Broom / Japanese Hemp Palm (Shuro) / 5-bundle

Product Description

Product Story

General Product Information

Only five brooms can be made every month.

It may feel a little heavy to hold, but you can use the weight of the tip to clean. Its width of the brrom makes it ideal for quick and easy cleaning of the living room or entryway!
If you hang it at the entrance or in your room, it can also serve as a lucky charm to “drive away evil spirits and sweep in good luck.

It is an excellent product that can be used for a long time depending on how you care. Each broom is carefully made one by one by our craftsmen, and is crafted in a calculated manner to ensure your satisfaction.

You may be thinking “Why using a broom now instead of hoover?” But try sweeping the fine grooves in the flooring or the corners of the room with this broom. You can easily clean every corner of the room. It also catches pet hair surprisingly well.

 Product History

When did these crafts start to craft?：200 years ago / 1800AD / Edo period in Japan

The date when the production of hemp-palm brooms began is not clearly known, but it is believed to have been in use since before the Edo period (1603-1868), much older than the broomcorn (Poaceae/annual grass), which appeared in the late Edo period (1800s). Although not much historical data remains on the broom as a household item, it can be seen depicted as a common broom in paintings from the Edo period. Palm brooms spread mainly in Kyoto, and it is said that hemp-palm broom making in the Nogamitani area of Wakayama Prefecture (from the area around present-day Kimino Town, Wakayama Prefecture, to the Arita River basin) was practiced in the late Edo period.

In the Showa period (1926-1989) and the postwar period (1945-1989), the Nogamitani area in Wakayama was the largest producer of hemp palms in Japan, and this had a great deal to do with the fact that the hemp palm industry (ropes, brushes, mats, brooms, etc.) flourished in the communities around Douki, where the town office is located. The hemp-palm broom industry also flourished, with as many as 20 or 30 individual stores specializing in this industry.

Most hemp-palm broom making was a small-scale cottage industry, with each household producing both inexpensive mass-produced products and high-quality brooms, which were distributed mainly to western Japan by local wholesalers and peddlers.

In a very small area, many craftsmen competed with each other, some using the division of labor to mass-produce inexpensive hemp-palm brooms, while others specialized in custom-made, high-quality brooms. The shape and design of the hemp-palm broom was created in the pursuit of a broom that was easier to sweep, stronger, and more pleasing to the eye.

Craftsman Story

Craftsman Profile

Fukami Industry
We have been engaged in the greening materials business for more than 70 years since our predecessor, Yoji Fukami, started the production of hemp palm rope at his home around 1950.
We are proud of the quality of our products, and we carefully and wholeheartedly produce them one by one so that they will continue to be a part of our customers' lives and be used for many years.

Craftsman Passion

“Bringing ecological living and a brighter future to the world.”
We have been involved in the greening materials business for more than 70 years since our establishment, and our motto is to provide good products to our customers. Although it is a common practice to provide good products to our customers, we have been told by our predecessors that we cannot produce good products if we fail to do what is obvious, namely, to “do the ordinary things thoroughly.

In these days when environmental problems caused by plastics have been widely discussed, our greening materials are environmentally friendly products that weatherize naturally and do not damage the environment, leading to the next generation.

  

Your Contribution to Craftsman

Customer Voice

Due to the market structure (link for full articles are attached bottom), craftsman have not known who the customer is and how customer reacts to their work. We made a “Message to Craftsman” box at purchase page. We will deliver all message to every craftsman. Our review will be also shared to craftsman so please leave your comment and evaluation on review section!

Income for Craftsman: Craftsman get only less than 10% of selling price?

As written above, craftsman have not controlled last phase of sales channel that resulting in selling price is set by third-party without craftsman’s recognition. There are some cases that only less than 10% of selling price is given to craftsman. We promise with our customer / craftsman that we offer the fair trade with craftsmen in our contract!

We made an article about above problem and our challenge. Please have a read from below link.
Current state of the Crafts Market / Benefits brought by Suigenkyo

Measurement

Height：123cm
Weight：500g

Material & Caution

Materials

Palm
Bamboo

 

Caution

Individual Difference

Each piece is handmade, so there are individual differences even in the same series. We hope that you will understand the change by handmade.

Delivery Date

Please note that it will take about 1~2 months for delivery if we do not have the item in stock.