Exhibition — Iwate, and Sawagurumi　-企画展- 岩手と、さわぐるみと

2026/01/29

Spring, 2022.

This year, the rainy season began on June 15 in the Tōhoku region,
the same as the seasonal average and the same timing as in Tokyo.
The day before that, on June 14,
several members of our staff traveled to Morioka.

We visited basket maker Toshio Sasaki,
whom we had asked to participate in this exhibition,
and spent time speaking with him in person.

Although it was just before the start of the rainy season,
the day was clear and refreshing.
According to Mr. Sasaki, perhaps due to the effects of climate change,
there have been more days in recent years
when even Morioka feels quite warm.
That day, however, it was not overly hot,
and the breeze carried a slight chill—
what he described as weather that felt
“like the old days of Morioka.”

A friend of his, Mr. Takakura, also joined us,
and together they guided us
to the places where sawagurumi is gathered.

In the car on the way to the sawagurumi gathering sites,
the conversation turned to winters in Morioka,
after one of our staff mentioned
having once lived in Sapporo.

According to Mr. Sasaki,
people who move to Morioka from Hokkaido, including Sapporo,
often say, “Morioka is incredibly cold.”
In midwinter, temperatures in Morioka city itself
can drop below minus ten degrees Celsius.

He also told us that when traveling farther from the city center
to Yabukawa to go smelt fishing,
it is not unusual to experience temperatures
of around minus twenty degrees in the early morning.
“If you’re fishing early in the day and the sky begins to clear,”
he added,
“you can even see sparkling diamond dust
floating in the air.”

Sawagurumi is a tree that grows well
even in such cold climates.

This time, Mr. Sasaki guided us
to one of the gathering sites within the prefecture,
carefully selecting sawagurumi trees suitable for harvesting,
and even gave our staff the opportunity
to try harvesting them ourselves.

Mr. Sasaki not only makes the baskets himself,
but also gathers all of the materials on his own.

Entering the mountains year after year
to continue harvesting materials from nature
requires a great deal of patience and physical strength.
In recent years, encounters with bears have also increased,
and Mr. Sasaki told us that he himself
had such an encounter last year.

The greatest pleasure during the harvesting season,
he says, is visiting local ramen shops.
During that time, he ends up eating delicious ramen
almost every day.
Laughing, he said,
“Sometimes I wonder if it’s the sawagurumi,
or the ramen,”
joking that it might be the ramen
that motivates him to gather sawagurumi.

Before he began making baskets,
Mr. Sasaki was such an avid angler
that he once worked in a job related to fishing.
Once the season for gathering materials comes to an end,
he says he often finds himself thinking,
“Maybe it’s time to go fishing again.”

Mr. Sasaki has lived in Morioka
ever since he was a child.
He has friends and relatives there,
and through his previous work
he often traveled to the Kantō region.
“Tokyo feels like a place you go to visit,” he says.

“Here, you can really enjoy yourself,”
he adds.
There are mountains, rivers, and the sea.
Nature and the city are close at hand.
“If you’re in Morioka,
you can find just about everything you need.”

Work and leisure alike
are both essential parts of daily life.
Looking at the baskets Mr. Sasaki creates,
it feels as though this balance
is quietly reflected in his work.

• All materials were gathered and photographed
  with prior permission from the relevant parties.

_ _ _ _ _ // Information // _ _ _ _ _

• Visits on Friday, September 16 and Saturday, September 17,
  when the maker will be present,
  were by reservation only.

Please note that reservations for these dates
have now closed.

** During the exhibition period,
the display focuses primarily on works from
“Iwate Sawagurumi Baskets.”
Other regular items have been removed from the shop floor,
and only a very limited selection is on view.

If there are other items you would like to see while visiting,
please feel free to let our staff know.
We will bring them out from storage.
It would be helpful if you could specify the product name
or details as clearly as possible.

*** For this exhibition,
all purchased items may be taken home
on the day of purchase.
Only items displayed in the shop are available for sale,
and most of them are one of a kind.
If there is a piece you are interested in,
we recommend visiting as early as possible.

Please note that made-to-order requests
are not accepted for this exhibition.

Exhibition Details

Exhibition Title:
Iwate Sawagurumi Baskets
—A World of Walnut Baskets Woven Front and Back—

Dates:
September 16 (Fri)–September 21 (Wed), 2022
*Open every day during the exhibition period

Hours:
September 16 and 17: 10:30 AM–4:30 PM
All other days: 11:00 AM–4:00 PM