Vermicula is a cast-iron pot and pan born in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The highly airtight cast-iron pots and pans have spawned a trend toward “waterless cooking” and have gained support not only from cooking enthusiasts but also from ordinary households. Aichi Dobby Corporation, which manufactures Vermicula, was originally a subcontract factory. We take a closer look at the appeal of this top-of-the-line pot born from an idea.

The “best pot” born in Aichi Prefecture, a manufacturing kingdom

Aichi Prefecture is known for its thriving manufacturing industry. According to the 2021 Economic Census, Aichi Prefecture accounted for about 14.6% of the nation’s manufactured goods shipments in 2020, ranking first in Japan for 44 consecutive years. The development of the transportation machinery industry, including automobiles, has been supported by manufacturers that produce each component, so-called subcontractors. And ideas that emerge from highly skilled local factories sometimes surprise the world. Aichi Dobby,” located in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, is one such company. Their “Vermicula” cast-iron pots and pans were born out of a desire to “create the world’s best product from a local factory,” and have since become a huge hit product distributed worldwide. We interviewed Mr. Tomoharu Hijikata, Vice President and Representative Director of Aichi Dobby, the creator of Vermicula, about how the product was born.

From a Subcontractor to a Major Manufacturer

Aichi Dobie is a casting manufacturer founded in 1936 in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. The company used to manufacture “dobby looms,” a type of loom, but after Kunihiro Hijikata’s elder brother and president took over the family factory in 2001, the company began manufacturing hydraulic parts, precision components used in ships and crane trucks, as the Japanese textile industry declined.

At that time, Kunihiro became a casting craftsman and Tomoharu became a precision machinist, and the company’s technical skills improved, resulting in good management. The company’s performance as a subcontracting business was strong, but at the same time, the company was facing a sense of crisis: “We cannot grow the company in the future by subcontracting alone,” he said.

We, as a manufacturing company, are only happy when people say, ‘Thank you for making good products. But I thought it would be difficult to feel that joy if we only subcontracted. We wanted to make things that we thought up ourselves and deliver them directly to our customers to make them happy,” said Hijikata. So, we decided to create “something that only we can do and that is the best in the world” using our casting technology.

Products that “make customers happy

However, it was difficult for a small town factory to make a large capital investment. The company started making products using casting and precision machining technologies, but initially had difficulty coming up with ideas. One day, he stopped by a bookstore and learned that a Dutch oven, a pot with a lid made of thick cast iron, was gaining popularity as a “magic pot. I was skeptical, but I was still impressed. Although he was skeptical, he purchased a cast-iron enameled pot made overseas that was on sale at the time. When he tasted the dishes he actually made, he was surprised at the difference in taste. The food tasted warm, as if it were something different from the food cooked in the pots and pans he used daily.

Mr. Hijikata immediately began researching, “Is cast iron enamel the best pot in the world? He immediately began to investigate. However, he found that “aluminum and stainless steel pots that are airtight and can cook without water” were regarded as superior to cast-iron pots and pans. Cast iron enamel was regarded as the best for cooking because it combines the “good heat conduction” of iron, the carbon contained in cast iron, and the “heat retention and far-infrared ray effect” of enamel. However, cast metal inevitably has gaps in the casting process, making it less sealed. Because of the low sealing property, cooking without water to bring out the maximum flavor of the ingredients is not possible. As a result, aluminum and stainless steel, which are more hermetically sealed, were more highly regarded.

Mr. Hijikata thought, “Then, if I can combine my brother’s casting technology with my own precision machining technology to create a cast-iron enameled pot that is hermetically sealed and can cook without water, this will be the best in the world. This was the impetus for the development of Vermicula.

Struggling with cast iron and enamel

Even though it is a cast-iron enameled pot, it is highly airtight. It can be used for cooking without water, and the umami of the ingredients can be locked in the food as it is. Creating a one-of-a-kind, one-of-a-kind pot. The goal was in sight, but it would take some twists and turns until completion. At first, I thought I could do it in about three months,” Hijikata recalls, “but first of all, Japan didn’t have the technology to enamel castings. It was very difficult,” recalls Hijikata.

To begin with, enameling is the process of applying a glassy glaze to the surface of a metal material such as iron or aluminum and baking it at a high temperature. Casting enamel requires enamel to be applied to cast metal and baked at 800 degrees Celsius, but the cast metal begins to melt at around 720 degrees Celsius, causing its structure to lose its shape and air bubbles to appear. In other words, when enamel is baked, the surface of the enamel becomes uneven with air bubbles, and baking itself was difficult.

Vermicula, a material encountered by chance

The casting used to develop the pots and pans was not just melted iron, but was a mixture of more than 10 different substances that caused a chemical reaction. Through trial and error, they found that changing the mixture made it easier to enamel. Finally, they succeeded in baking enamel on cast metal, but now the problem of sealing stood in the way. Cast pots and pans are extremely thin (3 mm), and the heat applied during the enameling process inevitably distorts the precision-engineered pots and pans to make them airtight, causing the seal to fail.

It was at this time that Hijikata-san’s brother received an order for subcontracting business from a new client. It was there that he came across a special material for castings called “compacted vermicula. When Hijikata-san saw the shavings from the precision machining process, he had a flash of inspiration: “I don’t have any proof, but maybe this is what it could be. By redeveloping the material based on compacted vermicula, which has high strength and excellent heat conduction, it became possible to enamel thin pots and pans. This process made it possible to produce a highly airtight cast enameled pot, which had been longed for. He named the completed pot “Vermicula. If we had not received the order by chance, it might have been difficult to make it happen. We were lucky,” laughs Hijikata.

The success of “anhydrous curry” led to further success.

The completed “world’s best pot,” Vermicula, went on sale in February 2010 and quickly established itself as a cooking pot, gaining recognition through word of mouth among cookery researchers and social networking sites. What triggered the hit? When we ask Hijikata-san, he says, “I think it was the anhydrous curry. Waterless curry is a type of curry that uses only the water from the ingredients. The umami of the vegetables is condensed to the last drop, and a mellow aroma spreads in your mouth. The phrase, “Curry can be made without water,” had an impact on the public and was more than enough to get consumers interested in the recipe.

An e-mail from a fan made us realize

In 2019, the company opened “Vermicula Village” along the canal, a short walk from the factory. It will include a restaurant where visitors can enjoy a menu prepared using actual Vermicula pots, pans, and rice cookers (rice pots), a bakery that sells bread baked in special pots, cooking classes, and a store, all with Hijikata’s wish that “we want people to experience the taste that we are proud to say is the best in the world. The bakery, cooking school, shop, and other facilities are all designed in line with Hijikata and his team’s wish for their customers to “experience the world’s best taste. Furthermore, in 2021, they will open “Vermicula House” in Daikanyama, Tokyo. It is now a major brand with fans all over the world.

However, due to the rising cost of fuel and raw materials, the company was forced to raise the price of each product by approximately 10% in June 2022. It was a painful decision, but the price of steel, which makes up the bulk of the raw materials, had ballooned, and the company had no choice but to reflect this in its selling prices. Hijikata-san, who reads all the e-mails he receives from customers, saw earnest messages from fans saying, “I can’t buy any more if the prices are this high,” and “Corporate efforts are also important. It made me wonder if we had really made an effort,” said Hijikata. This e-mail prompted the entire company to make a thorough cost-cutting effort. Then, in April 2023, the company made the decision to drastically reduce prices. Some products are now cheaper than before the price increase. Mr. Hijikata proudly states, “It’s a lot of work, but I want lots of people to use our products.

To become the world’s best-loved brand

Currently, Aichi Dobbies does not accept subcontracts. The reason for this is to focus the employees’ attention on Vermicula. The company started out making the world’s best pots and pans with the idea, “We are a small company, but we want to create an overwhelming product that the world has never seen before. Mr. Hijikata said, “It was hard work, and we are still having a hard time. But I have more and more friends and reliable staff. I enjoy doing this,” he says.

His future goal is to make Vermicula the world’s most “loved” brand of cookware. Enamel gradually peels off and becomes damaged with use, but Vermicula accepts recoating, extending the life of the product. The world’s best pots and pans for a lifetime of use. Mr. Hijikata’s dream, “We wanted to create something that we could deliver directly to our customers and make them happy with our own ideas,” has grown into an even bigger vision with the popularity of Vermicula.

The post From a Small Town Factory to a Global Brand: Behind the Scenes of Vermicula’s Breakthrough first appeared on NIHONMONO.

Seikichi Hasegawa is the son of his father, Shunko Hasegawa Ikkosai, a tea ceremony metalworker in Nagoya, and is the fourth generation to succeed him. At first glance, his metalwork tea ceremony utensils may seem simple, but the intricate detail and design give them a striking beauty. In addition to making tea utensils, he also works on elaborate reproductions of “disposable industrial products. We asked him about the true meaning behind his unique creations.

Born into a family of traditional tea ceremony metal workers in Aichi Prefecture

In a quiet residential area in Showa Ward, Nagoya City, a gate with a Japanese flavor suddenly catches the eye. Beyond the gate stands a Japanese-style house where Seikichi Hasegawa, who is heir to a family of tea ceremony metalworkers, carries out his work. Mr. Hasegawa’s family was a Tsubajishi for the Owari Tokugawa family, who succeeded the feudal lord of Nagoya in the Edo period, and his name has been Ikkosai for generations. During the Edo period, he used to make tsubas for sword accessories, but after the Meiji Restoration (1868-1912), sword manufacturing went into decline due to the ban on sword belts. The family then began to make metal tea ceremony utensils by utilizing their skills in processing tsubas, and these skills have been passed down through the generations to the fourth generation, Mr. Hasegawa.

In the Edo period (1603-1867), the Owari Tokugawa family popularized the culture of enjoying tea in Nagoya. This culture is still alive in Nagoya today. As a result, there are many people who enjoy tea and many wagashi (Japanese confectionery) shops. As a result, the local culture has deeply influenced the Hasegawa family’s business.

What are metalwork tea ceremony utensils?

By the way, when we think of tea ceremony utensils, many people probably first think of matcha bowls made of pottery such as Bizen and Hagi. Metalworkers work on pouring hot and cold water into tea containers and confectionery vessels used to decorate tea cakes. In other words, they play a supporting role in tea ceremony utensils. Considering this, Mr. Hasegawa says of his metalworking tea utensils, “I think it suits me to produce them in a more subdued manner, taking a step or two back, in harmony with the pottery.

However, as he immersed himself in this world, Hasegawa also realized that “making only tea utensils was not enough to fully express the skills he had honed and to develop himself and his house,” and he decided to take advantage of the skills he had cultivated to create artworks.

After studying in London, he returned to Japan to take over the family business.

It was probably his experience as an exchange student that led him to think of taking over the family business. After graduating from high school, he went to London to study sculpture for two years.

He says, “Although metalworking and tea ceremony utensils are different genres, I learned a lot in London that I am still using today. Indeed, Hasegawa’s works have a stateless atmosphere that is somehow exotic, even though they are tea ceremony utensils.

After returning to Japan, Hasegawa learned his skills under his father, but when it comes to his own works, he says, “I want them to reflect the times in which they were made. Living in the current era, he has seen, heard, and thought about many things, and his life has unconsciously influenced his work.

The style of Hasegawa’s work is one of his charms. He has mastered the techniques handed down from generation to generation, but he is not bound by traditional Japanese design, and has had contact with a variety of objects, including foreign jewelry and church decorations, and has flexibly fused his sensibilities.

Metal for “disposable industrial products.”

Mr. Hasegawa, who actively incorporates techniques that are not part of the traditional metalworking format, next turned his attention to “disposable industrial products. These are not tea utensils, but so-called works of art. For example, cans, paper bags, and bubble cushioning materials, also known as “petit pouch,” are elaborately reproduced in metal. Because these materials are so far removed from metal, they require a great deal of skill to reproduce elaborately, making them worthwhile to make.

In the world of tea ceremony utensils, flowers, plants, and living creatures are often used as motifs, and their organic forms and lives are often incorporated into the artwork, but for the artwork, he dared to choose inorganic objects as the subject matter. He explained the reason for this: “I reproduce disposable industrial products through metalworking. The more time and effort I put into it, the less meaningless it seems, but I quite like that feeling. I quite like that feeling,” he says, smiling wryly.

Tea utensils on display at an exhibition

He would not release an artwork based on the motif of “disposable industrial products” to the world if he felt that it was not a work of art. With this in mind, Mr. Hasegawa quietly continued the detailed and painstaking work, which seemed daunting. When he looked at the completed work objectively, he felt it was safe to present it to the world as a work of art. When he mixed it with tea utensils and exhibited it at an exhibition, he was pleased with the response from visitors.

Although the work had no use like tea utensils and was simply a piece of art, people were interested in it, saying, “That’s a unique piece,” and they were amused, saying, “What are you making? The appeal of the works reached not only those who were interested in the world of tea ceremony and tea utensils, but also those who had never had contact with the world of tea before, and many comments were received.

With this opportunity, Mr. Hasegawa decided to continue the “disposable industrial products” series in parallel with the tea ceremony utensils, increasing the number of variations of his works. Later, he expanded his scope as a goldsmith by exhibiting his work in exhibitions with the theme of “superb craftsmanship” that transcended the boundaries of tea ceremony utensils.

Having Two Axes Makes Me Feel Easier

The fact that he now works not only in the family business but also in artwork has eased Hasegawa’s mind. Tea utensils are designed with a slight pull back while considering the push and pull with pottery. On the other hand, the “disposable industrial product” series allows him to create as much as he wants. Even though they are the same metalworking, these two completely different directions make the production of each more enjoyable.

While meeting and talking with clients and visiting private exhibitions are also important parts of his job, Hasegawa says that working quietly in his workshop is more to his liking. During the daytime hours when natural light is available, he works at a brisk tempo, tapping and shaping metal, while at night he listens to the radio and devotes himself to detailed work with localized light. Day and night, he faces metal with sincerity and sometimes a sense of fun.

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Tateyama Town in Toyama Prefecture, where the Tateyama Mountain range of the Northern Alps rises high above the city and a peaceful rural landscape spreads out. Born and raised in this town as the youngest daughter of a family of potters, we interviewed Ms. Yui Shakunaga, who creates one-of-a-kind pieces using copper, brass, tin, and other materials, about her thoughts behind her work.

Fascinated by the tarnished look of antique spoons, he started his career in metal modeling.

Hers father is Yukio Saketsunaga, a representative artist of Etchu Seto ware with a history of over 430 years, and his sister and brother are both ceramic artists. Born into a family of traditional potters, Mr. Wei studied metal crafts at university and worked as a prototype maker at MIKIMOTO, a jeweler. After leaving the company, he worked at the Kanazawa Utatsuyama Craft Workshop before becoming an independent metal modeling artist.

I first became interested in metals when I was in the early grades of elementary school. One of my father’s friends had a rather unusual uncle. He was a collector of medieval European spoons. He told me that the beauty of metal is amazing, and that the charm of metal is that it gets scratched and changes color,” says Wei. The site of his great-grandfather’s tile factory, where he used to play every day as a child, and how the exposed steel-frame buildings blended in with the rusting nature, also left a strong impression on his mind.

At MIKIMOTO, a jewelry company, Ms. Wei was involved in the production of prototypes using metal and mastered the art of metal engraving. When she was making the base for the gemstone, she said, “I thought this base was beautiful. Even without the diamonds, it is beautiful on its own. I wondered why I felt it played a supporting role. I felt that it could be expressed with metal alone. It was this feeling that led Mr. Wei to metal modeling after he retired from the company. He laughs, “Manufacturing is a tough job, and my parents wanted me to continue working at a stable company, but I came back to this side of the industry after all.

The studio in his hometown of Tateyama was once the site of his great-grandfather’s tile factory. A steel-frame tile yard was renovated and used as his studio. The neighboring area, also a former factory site, is empty of residents, allowing Wei to devote himself to his work regardless of the time of day. The sound of Wei tapping the copper plates with a hammer echoes through the studio to this day.

Brass and copper objects with a sense of softness and fragility

YUI creates objects and vessels made by bending and shaping metal plates using the tan-kin technique. Although metal has an image of being hard and heavy, Wei’s works are so delicate and flexible that they seem to move softly at first glance.

Hers debut work was the “Enkan Lidded Tableware”. When he was wondering what to make after becoming independent, he decided to make a lid rest for tea ceremony utensils, which he learned at the Utatsuyama Craft Workshop in Kanazawa. Inspired by his own name, “Yui,” which was given to him by his parents, meaning “to connect,” he connected and twisted many brass rings to form a circle. The loveliness of the shape and the luster of the texture leave a lasting impression.

The object, formed three-dimensionally by drilling countless holes in a copper plate about 1 mm thick, is as light as the wind with its supple curves. Heated over a burner to soften them, they were twisted as desired to express free movement. The lace-patterned vase is also somewhat mysterious and breathtakingly beautiful. The vase looks like a piece of dyed bamboo instead of metal.

She says, “If you create something with the latent image of metal being hard and heavy, it will really look like that, but I keep working on it while capturing the supple part. That is why I am happy when people say it looks like light bamboo,” says Wei.

Copper colored in its natural state by sulfidation reaction

The coloring technique is also distinctive. Tin is applied to the surface of a thin copper sheet and melted, creating a gradation of black to white using a technique called sulfurization coloring. Sulfurization causes only the copper to react and turn black, while the tin does not react and remains white.

Depending on the timing of when the sulfurization reaction is stopped, the color can change from a bright copper color to a deep hue. Mr. Wei values the hue of the material as an extension of nature.

Tin is applied like a glaze.

The reason he uses tin is because when he combines it with copper, an unexpectedly beautiful hue is created.

YUI says, “When I worked for a jeweler, precious metals were polished to a shine, but I wanted to bring out the characteristics of the metal and give my pieces a tasteful look.

Copper is softer than other metals, so it is easier to give shape to one’s thoughts. There was a time when I was practicing to draw tin evenly and thoroughly on the surface of copper, but it just didn’t seem right. I tried melting the tin as it naturally flowed and sulfurizing it to create a coloring, which produced an interesting look.

I have a longing for glaze because I was familiar with ceramics,” he said. Tin is too soft to handle at room temperature, and when it is put on fire, it melts and does not move the way I want it to. So I thought, “Let’s try to make the tin stay where it will naturally settle when it is placed on the copper. I felt that this was a little like the process of “letting nature take its course,” as in the case of ceramics, where the glaze is melted by the flames in the kiln.

The idea of circulation, as if becoming one with nature, is used in the work.

YUI’s goal is to create works that blend in with their surroundings when placed in nature. Although it is possible to draw the eye with color, I want to create something that is an extension of nature,” says Wei. Although often described as “plain,” even the gradation from black to white is a color that is truly versatile.

The unevenness created during the burning process is also left as is. YUI says that accepting the happenings she encounters during the production process is also her way of expressing herself.

When I first started out in this field, I used the standards I had acquired at university and at work as a guide, but I was also constrained by them,” she says. She was so concerned with dimensions and neatness that he could not accept any distortion.

But while maintaining this base, she has created new techniques and combinations of materials, and has come to see everything as “proof that it was made by my own hands.

YUI’s three-dimensional works and vessels, which seem to reflect his heart, are also used at Chef Eiji Taniguchi’s auberge “Revo,” which offers a unique dining experience in the pristine natural environment of Toga Village in Toyama Prefecture. Chef Taniguchi pursues true local production for local consumption and sublimates Toyama ingredients into avant-garde regional cuisine with endless ideas. He has created his ideal dining space with original tableware, cutlery, and interior design fully ordered from artists and craftsmen. He received two stars in the “Michelin Guide Hokuriku 2021” and was awarded “Chef of the Year” for the second time in “Gault et Millau 2022. Wei’s work, which is inspired by the cycles of nature, is an integral part of Chef Taniguchi’s worldview.

In addition to “Revo,” the giant lace-patterned objet d’art also shines dully and beautifully in the chocolate and pastry store on the 45th floor of the world-famous luxury hotel “The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo. Wei’s attention as a metal sculptor is only increasing.

Every time I have a solo show or an exhibition, I always have a clear idea of what I want to try next. The joy of having someone who shares my senses is unique. It is also fun to look down and see when my work resonates with people and when it does not. I am happy if I can push forward in the direction I want to go and expand my world through my work.

The suppleness of metal, its fragility as it decays in nature, and its fragility and transience. Finding beauty in these qualities, Wei will continue to express herself freely and lightly with her unique sensibility and techniques.

The post Metal sculptor expressing the theme of nature Yui Syakunaga first appeared on NIHONMONO.