As people spend more time at home, more and more people are becoming particular about cooking. Perhaps because people want to show off their delicious food, tableware and cutlery designed to look good on social media are popular.

Did you know that in the mountains of Tenryu Ward, Hamamatsu City, cutlery is made that not only looks good on social media but is also comfortable to use? It has been recognized by world-renowned restaurant chefs, and was used to accompany the food at rival restaurant gaku in the fall 2019 drama “Grand Maison Tokyo” starring Mr. Takuya Kimura.

[At the workshop. Blue bean plate, cutlery (spoon and fork), new round plate]

This is the work of Mr. Roberto Jun Yuasa, who has a workshop in Tenryu Ward.

When I first saw it on Instagram, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the words “#woodworking” and “#woodcarving” in the tags. This was because it was so different from the warm image of wooden cutlery that I had until then. Although I had no interest in wooden tableware, I was fascinated by the quiet works that seemed hard and cold at first glance. This is because the photos showed spoons and forks that were so delicate and delicate that it was hard to believe they were carved from wood.

Actually, I’m conflicted between wanting to introduce him and wanting to keep it a secret. Because I haven’t been able to get one myself yet. On exhibition days in Hamamatsu City, more than 20 people line up from the morning, and the works are so popular that they sell out in seconds when sold online.

It’s been two years since I learned about him through his photos, but I had the opportunity to see his work in person for the first time.

I visited Mr. Roberto's workshop on a sunny day in early summer.

 

1 hour drive north from Hamamatsu Station. The workshop was located in a location overlooking tea plantations and cedar forests, as well as distant mountains.

The camper van where Mr. Roberto was sleeping was parked next to the main building.

The sound of a woodpecker pecking at a tree echoes from the forest. He chose this location as a place where he could concentrate on production without worrying about the noise of work.

On weekdays, he confines himself to his workshop and creates products, and on weekends, he travels about an hour each way to return to his home in the city, where his family is waiting.

Mr. Roberto was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil. After graduating from high school, he came to Japan and worked as an office worker, but in 2008, due to the Lehman shock, he had to stay at home for a year. This led me to start making things using wood, which I had always loved. It was 13 years ago, when I was 35 years old.

It is surprising that all of his works are self-taught. As he exhibits at craft exhibitions across the country, his fan base has increased, and he is now busy with orders as he receives orders from tableware shops in Tokyo and Osaka that sell works by artists, as well as from overseas such as China.

I spoke to him at his workshop next to the main building.

Perform all processes by yourself.

Cutting is done by machine, but 90% of the work is done by hand, so there is a limit to the number of pieces that can be made. Currently, there is a large waiting list for orders and they are refusing new transactions.

At first, it was a farm equipment shed that only had a roof and pillars, but he transformed it into a workshop.

First, we replaced the roof, built the walls, and laid the floor. Then I put the machine in.

Cutlery is one of Mr. Roberto’s most popular works. In 2018, he received an offer from a chef at a world-renowned restaurant in Denmark, and the design changed to its current form, which is thinner and thinner than his previous works.

June 2018. A sister restaurant to Denmark’s Noma, which has been voted the world’s best restaurant four times, has opened in Tokyo.

The restaurant “INUA” received two Michelin stars the following year, and became a hot topic after supervising the cooking of Gaku, who appeared in the fall 2019 drama “Grand Maison Tokyo.”

In December, the year before INUA opened, a representative from Denmark saw Mr. Roberto’s work on Instagram and got in touch with him, and after making adjustments to meet the chef’s wishes, cutlery and bowls that had been thinned out to the limit were lined up in the store. .

INUA’s dishes are even calculated, even the sound of the cutlery hitting the bowl. Looking at the concept book posted on the company’s website, Mr. Roberto is introduced on the TABLEWARE (tableware and cutlery) page as “one of the core woodworkers.” When I read the introduction, “In Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture…”, even I, as a fellow citizen, felt proud.

It seems that there have been inquiries from overseas customers who visited INUA about purchasing them. This is cutlery that even discerning gourmets will want to get their hands on.

 

Unfortunately, INUA, where 70% of its customers were foreigners, was closed for an extended period of time from the end of March last year due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, and was forced to close in March of this year. Currently, it is impossible to enjoy the world’s best cuisine using cutlery made by Mr. Roberto.

However, even though I was in the mountains of Tenryu, I was able to connect with the world through Instagram, and I felt how amazing it was to be chosen.

I was shown the process of carving out the hollows on spoons.

For cutlery, we use Yamazakura, which has just the right amount of hardness and strength.

When I hear that Tenryu makes woodworks, I think, “Are they made of Tenryu cedar or cypress?” However, because the processing requires appropriate hardness and strength, hard hardwoods are used instead of soft cedar and cypress. use.

Insert the carving knife one by one without going against the grain of the wood. It’s a job that requires more careful control and concentration than I had imagined.

Depending on what you’re making, the pressure is applied to different places, so even if you’re used to it, you’ll end up with blisters on your hands. Apparently the limit is 10 per day.

The road to completion is long. Even after the carving is completed, the process of applying lacquer is repeated 4 or 5 times before it is finally completed.

What surprised me was that the shiny, smooth surface was simply carved with a knife. Don’t use sandpaper.

Carving along the grain of the wood creates a smooth, glossy surface.

[Fork manufacturing process]

After cutting the shape with a scroll saw, everything is done by hand.

“I don’t like decorating,” says Mr. Roberto, whose work is characterized by its simple design. However, the delicate form and beauty of the carving marks go beyond its simple simplicity, which is probably the reason for its popularity.

The most important thing is ease of use. “Even if it looks good, if it’s difficult to use, people won’t use it, right?”

It’s not just the weight and size that matters, but the texture. It was only when I was told that spoons and forks are things that go into your mouth that I became conscious of them. It’s true that the inside of your mouth is so sensitive that you can feel it even if a single hair gets in there. If the texture changes, the deliciousness of the dish may change.

Although the cutlery looks delicate, the hard wood and lacquer make it stronger than it looks.

Another appeal of lacquerware is that it does not require any special care, other than being dishwasher and microwave safe and being careful not to scrub it with a hard sponge.

Not only the cutlery but also the bean plates and other tableware were more beautiful, light and smooth than I had imagined. Even my photos, which are not professional photographers, look this beautiful.

I wanted it more and more, but since the products are made to order, I can’t buy them at the workshop. They also do not accept tours of the workshop.

All you have to do is check Mr. Roberto’s Instagram and wait for information on exhibitions and sales events.

He said, “I’m sorry for making you wait because I can’t make a lot of them,” but I’m proud that Tenryu is making something that fans all over the country and around the world will want to buy.

I, too, want to buy locally made products and use them with care.

I can’t wait for the next exhibition even more.

 

InstagramRoberto Jun Yuasa

[https://www.instagram.com/roberto_jun_yuasa/]