with a clear vision.

“If everyone says what they want, you wind up with chinese stir-fry curry tomato sauce steak fried rice. The thing that everyone wants to eat is actually something that no one wants. That’s why at Keiswi, I’ve always thought about what I want, and worked at making that.”

Designers, marketers, and producers are all indispensible to carrying out a large project. Of course, their ability to communicate, express thoughts, and analyze mustn’t be underrated. It’s thanks to these people that the people in each role can work in an efficient way. And it is thanks to these people that creation and creative things make it onto the market in a way that makes money, and a lot of people’s livelihoods depend on this.

Keiswi’s Encounter with Failure

The Keiswi company used to be in Azabu, but after the economic bubble burst, it went out of business. That time was so painful. I figured I had thirty years left of my life but I just couldn’t be bothered anymore. That was when I decided that if I could use those thirty years to make something I personally liked, then I wouldn’t mind dying. That is how I wound up doing Aero Concept.”

Keiswi once went out of business. That’s a shock. It’s strange to think that this neighborhood workshop with such high levels of expertise has experienced bankruptcy. But Keiswi has in fact done just that. There was one big reason for it; Keiswi had been taking on a lot of work from a single large company.

At that time, we got eighty, ninety percent of our work from there. We didn’t plan it that way, it was just a matter of being told, “We’ve got a large workload. Come help us and don’t take on work from anywhere else.” We naturally wound up working mainly for that one company. In a sense we became an exclusive subcontractor. It’s more efficient than taking on work from a lot of different companies, if it lasts. Then one day, that company got into a joint management agreement with a Chinese company and just as the work was decreasing and our income along with it, it all ended. We went bankrupt, but that company, the products they mass-produced with their joint management venture wound up sending out defective products worldwide, and the cost of the recalls ruined their management. This is a company traded in the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Copal. Now it’s called Copal Electronics.”

“It was a good company. The founder used the technological power in the neighborhood workshops of Itabashi and grew it into a publicly traded company. The reason why good work came of good talks with the people in the planning department was because we were both from the same good tradesman’s stock. But after they went public, a guy from the bank replaced the founder as the company president, and before you knew it they started getting into all kinds of strange things. I can understand reducing activities in non-profitable sectors, but they laid off a huge swath of people in the planning department: the kind of people who should be at the heart of a manufacturing company. Plus they started getting into joint management in China and cost competition. Suddenly the work decreased and by the time we realized, “This is a disaster” it was too late…”

Mr. Sugano was forced into a terrible situation due to his company’s bankruptcy, experiencing a host of trials on a daily basis. The company that his father and his grandfather before him had carefully raised was blown away in a single moment. His father became mentally unstable, his employees and family members were thrown into a dire state of anxiety, and debt collectors were at the door nearly every day. Loan foreclosures meant the factory, the house, any and all large posessions worth money were all turned over to the banks and debt collectors. Keiichi Sugano himself fell into a mentally ill state due to the pressure. Eventually he began to feel that the only option left to him was suicide.

However the thing that kept him from suicide was a certain joy amidst the suffering. A good idea came to him through it all. It could be that once a man has seriously faced death, for some strange reason things manage to fall into place.

Aero Concept Becomes the Foundation

From the depths of his heart, he began to feel a longing to “make something I like.” The bankruptcy itself became the event to kick off the story of Aero Concept.

Although Keiswi once went out of business, there was a reason why it came back to life. Said simply, it’s because they have the skills as a small-scale factory to make things no one else knows how to make. Precision sheet metal processing techniques are sheet metal processing techniques taken to the precision level, so if it’s sheet metal processing, it’s certainly not difficult to understand what kind of shape you’ll wind up with. If you read this book, follow these instructions, you can understand most things. In other words, it’s a very transparent skill.

However, if you try to actually physically create something with a high degree of precision out of sheet metal, you’ll understand how difficult it truly is. Outsourcers don’t realize this, and wind up taking their manufacturing development from one cheap place to another.

They try to shave off the cost, without a thought to whether it’s cheap or poor quality. Outsourcers who succeed in reducing costs achieve high ratings within their company, and that skill can translate into a higher salary. However, what happens in the field is beyond the imaginings of that person. They don’t spare a thought for the condition of the spirit of the people in the field. In the end the power of imagination in relation to traditional manufacturing is reduced to a thin shadow.

As a result, the finished product is nothing but a mountain of defective goods. This is not a rare thing. When this happens, they next begin to desperately seek out workshops with the right technology.

When Keiswi went bankrupt, that group of craftsmen had everything taken from them: their homes, their factory, every asset possible was reposessed. However there were two things that even the law couldn’t touch. That was their skills and their knowledge.

An acquaintance of Mr. Sugano’s once said, “Your hands and your brain are the two things no one can take away.” It could be said that what Mr. Sugano was experiencing with Keiswi was this very thing. Even though the times dictated that the flow of cash had to temporarily stop, the technical skill and knowledge that Keiswi had couldn’t be taken away by anyone, and that was what saved the company.

After the company folded, representatives from a number of companies began to realize what Keiswi had to offer after going around to several other places.

When they came, Mr. Sugano said to them,
It’s over. We’ve got no factory. The company is bankrupt.”

But these companies that came to call said they wanted to revive the factory line and have them build things for them. One company even went so far as to offer to introduce a bank. All this to a ruined company.

Keiswi is here today because of the support of those companies. However, look deeper and it’s clear that at the core, what kept Keiswi alive by the skin of its teeth, was their inimitable, indomitable skills and knowledge that lay inside the craftsmen themselves.

We’d always been told, do it fast and do it cheap. But when it came down to the crunch and we realised that we had a special value, I have to admit I was pretty happy.”

The first place Chikabo worked at was a design company called Japan Studio. It was 1933. Japan Studio was a news photography and pattern company, established by Natori Yonosuke, who had been influenced by the Bauhaus ideology, together with Kimura Ihei. Whilst fashionable words such as ‘design’ are used nowadays, at the time only ‘pattern’ was used and so Chikabo’s job title then was ‘pattern-maker.’ He worked at the company because of the graphic designer Yamana Ayao, his much-admired mentor. Yamana had participated in designs so deeply familiar to the Japanese as Shiseido’s logo and the grape mark of Shinchosha, and had really opened up the world of Japanese graphic design. At that time, Chikabo was his apprentice.

‘Mr Yamana and I got along very well; although we didn’t talk about anything, we understood one another. Moreover, he was very pleased with my work and called me in to Japan Studio.’ Chikabo was given responsibility for editorial design at NIPPON, a graphic art magazine aimed at promoting Japan abroad and produced in four languages, English, German, French and Spanish. Although used for so-called propaganda purposes, turning the pages now, the high quality is surprising. The composition of the pages and the way in which photography is used is original; in spite of the fact that it was launched before American Life magazine (first published in 1936), even that couldn’t rival its stylishness. In modern times it seems unexpectedly fresh but, looking at it again more objectively, it absolutely possesses a universal beauty which appeals to people’s hearts across the ages.

‘In those days, I worked so hard it was physically unhealthy. It was interesting because I could do the things I liked, in the way I wanted to do them. And so, unintentionally, I worked until late and went home late. Before I joined Japan Studio I was always just having fun; after I started working there, all I did was stubbornly work.’

Japan Studio was at Kyobashi and couldn’t be reached from Chikabo’s house in Yokohama without using the train. Well, I say train but commuting conditions were not as they are now and the commute must not have been easy. When I ask him about the route, it seems that there were also points along the way where he had to walk. He would go from Yokohama, through Shinagawa, before arriving at Shinbashi. From there he would head towards the Kyobashi office and, taking the Yamanote circle line, head to Tokyo station before walking from there to Kyobashi.

Still, however hard that must have been, just seeing the names of the staff working there must have made it all worthwhile. Distinguished names such as the founder and photographer Natori Yonosuke, Chikabo’s mentor Yamana Ayao, the photographers Domon Ken and Fujimoto Shihachi, all were going about their work, opening up as yet unknown worlds, in this tiny office. One can only think that the god of fame had brought together all this creative talent by some chance at Japan Studio, which revolutionised the world of news photography and made the world sit up and take notice of the value of graphic design. Incidentally, as I said, Kimura Ihei (the photographer) participated in the early stages of Japan Studio and Kamekura Yusaku (the graphic designer who took charge of work on the Tokyo Olympics), Chikabo’s junior by many years, also worked there. It really is no exaggeration to say that Japan Studio built the cornerstone of the history of Japanese graphic design. Although oblivious at the time, Chikabo must have had a unique experience working there.

‘I was really close to Domon. He joined the company the year after me but was two years my senior in terms of age. He had a rough temperament, was always mocking people with his eyes, and swaggering. He often shouted at Mr Natori, the Director. Nevertheless, for some reason, he was kind only to me. I cannot explain it in words but we had a relationship of mutual trust. Mr Natori would often tear up a photograph Domon had taken much effort over and then he would often hide himself away in the dark room. When that happened it was my job to draw him back out. I would knock on the door using a code that only the two of us understood and he would come out.’

Domon Ken is known as a doyen of photography even among people who know little of such things. Above all he is famous for his photographs of Buddhist statuary, for being the devil of realism, and his technique of closing in on his subjects is still talked about as legendary among many of today’s photographers. They talk of how, without eating or drinking, for a whole day and night, he would continue taking photographs. However angry the great men who were his models became, he just kept on taking photographs of their angry faces – his tenacity and zeal for taking pictures must have been extraordinary. Therefore, a man touched but a little by culture, just on hearing his name, will straighten his back with the power that resides in the name Domon Ken. The Domon Ken conjured up by Chikabo’s words is, however, very different.

‘Domon came from a really poor family and he was rough; handed a camera, he didn’t know how to use it properly. The first place he and I were sent to take photographs was Waseda University to take a group photograph of the students. It was Domon’s first photograph. Nevertheless, so far as setting up the camera and covering himself with the cloth, he did it right but then, for what seemed like an eternity, he didn’t come out from under it. The students began to get irritated that the photograph seemed to be taking forever. I had no choice, therefore, but to ask him “Domon, what on earth are you doing?” to which he answered, calling me by my nickname, “Goro, the students won’t fit inside the frame.” “What are you doing? If you pull the camera back they should fit in,” I told him. When he did as I had said he was delighted. “They fit, they fit!” From then on he would often ask me how he could take good photographs. Though I was a pattern-maker who depicted nature in nature, he came to rely on me and asked me many things. So, I gave him some hints.’

It feels strange to hear the devil of realism, the legendary Domon Ken, being talked about as a clueless youth. However, Chikabo is not the type to exaggerate or lie. It is obvious just from looking at his pictures, or from thinking of his faith in his god, that he has a personal conviction that he must express himself honestly. The Domon Ken he describes is, in some respects, goofy and unsophisticated.

‘Later, Domon came to take as his subjects Buddhist statuary, bunraku, and kabuki but, originally, he wasn’t used to such cultural things. So, I think his first real chance to experience culture was, along with me, doing NIPPON. One time we had the opportunity to photograph a doll in a private house. So, I suggested we make the room pitch-black and then light it from here and there. We did it and Domon enjoyed taking the photographs and felt pleased that the finished product looked much more three-dimensional than expected. So, when I suggested to him that, as Buddhist imagery of the time was all very flat, it would surely be interesting if he were to take photographs of Buddhist statuary in this way, he went out to take some, already on cloud nine.’

Of course, Domon was only human and so it’s only natural that, as a creator and as a person, he should take influence from something or someone or other. However, I can’t help but be surprised at the various influences Chikabo reveals in talking about Domon Ken just as if he were reminiscing about an old partner in crime at a class reunion. However, Chikabo’s next assertion astonishes me further still.

‘It was good that he got so carried away and went out to take the pictures but, in the end, he didn’t take any good ones and came back feeling down. So, I said to Domon, “It’s no good just rushing out thinking, ‘let’s take the pictures, let’s take ‘em.’ One time, you should just leave the camera behind and check out how you can best capture these Buddhist statues. One day, sit down in front of a statue and just look.” He listened carefully and obediently to what I said. The second time he came back from taking the photos, he said happily, “Goro, thank you. I’ve got it.” Still, I think the reputation he earned later was absolutely because of his passion for photography and because he studied with such enthusiasm.’

Chikabo is a devout Christian. Even so, within him, there breathes a way of thinking, of interacting with all creation, in common with animism. This spirit is strongly embodied in his pictures of insects and of flowers. Many of his works are the result of his dialogue with living things. The advice he gave to Domon was to do exactly that which he himself had practised since he was young. Later, many people who met Domon Ken would comment that he was a ‘man of observation.’ That is, he observed things too well. It would be too much to suggest that this came from Chikabo, but there is no doubt that Chikabo had a considerable influence on him.

Chikabo says, ‘Back then, Mr Natori sometimes said to me, “You too, take photos!” He seemed to think that as he wanted to make NIPPON visually perfect, if he got me, a designer and artist, to take photographs, I would be quick to acquire the skills, would quickly get good at it. But I answered, “God gave me two eyes and the eye of my heart, a triple-lens reflex camera so to speak, so I cannot do it.” It seems that when I made the same exaggeration in front of Domon he remembered it well. In his late years, when I visited a photographic exhibition of his, he said, “Goro, I gave in to your realism.” I guess that, although to compare the realism of photographs with that of paintings is inevitable, something about what I said stuck in his head.’

Japan Studio, in the worlds of graphic design and news photography, and Domon Ken, in the photographic world, are legends which shine brilliantly within Japan’s creative industries. For Chikabo, having lived through that time, in that moment, in that place, both bring back nothing but good memories. Therefore, the story he recites has none of the sepia-toned nuance so typical of legends but, rather, like a diary which overflows with affection, though plain in tone it is nonetheless told joyfully.

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?

A Sheet Metal Shop and A Press Shop

It can be quite difficult to imagine how various technologies are used. However, this sheet metal processing technology, the very backbone of Keiswi, is the reason why they are able to make the products that surprise and delight their customers. Their Aero Concept line, which is gathering attention worldwide, would not even exist if it weren’t for this technology. The skills poured into each individual Aero Concept product flow from the hands of the craftsmen who make them, with a great deal of thought and knowledge about their craft.

Mr. Sugano Explains

Mr. Sugano Explains,
“There are three ways of processing metal into a shape based on a drafted plan. Press processing, where you can make the shape you want by making a metal press, machining, which involves vertically and horizontally shaving away at a piece, and then sheet metal processing. Sheet metal processing is the only one where you can make the metal sheet into any shape you like. That’s why your own experience and ideas make all the difference in what you create.”

The Aero Concept product line is packed with experience and ideas. There’s a reason why Aero Concept is being sold at a price that’s far from cheap. From perspective of the craftsman who makes them with his own hands, the asking price seems just right, or maybe even a little too low.

The reason why Aero Concept winds up being so high priced is because it is made using mainly precision sheet metal processing techniques. This produces a beauty that can only come from processed sheet metal. But in the mind of a layman, it’s difficult to get a clear image of what is involved, and the inevitable question is raised: “Why insist on sheet metal processing?” “Why can’t this be made in high volume by a press and sold at a cheaper price?” must be another thought on many people’s minds. There may even be a company somewhere overseas considering making copies of Aero Concept products using a press machine. Pose these questions to Mr. Sugano and he explains the issues in very simple terms.

“Both press shops and sheet metal shops process sheets of metal. That’s why here at Keiswi, we use one process or the other depending on the desired result. But we really do most of our work with sheet metal processing techniques, and we don’t do so much press processing work.

According to Mr. Sugano’s explanation, the difference between sheet metal processing techniques and press processing techniques is as follows.

For example, say you want to make a square box without a lid.

In order to make a perfectly square box, you need one sheet for the bottom and four for the sides for a total of five sheets of the same area.

From the perspective of sheet metal processing, this is a simple job.

First, take the measurements of the metal sheet, and make cuts into it so it’s like an origami “yakko-san” kite, a plus sign. The middle of the remaining metal plate becomes the center of the square, the other four sides are bent at 90 degree angles. Then, you can make a lidless box in just four folds.

On the other hand, if you want to make the same object with a press, it’s a little more difficult.

In the same way, you’ve got to start with a sheet of metal. First, you need a blade shaped like the yakko-san kite to cut out the shape you need. Imagine a giant cookie cutter. Press the blade down on the metal sheet, and the yakko-san shape is cut out. However, for the next step, with sheet metal processing four folds are necessary to bend the sheet into the desired shape, but with press processing, it can be done in one step. Now, how do we do this? We need two things to get it done. One is what we call the female die, and the other is the male died. The female die, looks like a table with a square hole cut out of it. The male die is a cube that is the same shape as the square hole in the table, only slightly smaller. A single sheet of metal is laid on the female die table, and the male die cube pushes down on it from above. As the bottom face is pushed in, the the four sides naturally are bent at 90 degree angles, and we have our finished shape. When we remove the male die and take the metal sheet out of the female die, we no longer have a flat sheet of metal, but our completed lidless box.

Both methods result in basically the same lidless box, that much is certain. However, the difference between these two processing methods is very, very large. That difference is cost.

“Okay, say for example, you order one metal box from a sheet metal shop, it’ll take 500 yen to make, but it’ll cost a press shop 200,150 yen to make the same thing. Why is that? In the case of the press shop, in order to make that one metal box, you’ve got to make that male and female die, that’s why. But now if you order 100 metal boxes, it will cost 500 yen x 100 = 50,000 yen. And at a press shop it’ll be 2,150 yen x 100 = 215,000, so the price per unit goes down a lot. But the press shop is still more expensive, right? But say that metal box gets really popular and it just keeps selling and someone gets excited and says “Let’s order 600 of them!” In that case, the sheet metal shop and the press shop have a sudden reversal of fortunes. 500 yen x 600 = 300,000 yen at the sheet metal shop, and 483 yen x 600 = 289,800 yen at the press shop. In short, the sheet metal shop style of manufacturing is good for small lots, and the press shop style is better for mass production.”

Sheet Metal Processing and Press Processing.

Sheet Metal Processing and Press Processing.
As you can see, there is a difference in cost between the two methods.

The press shop, with its high initial costs, can reduce the per unit cost through mass production.

However, there are many instances in the marketplace today where manufacturers have to be able to adjust their manufacturing systems or suffer the consequences.

For example,
Even if the box becomes a huge hit,
If the size shifts even slightly away from the ideal size for users needs,
There will be requests coming in for a new size of box.
But it’s not so simple to make an expensive new press every time this happens.

On the other hand, despite the best laid plans, some dies never manage to clear the break-even point. For dies where 600 units must be sold before a profit can be made, if 200 units are left unsold, it’s over.

And in hindsight: “We should have been less greedy and just ordered some from a sheet metal shop.”

“Keiswi does both press processing the sheet metal processing. While we emphasize our prescision sheet metal processing, it’s not al we do. When necessary, we implement press processing technology, and when sheet metal processing would work better, we use sheet metal processing techniques, either one goes. Originally, press and sheet weren’t two separate technogies, they were both techniques developed by craftsmen. When we just need to make one or two, we use sheet metal processing. When we need to make a lot, we use a press.”

If you’re not careful, this can suddenly develop into a huge cost, just like a form of gambling. It’s very strange. It’s strange and it’s rendering Japan’s factories meaningless. There are plenty of people out there who have no interest in craftsmanship, but lots of interest in money. Where there’s desire, investment follows, and that investment makes a sport of the factories, and to hell with craftsmanship, it becomes a mere factory. That’s why I don’t mind if a foreign company copies my products. They can copy all they want. The shape might be similar, but it’s going to be a completely different thing.

This is a bit of an addendum, but in February of 2009, Mr. Sugano held a press conference for the foreign media, and responded in the following way.

Foreign journalist: “How are you dealing with the design rights in international law? What will you do if someone copies you?”

Sugano: “I don’t know much about law. But if someone wants to copy me, they can go right ahead. Even if they copy me, they won’t be able to make the same things as I do.”

What is Precision-crafted Sheet Metal?

Currently, at the start of the 21st century, the society we live in is virtually flooded with metal products. Additionally, these metal products require an extremely high level of precision. This is where precision-crafted sheet metal comes in. Picture the machines we use every day: bank ATMs, automated train station gates, vending machines. Those machines all fall into the world of “precision” machines. It doesn’t take an engineer to realize that. Precision-crafted sheet metal has no strict definition. It’s simply sheet metal that has been processed in an extremely precise way.

Sheet Metal Processing

Sheet metal processing is a relatively well-known trade. The most common application of this is in the automobile industry. These workshops are everywhere, so most people have probably seen one before. Cars that have been dented up from collisions and other accidents are repaired at these sheet metal workshops. The work of a sheet metal worker is to cut and bend, weld and perforate sheets of metal to create the shape necessary for the job at hand.

In recent years, the skills of the sheet metal worker have been in the news because of their role in building the nose of the shinkansen bullet trains. There are only two noses per train, so the production volume is tiny. Additionally, the shinkansen models are upgraded frequently. As a result, it’s simply not practical to make a mass-production stamp press for the part. This is where the experienced hand of the sheet metal worker comes in. An aluminum sheet is formed into a beautiful curved shape through the repeated blows from a hammer. That kind of work is where sheet metal processing techniques really shine.

Structural Components for High-speed Vehicles

Mr. Sugano operates on the same technical basis as sheet metal processing. The difference is the level of precision: his is one that won’t forgive a margin of even 0.1mm. The majority of the products that Mr. Sugano’s company Keiswi makes are components for shinkansen trains and airplanes. However, they’re not the vehicle housing, but rather the internal structural components. For example, parts with names like “center console, ” “center arm,” and “side arm.”

Both shinkansen trains and airplanes are high-speed vehicles. Naturally the parts that compose such a fast moving machine need to be precisely formed and assembled. In other words, a high degree of precision is required. Whether the space the machine moves through is on land or in the air, a vehicle moving at such a high speed is subjected to strong vibrations. If a high degree of accuracy and strength are not in place, even in something like the structural components of a seat which has no direct relationship to the chassis, the whole thing could easily collapse. This is why a high degree of skill is required to make these sheet metal components. It’s something that’s difficult to convey to people outside the industry. In order to better imagine what is involved, let’s take a look at the process broken down into steps.

The Precision Sheet Metal Process

First, the most important thing of all is to take the three-dimensional image and break it into flat parts in a blueprint. The most difficult part is devising a plan while considering the order in which to construct the piece. If this isn’t done properly, the whole plan falls apart. The final assembled piece won’t be precise at all: it’ll be a mismatched defect. That’s why the skilled craftsman has to plan everything down to the tiniest detail in his head and record it all in the blueprint.

Once the plans have been drawn up, the next step is to program a machine called a numerical controlled machine tool, which automatically cuts out and makes holes in the pieces in accordance with the programming. Here, the metal plate has holes punched out of it, and the unwanted burrs that are generated on the cut surface are removed. Not only do these burrs impede the precision of the work, but if they are not completely eliminated, the rough surface can act like a blade, cutting up anything it touches.

Once the metal parts are prepared, the next process is to bend the pieces. There is a special machine called a bending machine that is used for this step. The precise shape required must be decided in advance if it’s going to be done well, so this all must be planned out ahead of time in detail. If the metal sheets are not bent to the precise angle required, the entire project will amount to nothing.

　Next is the welding process. Welding is the act of attaching two pieces of metal together through heating and melting the metal at the connection point. I’m sure many people are familiar with the scene of a neighborhood workman donning a welding mask, working hard amongst flying dust, sparks, and smoke. From an outsider’s point of view, the sight of a man generating flying sparks in the dim light of a workshop is an exciting, even beautiful, sight. However, the job is actually an extremely dangerous one, which requires a very high level of skill to execute properly. After the various metal parts have been welded together, the final step is finishing, where the lumps and scratches created during the previous steps are smoothed to a beautiful flat surface, and the product is completed.

Put into words, the manufacturing procedures involved may sound simple, but it goes without saying that they are in fact terribly difficult. There’s absolutely no room for cutting corners. The material itself is subjected to heat and pressure during the manufacturing process. Due to this, the metal undergoes slight expansion and contraction. A seasoned craftsman has to be able to identify the nature of his materials by sight and adjust the pressure and heat while he works. Precision sheet metal processing requires thorough planning based on accumulated experiences, and the skilled hand of a seasoned craftsman.

Perhaps Mr. Sugano’s workshop Keiswi has this level of skill because it has been a sheet metal shop for three generations. If the many techniques cultivated by his grandfather had not been passed down, there might not have been such a highly-valued sheet metal shop left in the 21st century today.

Living to 97

Man’s life of fifty years is but as a dream.
Once receiving life, can any man not perish?

This is a passage from Atsumori, the play so beloved by Oda Nobunaga, the warlord who unified Japan in the Warring States period. It was long thought that to live a whole life was to live for roughly fifty years. In fact, it was not until the post-war period that the average Japanese life expectancy exceeded fifty; in the Meiji and Taisho periods, the average life expectancy was between forty and fifty years of age.

Therefore, in the past ‘to live’ and ‘to grow old’ must have meant something very different to what they mean today.

Chikabo was born in 1911 (Meiji 44 in the Japanese calendar). It was still the Meiji period and neither of the two world wars, nor the Great Kanto Earthquake had happened yet. It was a time before television and, of course, before the internet. Those born after the war, and in the Heisei period, can only imagine what the age in which he was born was like. However, they would feel sure that Chikabo at that time would never have thought he would live to be ninety-seven years old.

“I was a sickly child by nature. I was so frail that I was soon bed-ridden and had no physical strength and so, until I was about four years old, I couldn’t even go outdoors like other children. At that time, all I could do was read picture books in the house or play in the garden with the flowers and the insects. By no means would it ever have occurred to me that I might live to be ninety-seven, painting pictures, still active as an artist.”

Still active, still working, at ninety-seven. I expect there is hardly anyone with such aspirations. Thinking about society today, the issue of ‘old age’ comes to most people’s minds. Growing old and anticipating their retirement, they wonder what on earth they will do when they retire from active life, how they will spend their time, and what the meaning of their life will be. There are people who take up fishing and others who begin learning to play an instrument.

Then, there are those who participate in local activities, and those who take an interest in the education of young people. Certainly, I think each course gives meaning to old age in its respective way. Despite the fact that there are those who would grow sick of a life of incessant work, I imagine many would empathise. However, Chikabo never had in his head anything like the systematic life figured by the so-called middle-class salaryman.

“To me, even now I’m not old. You see, I was so poor I could hardly even talk of such a thing. I had to be always moving, always working. Until my sixties, my life was just like I was swimming in the mud. It was in my seventies that the flowers began to bloom a little and the spring of youth began. So, for me, seventy was a renaissance. And my eighties were the full bloom of youth because, really, day after day I flourished. As was to be expected, in my nineties, my physical strength declined, and yet everyday I’m still enthusiastic about everything. When people lose their enthusiasm, it’s the end isn’t it?”

Chikabo says his seventies were the spring of his youth because that was when finally he came to be acknowledged as an artist, as Kumada Chikabo. It was in 1981, when, at the age of seventy, exhibiting his work in an international exhibition of picture book originals in Bologna, that his work came to be appreciated. Of course, this appreciation did not stop at the domestic, but spread overseas.

“The way that Europeans show their appreciation is quite interesting. Seeing my pictures, Japanese people appreciate them without saying so. ‘It’s just as though Kumada’s pictures are alive. In his pictures you can feel the same spirit as with Fabre.’ That’s the kind of thing they’d say. That made me happy. Because I was being compared to Fabre, who I love.”

This was all a new experience for Chikabo. Until then, as an artist, he had felt that he was fumbling in the dark. And then suddenly, before his eyes, in a flash, it became bright. So, for him, the events that followed were bewildering. The media came to him frequently with cameras. When his pictures received exposure in magazines, newspapers and on television, the ripple of his fame spread wider and wider.

Then the Kumada Chikabo’s World series, which he still works on on an ongoing basis, began to sell with further editions year on year. To listen to the voice of your own heart is important but, however much an artist might love a life of isolation, receiving attention from the world would surely not make them unhappy – their pictures would receive public appreciation and, furthermore, they could enjoy having a little money. The age of seventy at which Chikabo experienced these things is, without a doubt, an age at which people are labelled as ‘elderly.’ Nevertheless, he felt with his whole being that his life truly began then. He sensed a complete change in the air. A time of joy and of busy activity, for him, there is no old age.

Sometimes you hear such things from people as ‘Who wants to live forever?’ and ‘I don’t want to get old.’ The many holes in our underdeveloped social security system stand out all the more in today’s aging society and the sense of unease surrounding old age cannot just be wiped away. In reality, even if we were to live a long life, the present situation is such that we cannot even begin to imagine what kind of a life that would be. In short, as the Buddha explained, ‘This world is suffering; to live is to suffer.’ Life brings with it emotional pain. Surely most people know this from personal experience. However, what on earth might cross our minds when we see Chikabo, ninety-seven years old and even now diligently working, moving his brush, his eyes sparkling with life? It must certainly make us reconsider that thing we call ‘old age.’ During the writing of this book, he asked his interviewer, ‘How old are you now?’ and, when I answered, ‘I’m thirty-five’, with a tremulous voice, he narrowed his eyes and simply declared ‘Lucky you.’

Stopping an Architect’s Eye

The product line that this man produced, Aero Concept, is something that became known through a funny process of strictly word of mouth. In the beginning, he only made this product for himself, after all. The first person who gave him an order was an architect. One day, Mr. Sugano was carrying a case he’d made himself. He had built it as something to hold his blueprints, and it was something he’d simply done to please himself. He used all the skills he’d refined in his day-to-day work to make this specialized “blueprint holding case” – it was the very antithesis of a multipurpose bag. However, it had a very strong presence. The first person to notice this case was an architect who had come for a meeting.

From Ear to Ear

“He asked me to make one for him too, so I did it. And then someone who saw his contacted me, and I made one for him as well. And then gradually more and more people started coming to me with the same request. Whenever I had some free time outside my regular job making prescision-crafted sheet metal, I’d be working on these projects a little bit at a time. And next, a guy like you, doing research for an article for a magazine or a newspaper, he came. And then after a little while, United Arrows and Beams. At that time I didn’t even know those shops existed. Mitsubishi, Fender, Toyota, Porsche, all kinds of people started coming to talk to me.”

Attention from Around the World

When he started to talk about that, he developed a happy, mischevious grin. Strictly put, it was simply a handicraft, no, an industrial handicraft. And it turned into something huge, with buzz building more buzz, and people connecting more people, coming together and creating the current situation. The current situation being that people all over the world are paying attention to this maker and his brand. He was chosen as one of Japanese Newsweek’s “100 Japanese Small and Medium-sized Companies that the World is Watching” in 2007. He’s been interviewed at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan. He’s being courted by the Bentley’s, the famous London antique shop, who wants to make a contract with him as a vending agent. It’s impossible to list all the stories that express how world-wide, how global this man’s business has become. If I were to ask him how this little neighborhood workshop managed to get into such a position, surely his answer would be something like this:

“I really don’t know that myself.”

But looking at things from the side, it seems as though there are two causes. One, is the overwhelming skill that is put into making the products. That is expressed in the Aero Concept name, the high technical skill put into making airplane and shinkansen parts. And the second reason is the aesthetic aspect, the way his personal sense of style is expressed in his work. It’s a word he hates to use, but it’s the design that draws people in.

Design Not-Design

“We craftsmen, we’ve always been pushed around, doing contract work. But craftsmen love to do good work. Everyone works hard to make their skills shine. I’m talking about my workshop making prescision-crafted sheet metal. Most people don’t even know what that is, right? We make structural components for the seats in airplanes and shinkansen trains. We’re making something that regular people never even see. That’s why I can’t do any design. People often ask me, “Mr. Sugano, do you also work in design?” but I have no idea where they got that idea. “It’s not design. I can’t design.” I always have to explain that to them.”

Mr. Sugano insists “I can’t design,” but what is it like in his workshop? It really looks as though he is designing things. What exactly is this precision sheet metal processing that he has as his main business. This writer took a close look at the world of precision sheet metal processing to see if there isn’t even a little design incorporated into this work that is hidden from the public eye.

What I do not understand, I do not understand
“I still understand nothing.”
Chikabo, turning 97 years of age, declared this.
On first hearing them, these sound like the words of someone lacking confidence, and yet his facial expressions are overflowing with confidence.
“People all want to feel ‘this is this way, that is that,’ but I still understand nothing.”
As most of us know, people living in today’s urban civilisation are convinced that they must become social adults. We gather notions together from the narrow environment in which we personally have lived and store them up in our heads. And then we bind the spirit and the actions of ourselves and our families, our friends and our lovers, with those standards. Without a doubt, doing so is indispensable in staving off our insecurities, and in surviving this friendless world. That’s what I believe. ‘Hey you, how old are you? Stop acting like a child.’ Even without words, most people feel in some way that such implicit messages are embedded everywhere in their daily lives. Then, people call them common sense and, casting a sidelong glance at this common illusion, try desperately to grow up. How much peace of mind can being told ‘You too are a grown up now’ give to today’s adults?

Chikabo’s way of life was condensed in his short utterance, “I don’t believe anything.”
Why he came to think this way is a mystery.
However, he instinctively knew that the standards of society’s common sense would not make him happy.
“The house where I lived was broken to little pieces by the Great Kanto Earthquake. Yokohama had become a mountain of rubble. Looking at such scenes, anxious thoughts about what would become of me now passed through my mind. But, the next instant, school came into my head and I asked my father ‘What will happen with school now?’ He said, ‘I have no idea what will happen with school from now on.’ Hearing that, I thought ‘Yes! Just desserts!’ Mysterious things happen in my life. When I’m in trouble, the gods always come to help me. Ever since then, I was free from school.”

I expect many people will wonder what kind of person could speak with such insensitivity. In the Great Kanto Earthquake, more than 140,000 people died and more than 100,000 were injured. Nevertheless, he calls it salvation from the gods. However, who on earth can condemn his feelings as wrong? Accepting the reality of the Great Kanto Earthquake as a natural disaster, he offered prayers that the deceased who had fallen by the roadside would rest in peace and extended a helping hand to the injured. And, with his whole being, he felt indescribable sadness and dread. However, amidst that great disaster, he had come to find some thing of joy: his elementary school had been reduced to rubble. That, for him, was the real feeling. Chikabo, unswayed by common sense, social responses, was simply giving himself up to all the feelings, the honest responses of his heart.

Doing so, he saw something like a paradise even in the burned-out ruins spread out before him.
Whilst there is purity in such honesty, his apparently anti-social outlook was at times disdained as being thoughtless and too worldly-wise.
However, he paid no heed to such voices.
In his heart, and in his head, there was no equation:
‘Earthquake = a cause for regret.’
The Great Kanto Earthquake was, to him, no such simple, mechanical incident.
It was much more pregnant with complex meaning, much more raw than that.
In it, there was much he didn’t understand.

There was much beyond his imagination.
Perhaps it was not difficult to give an appearance of sympathy.
But, to share in sadness, in its true meaning, is no simple thing.
Chikabo did not lightly give himself up to those parts he did not understand.
Rather, he gave himself over to the real heart welling up within him.
To this day, Chikabo still doesn’t understand the social significance of the Great Kanto Earthquake.
The one thing he felt for sure was that it had freed him from school, that scene of homework and melancholy.