Meet the Maker: Takada Tawashi
Shop Takada Tawashi's handcrafted palm brushes.
For some seventy years, Takada's artisans have been handcrafting tawashi one at a time, using only the finest, carefully-selected materials harvested from trees cultivated in Wakayama Prefecture, southwestern Japan. Each palm brush is made using waterproof yet gentle windmill palm fibers (shuro) that won't scratch your kitchenware. Shuro holds a special place in Japan's history – being used since ancient times.
Formerly, Wakayama was a major producer of windmill palm, a mainstay of the local economy. But production was dramatically curtailed by cheaper imported windmill palm and replacement products such as oil palm. With fewer and fewer farmers to tend to them, windmill palm forests have dwindled dramatically nationwide. Takada believed the first step toward preserving this traditional industry for future generations is to protect Wakayama's existing windmill palm forests. To that end, they launched a project to nurture this important natural resource and have been cultivating high-quality windmill palm for many years.
Carefully-selected, high-quality materials and traditional skills honed over time are the two essential ingredients that go into all of Takada's brushes. Takada are aware that from a purely business perspective, there's no denying it would be more efficient to manufacture brushes by machine. But their customers trust and rely on their products every day and they expect them to last for decades. From that perspective, they're confident the past must provide the answers. These brushes are made by people, for people—always have been, always will. That's the commitment Takada have carried for seventy years, and the one they will pass on to the next generation, just as previous ancestors passed it on to them. And that is how Takada hopes to earn your trust—every day.
