NIPPONIA

NIPPONIA No.20 March 15, 2002

Special Feature*

This Company's Luxury Makeup Brushes Enjoy
More Than 60% of the World Market

Hakuhodo Co., Ltd.

Written by Fukushima Emi
Photos by Takeda Norihisa

The town of Kumano-cho in Hiroshima Prefecture has been making writing brushes for 200 years, and now it produces more than anywhere else in Japan. One manufacturer of luxury makeup brushes, Hakuhodo, has a factory there. It supplies cosmetic companies in Japan and abroad, and enjoys more than 60% of the world's market for luxury makeup brushes.

The company president, Takamoto Kazuo, is an expert brush craftsman himself. He grew up in a family that ran a business making brushes for artwork. He saw a window of opportunity in luxury makeup brushes, and founded his own company, Hakuhodo Co., Ltd., in 1974. Before long, he was having success selling to major brand-name cosmetic manufacturers outside Japan and raising his profile overseas. His brushes have met with respect since then, and many supermodels now swear by them.

Takamoto says, "The keys to a great makeup brush are how comfortable it feels on the skin, and how beautiful the makeup looks. Our goal is to give customers brushes that make them eager to try out different makeup effects."

There are more than 80 small steps along the way to manufacturing a makeup brush. Takamoto's factory uses Japanese traditional brush-making techniques in some stages—for instance, when removing oil from the hairs, and heating and massaging them to get them straight. During the final inspection stage, Takamoto checks each brush by eye, and rejects it if even one hair is upside-down. "Nobody's ever sent one back to us," he says with pride in his voice.

Luxury makeup brushes ready for market.

		Arranging the hair tips into a perfect shape, the last step in manufacturing a makeup brush.
		Takamoto Kazuo, the president of Hakuhodo, says, "We supply cosmetic manufacturers, and also sell about 200 varieties of makeup brushes under our own brand name, through direct marketing. Soon we'll be making new types of brushes that meet even higher standards." http://www.mmjp.or.jp/hakuhodo (Japanese only)

Cutting a Perfect Shot by Ear and Hand

Tsujitani Industries

Written by Torikai Shin-ichi, Photos by Kono Toshihiko

A lump of cast iron is spinning quickly on the lathe. I'm at a factory in Fujimi, Saitama Prefecture, where Tsujitani Masahisa is focusing all of his attention on his ears, distinguishing the sound of the iron being chiseled from the racket made by the motor. He slowly moves the handle to change the angle of the blade. He's not looking at the iron ball being formed—he's relying on the sound. The lump of iron will become a shot to be used in the competitive sport of shot putting.

"To make a shot with a perfectly balanced center of gravity, we rely on sound, not sight."

Shots are made from cast iron. When the molten iron begins to harden, the lower part becomes denser. The shot's center of gravity should be right in the center, so the denser (heavier) part has to be chiseled away more than the less dense (lighter) part. Even the latest computer-controlled lathe cannot do this properly. Tsujitani listens to subtle changes in sound to decide how much to chisel off. "The lighter part has a softer sound," he says.

Tsujitani's superior manufacturing technique was obvious during the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, when all 12 shot putters left in the men's final round chose his shots from among the various brands available to them.

A partly carved mass of cast iron spinning rapidly. When carving the iron into a well balanced shot for the sport of shot putting, the craftsman is guided only by the sound made by his blade.

Tsujitani Masahisa with a finished shot. His products were chosen as official shots for the 1988 Seoul Olympics and each of the subsequent three Olympic Games.

NIPPONIA