{"id":1860,"date":"2018-04-16T16:48:15","date_gmt":"2018-04-16T07:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hayakawakankou.daa.jp\/?page_id=1860"},"modified":"2021-03-08T12:17:48","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T03:17:48","slug":"hajime-amano","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/hayakawakankou.jp\/english\/hospitality-deep-in-the-mountains\/hajime-amano\/","title":{"rendered":"Director of Kensho-An: Mr. Hajime Amano"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Kensho-An <\/h3>\n

The master craftsman loving Amehata Ink Stone <\/p>\n<\/section>\n

\n

\"\u5929\u91ce<\/p>\n

Amehata Ink Stone: Kensho-An
\n Mr. Hajime Amano <\/strong>
\n Hajime Amano
\nBorn on February 20, 1947 <\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Residence <\/th>\n\uff1aAmehata, Hayakawa <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Birthplace <\/th>\n\uff1aAmehata, Hayakawa <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Personalities\u00a0 <\/th>\n\uff1ahardworking and trustworthy
When you make efforts and overcome your difficulties, you can see the clear blue sky at last.\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Interests <\/th>\n\uff1aHunting, beekeeping <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
My favorite place in Hayakawa\n<\/th>\n\uff1aResidence <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Occupation <\/th>\n\uff1aDirector of Kensho-An <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Skills <\/th>\n\uff1abeekeeping, making ink stones <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\n
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\n \u786f\u5320\u5eb5<\/a>\n
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\n \u786f\u5320\u5eb5<\/a>\n
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\n \u786f\u5320\u5eb5<\/a>\n
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\n \u786f\u5320\u5eb5<\/a>\n
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There are only a few producing districts of ink stones in Japan and \u201cAmehata Suzuri\u201d, Amehata village in Hayakawa town is the one of the districts. The gemstones come out of mine at the upstream of Amehata River in Hayakawa are processed, and they become beautiful ink stones. Those products are sold at Kensho-An, and you can also meet a man, Mr. Hajime Amano as a director of Kensho-An, who loves Amehata Ink Stones there.\n<\/p>\n

After he had retired his previous workplace, Mr. Amano decided to work for the facility with his ambition which is that \u201che wants to leave Amehata Ink Stones existed in this area for the following generations\u201d. He works with an only craftsman of Amehata Ink Stones, Mr. Gyokusen Mochizuki, and they have been telling tourists and calligraphers how wonderful the Amehata Ink Stones are.\n<\/p>\n

If you visit his gallery, Mr. Amano who is an expert in Amehata Ink Stones will give you full description of his deep knowledges of it. He will show you the fineness of Amehata Ink Stones with a microscope, and tell you why Amehata Ink Stones are the best and the differences from other products. In addition, he will be able to explain the characteristics of producing districts in both Japan and China. His eyes can tell you that he is dedicated to be very serious about the products. When you see the moment, you will be able to feel how much he loves Amehata Ink Stones.\n<\/p>\n

Mr. Amano said, \u201cUnless the gemstone was gone, the potentials of Amehata Ink Stones would be still there because current craftsmen still have great skills taken over by ancestors and the products have been developed while getting the most out of the quality of raw materials.\u201d It doesn\u2019t matter if people will not purchase the products right away, but Mr. Amano goes to the nearest train station to pick up whoever wants to visit his gallery to enjoy seeing the products. For the people who are not interested in Amehata Ink Stones, he provides another space where they can still enjoy seeing the other goods such as accessories and beauty products developed and made of traditional ink stones in Hayakawa called \u201cAmehatashinseki\u201d. They are actually on sale at the gallery. He has been looking for successors to continue the tradition and even keep asking people who retired from work – \u201cWhy don\u2019t you just come and join me to make Ink Stones just for fun?\u201d He has such a deep feeling for Amehata where he was raised and Amehata Ink Stones themselves. He continuously tells us that he is eager to create the Amehata Ink Stones as an emotional support for the local people and to pass it over as one of our cultures in this district.\n<\/p>\n

A quaint town – Hayakawa\u00a0 <\/h3>\n

He gets excited when he starts seeing that spring is coming from wintry cold landscape. When coming down from Amehata district to the town hall, he can see the changes of landscape: white color of snow on the mountains, brown color of winter trees, and light green color of Sprouting. He told us that he always feels that \u201cI wish time could stop!\u201d\u00a0at that moment. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

The mine where Amehatasinseki (the traditional ink stones in Hayakawa) was come out <\/h3>\n

When we asked Mr. Amano to show us the mine, he accepted our request without any hesitations. The place was located deeper in the mountains than we had expected and the road to the place was very\u00a0steep\u00a0the mountainous area. Inside of the mine, the rough rock surface was brought a solemn\u00a0atmosphere so that we could have\u00a0firsthand\u00a0knowledge\u00a0of mysteries\u00a0of\u00a0nature in Hayakawa. \u3000\n<\/p>\n

We thought we could understand the reason why Mr. Amano called the Amahata Ink Stones a main industry in the local area and the mine supported for the industry \u201ctreasures\u00a0of our community\u201d. These Amehata Ink Stones with full of memories of Mr. Amano and the craftsmen have been made by working and creating for such a long time, we felt. <\/p>\n

\n

Amehata Ink Stones and Kensho-An
\n<\/h3>\n

According to a local myth, the history of Amehata Ink Stones can be traced back to 700 years ago and it was the origin that Saint Nichiro, who was a disciple of Saint Nichiren, let local people make Amehata Ink Stones at the upstream of Amehata River area. After that, the Meiji era was a golden age and over 100 craftsmen were still there. However, the number of craftsmen producing Amehata Ink Stones had decreased due to an aging society come up to the surface during the high-speed\u00a0growth\u00a0era, and they had to face difficult situations to protect the tradition. At that time, both \u201cKensho-An\u201d, a gallery for specializing ink stones and \u201cVILLA Amehata\u201d , an accommodation facility were established in 2000 due to the town policy which was to build a base in each old village while taking an advantage of a business of the National Land Agency at that time.\n<\/p>\n

Producing \u201cAmehata Ink Stones\u201d is a tradition which has been passed down for a long time in Amehata district, and it was certified by Yamanashi prefecture as one of\u00a0the\u00a0Traditional Crafts in 1994. There are about six work processes from collecting gemstone in the mine until finishing products. The gemstone called \u201camehatashinseki\u201d is a leading high quality stone in Japan, and the local people cherish the mine as \u201ca treasure of the local district\u201d because the mine was located in old Suzurishima village before a merger with Hayakawa town, and that area became a\u00a0property ward.\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Interviewers <\/h3>\n

\"\u786f\u5320\u5eb5 Shoji Fujii (an adjust researcher, Advanced Research Center for Human Sciences)
\n\u2028
\nMr. Tetsuaki Shintake (a student, Waseda University School of Human Sciences)
\n\u2028
\nProf. Makoto Inoue\u3000(a professor, Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University)<\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

Go back to Hospitality deep in the mountains\u00bb<\/a><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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