Hello,
Two days ago (September 22), it rained heavily in Japan, and I could really feel the deepening autumn atmosphere. I usually get around by motorcycle, and up until recently, it felt like I was being blasted by a hair dryer with the humidity, even at night. However, starting yesterday, it’s gotten much cooler. In any case, Japan’s summer is always humid.
I resigned from the pearl company where I had worked for ten years this past April, and now I work during the weekdays at a job unrelated to pearls. I do my pearl-related work in the evenings or on weekends.
I don’t see pearls as “work.” It feels more like a hobby to me. Several years ago, I decided I wanted to stay involved with pearls for the rest of my life as a profession I can carry on forever.
I think the reason I’m so passionate about pearls is partly because I love them, but mostly because of the experiences I gained when I worked for a pearl company and was involved in tasks related to pearl farms. I don’t think I would have continued this type of work if I had been in retail. Actually, my biggest hobby is playing the guitar, but I don’t have any specialized knowledge about it—I just enjoy it.
However, if I had worked in a guitar workshop or had gone on trips deep into the mountains of Brazil to look for the best wood for guitars, things might have turned out differently.
Ultimately, I think what has influenced me the most is studying how pearls are created. I left the pearl company because I developed adjustment disorder. While I wish I could have stayed with the company, I hope that when I look back in the future, I can say that leaving was the right decision.
Last week, there was a three-day holiday in Japan. During the holiday, I spent time practicing metalworking. I’m still learning, but I’m at the stage where I’m picking up techniques by making different pieces.
I’ve made a few pearl products. For example, with earrings, I usually just attach pre-made stud settings to the pearls. There’s almost no personal touch there.
But still, I try to provide the nicest pearls I can to people who are looking for simple studs. There’s probably a conservative side of me that believes simple earrings will attract a wider audience compared to making designs that are too unique.
After making pearl products like this for several years, I’ve found that I want to use my metalworking skills to create pieces that are as simple as possible but still have a bit of elegance.
I consider myself somewhere between an amateur and a professional, and I still have a strong desire to make my own findings. Above all, I enjoy the metalworking process. When it comes to necklaces, no matter what anyone says, I think I’ll always continue making all-knot necklaces with colorful thread. However, recently, I’ve only been using blue thread, so I think it’s time to make necklaces with a variety of colors.
Last week, during the three-day holiday, I had two unexpected visitors. One was a teacher who used to live in the same apartment building as me in Kobe three years ago. He now works at a school in Osaka after transferring from his school in Kobe.
It all started a year ago when the person living next to me, who runs a dining bar, gave me some pasta sauce. The bar owner has always been good friends with the teacher, who used to live in the same apartment. The teacher and I became friends because we both share a passion for motorcycles, and through that, I also became friends with the bar owner. That’s how I ended up receiving pasta sauce from him.
He said, “I made a huge batch of sauce, so I’m giving you some,” and handed me about five jars of it. The bar owner is the kind of person who, when I’m out on my balcony, picks fresh basil from his plants and gives it to me. He’s 60 years old but goes to the gym every night after closing his bar, so his body is as solid and strong as a Gundam. Surprisingly, his hobby is skateboarding. Despite being 60, he’s incredibly youthful. There are often young women coming in and out of his apartment. He insists that they are his daughters, but even I can figure out what’s going on. It might be the secret to his youthful energy.
I shared the pasta sauce with friends, one of whom was the teacher who had moved away. The weekend after I sent him the sauce, he came to visit me.
That evening, we went to the bar run by the guy who had given me the sauce. The next day, we went to see the ocean in September, but only he went swimming. Hardly anyone swims in the ocean in September, especially at night.
There’s an old superstition in Japan that ghosts appear in the ocean after the Obon festival, which is on August 15. It’s similar to Halloween in that it’s a time to honor ancestors.
In our family, we put chopsticks in an eggplant and decorate it. The chopsticks become legs for the eggplant, and the ancestors ride it back from the afterlife. Japanese Buddhism has many sects, but in my house, we use eggplants and chopsticks.
We don’t dress up like Halloween, but I think both Japan and the U.S. share a similar event in that we welcome our ancestors.
A year after the pasta sauce incident, the teacher suddenly reached out to me and came to visit.
One day, I randomly thought of him and was surprised when he contacted me immediately after. I had just been remembering how we had once had a barbecue by the river near Shin-Kobe Station. I was really surprised when I got home and found a message from him.
We met up last Saturday night and ended up drinking together until morning. We found out that we both had similar reasons for changing jobs and had faced similar struggles since then. He’s been reading sutras every day to reduce his mental stress, while I’ve been practicing meditation for five minutes every morning and evening. We laughed when we realized we were doing such similar things.
The next day, I met up with an old friend who had returned to Kobe. Even though it had been a while, nothing had changed, and we spent time together as usual.
Because of these events, I didn’t have as much time to focus on pearls, but it was still time well spent.
Also, last week, one of my customers who had traveled to Japan made time to meet with me. My English isn’t great, but she was very attentive and listened to me. I’m incredibly happy that I had such a wonderful experience through pearls. Even though I could only express about 20% of what I wanted to say, and hear about 20% of what I wanted to know due to my language skills, it was still a joyful time.
I think it’s ideal when you can meet the person behind an online store after purchasing something from them. There are so many risks involved in faceless online shopping. However, if there’s a chance to meet the person running the store, I feel those risks decrease significantly.
Quality and design are important in pearls and metalwork, but I also want to be a person and a store that can be trusted.
I also feel like I need to create more pearl products. My store doesn’t have a lot of items, so I might be being a bit unfriendly to customers in that regard. If I had more pearl products, visitors might be able to enjoy browsing more leisurely.
I feel lucky to have so many things I want to do, and I plan to tackle them one by one. I also want to see Lulu, so I need to organize my schedule properly.
Have a great day!
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