煤竹は囲炉裏や竈門のある藁葺き屋根の古民家の天井や屋根の建材として百年以上の歳月を掛けて煙や煤で燻され、飴色や煤竹色に染められた古竹です。現在では藁葺き屋根の民家が無くなりつつあり、新たな本煤竹はほとんど採れなくなってしまった貴重な素材です。
家が建てられてから解体されるまでの約百年の歳月の間にゆっくり水分と油が抜け、竹の硬度が上がります。しなりがあり、変形しにくい素材として、古来よりそろばんの軸や刀の目釘として利用されてきました。

What is "Susudake"?

Sootty bamboo is aged bamboo that has been smoked and stained amber or sooty for over a hundred years as building material for the ceilings and roofs of old thatched-roof houses with hearths and stoves. Nowadays, thatched-roof houses are disappearing, and new genuine sooty bamboo is becoming increasingly rare, making it a precious material. Over the approximately 100 years from the time a house is built until it is dismantled, the bamboo slowly loses moisture and oil, increasing its hardness. Because it is flexible and resistant to deformation, it has been used since ancient times for abacus shafts and sword pegs.

　囲炉裏の煤で燻された表皮は深みのある濃い茶色に変色し、ところどころには紐で縛られた跡が明るい色合いとして残ります。
茅葺き屋根を解体した段階では、表面に真っ黒な煤が付着しているため、煤を落とさないと本当の竹の表皮の色はわかりません。
煤を丁寧に拭き取り、表皮があらわになると絶妙なグラデーションや文様が現れます。
これを景色として愉しむ、他に二つとない素材が創られます。

A One-of-a-Kind Material

The outer layer, smoked by the soot from the hearth, has changed to a deep, dark brown color, with traces of strings remaining in lighter shades in places. When the thatched roof is dismantled, the surface is covered in a thick layer of black soot, so the true color of the bamboo's outer layer cannot be seen until the soot is removed. Once the soot is carefully wiped away and the outer layer is revealed, exquisite gradations and patterns appear. This creates a unique material, one of a kind, to be enjoyed as a part of its beauty.

箸には漆を使用した「塗り箸」、杉などの木をそのまま使った「懐石箸」、近年ではプラスチック製の「リターナブル箸」など、さまざまな素材のものがございます。
当工房で主に使用している素材「煤竹」は、茅葺き屋根の民家を百年以上支え続け、一度はその役割を終えた「古材」です。
役割を終えた材に新たな役割を与えたいと考え、箸として再生させております。
屋根の重さに耐えながら長い時間を刻み、その屋根の下での人の営みによって醸し出された深い色合いを愛でつつ、食事をお愉しみいただけましたら幸いです。

Chopsticks come in a variety of materials, including "lacquered chopsticks," "kaiseki chopsticks" made from natural wood such as cedar, and more recently, "returnable chopsticks" made from plastic. The main material we use in our workshop, "Susudake chopsticks," is "reclaimed wood" that supported thatched-roof houses for over a hundred years and has now completed its role. We wanted to give this wood a new purpose, so we have repurposed it into chopsticks. We hope you will enjoy your meal while appreciating the deep colors that have been cultivated by the people who lived beneath the roofs, as these chopsticks have endured the weight of the roofs and the passage of time.