An Artisan Well Versed in the Tradition of Japanese Brush Making

After I journey to town of Kyoto, lower than an hour’s practice journey from Nara-machi, to go to the flagship retailer of the Hiroshima-based brush firm Hakuhodo, I’m drawn into the world of beautiful magnificence brushes. The shop is a contemporary white field, with glowing show instances and a skylight paying homage to a James Turrell set up, in distinction to the staid Ippodo tearoom throughout the road. In Kyoto, brush making has all however disappeared — the remaining three fude shokunin are too few to advantage dento kogei designation — however the metropolis is understood for its conventional arts and excessive tradition.

Hakuhodo makes use of the phrase “fude” liberally to explain its lots of of make-up applicators, which appear like extremely specialised variations of cosmetics brushes offered in department shops world wide. They're priced in response to their supplies, and vary from roughly $15 to a number of hundred. One powder brush, enclosed in a plexiglass case on the wall, has Whats up Kitty painted in lacquer and gold mud on its deal with (and prices roughly $800). I select a tiny fan brush for eradicating mascara clumps (once I strive it later with Japanese Dejavu Fiberwig mascara, it makes me appear like I’m sporting false lashes), and a double-sided brush-comb for eyebrow grooming that has a 24 Ok gold ferule attaching it to a pleasantly weighty deal with lacquered the identical shade of vermilion as a shrine gate.

A sophisticated saleswoman exhibits me how a well-liked eye shadow brush works in a different way relying on the hair it’s constructed from. Kolinsky (a type of weasel hair banned within the U.S.) applies delicate, light coloration, and can be utilized for concealer and gel shadows. Horse applies the shadow extra thickly, constructing it up sooner. And goat is sweet at depositing glitter and vivid coloration. She explains that tufts of artificial hair are properly fitted to making use of basis shortly and mixing liquid coloration, however pure hair picks up extra powder. An extended, skinny brush for drawing on swoops of eyeliner seems just like the menso fude in Tanaka’s store, designed for portray the face on a doll; its delicate, versatile hairs take skilled ability to manage, however could make a nice line of unparalleled magnificence.

Most of Hakuhodo’s brushes are, in actual fact, yofude, or Western-style brushes distinguished by a steel ferule holding the bristles in place. Kumano, town in Hiroshima the place they're manufactured, first made its identify with paintbrushes — and now cosmetics brushes. Hiroshima farmers who labored in Nara throughout the low season used to deliver residence fude to promote for further revenue, and within the early Nineteenth century, the Kumano area sponsored Nara artisans to show these farmers the craft of brush making. Now, 80 p.c of Japan’s brush manufacturing is finished in Kumano. The method is split into discrete duties, every assigned to a distinct artisan, so it’s simpler to outsource to a machine or abroad manufacturing unit.

Tanaka says doing each step herself, fully by hand, is inefficient; however it makes you care about the entire course of. She’s devoted to persevering with the custom of Nara fude, however her buddy inspired her so as to add make-up brushes to her repertoire. A small glass case in her store shows lip brushes like those depicted in Nineteenth-century ukioy-e work of courtesans, and spherical powder puffs made of soppy pink-colored goat hair set atop a stout cypress deal with that appear like these of Kumano brushes. These she calls “burashi,” a Japanized pronunciation of “brush,” to tell apart them from fude. (I purchase an itachi lip brush with a deal with fabricated from bamboo and water buffalo horn, however it’s so stunning I’m afraid to make use of it.)

As passionate as she is about Nara fude, Tanaka tells me she would discourage virtually any younger particular person from taking up the many years of examine, soiled, painstaking labor and uncertainty that include a profession making brushes. She earns sufficient to maintain her store open, however it was her husband’s salaryman job that supported their household. I ask why she’s caught with all of it these years. She replies, “As a result of it’s nonetheless enjoyable and fascinating.” In her coronary heart, she says, she needs her daughter (now a mom, too) might discover the identical pleasure in making fude.