Experienced shopkeepers support handcrafts at “Kagiya Itoten

Established in 1914, “Kagiya Itoten” has been located in Fujieda-juku Shirako Meitengai for a long time and has a wide selection of products. The owner, who has a wealth of experience in Japanese and Western sewing, warmly supports your handicrafts.

Supporting Handicrafts with a Wide Variety of Products and Rich Experience

The shopping street where the store is located is not a busy place, but customers visit the store at a reasonable interval.

Inside the store, materials and tools necessary for handwork are crammed into a small space. Olimpas yarns are available in all colors, so you can see the actual colors, and there are more than 1,000 types of buttons, at a rough count.

Although it is possible to buy buttons on the Internet these days, it is nice to be able to select buttons by holding the actual buttons in one’s hands.

It will be fun to find what you are looking for while looking for it.

Here, fabrics are sold in 10cm increments. The idea is to avoid wasting leftover fabric and to avoid using scraps of fabric.

The most important feature of the store is that the owner, who has a wealth of experience, is available for consultation and advice on handicrafts.

Some customers come from neighboring cities and towns to ask for advice.

The cheerful and talkative third-generation owner

Toyoko Okamura is the third-generation owner. After marrying into the family in 1969, she began helping her grandparents-in-law start the store.

She says that when she was a child, she somehow saw her grandmother doing Western-style dressmaking and handicrafts like a child at the gate, and it was a natural progression that she later graduated from a dressmaking school.

So when she married and started helping out at the store, she felt less perplexed because she could understand the feelings of the customers, who are the makers of the products.

Now, she says, “I hope that the number of people who do handcrafts will increase, even if only a little. True to his words, he is not formal in his treatment of customers, but rather gives advice in a friendly manner as if he were talking with a friend.

Ms. Okamura is deeply involved with the shopping district and the local community, and is relied upon by everyone, accepting elementary school students for store tours every year, and actively involved in every shopping district event.

She says that when she first came to Japan, she was often told that she was a “stranger” and not taken seriously when she offered her opinions about the shopping district and the community. However, as she did her own research and helped out in various ways, she gradually became familiar with the local community, and is now a Fujieda resident.

The crafts teacher who is always there to teach me everything.

もう一人お店のほとんどの営業日にいらっしゃるこちらの方、正確にはお店の方ではなくてボランティアでお手伝いに来られている手芸の先生です。

The other person who is at the store most business days is not exactly from the store, but a volunteer handicrafts teacher who comes to help out.

She is Kyoko Kimba. She has been sewing since she was 50 years old and has been teaching at the Lifelong Learning Course at the Aoshima North District Exchange Center for the past eight years. This year’s eight-session course on chirimen-zaiku (chirimen crafting) is full to capacity.

She is a very energetic person with a strong voice and a steady gait. Her lovely works of art are displayed everywhere in the store.

Twelve or three years ago, she first came to the shop as a customer. When Ms. Okamura’s grandmother-in-law became ill and had to close the store to take care of her, she decided to help out.

She stays at the store and teaches handicrafts free of charge to customers who request it.

She says, “When I am at the store, I can talk with many people and I feel energized. If there are samples in the store, I can take them and see what’s new.” She told us the reason why she stays at the store.

And, “I’m looking for a husband! she said with a smile.

Please feel free to talk to her and see what she has to offer.

Extra

Below is a video interview with Mr. Okamura by the shopping district x theater “Tsunagaru Fujieda Monogatari”.