In Takizawa City, Iwate Prefecture, Mr. Kazuyasu Tayama has been a Nanbu Tekki (Nanbu iron kettle) craftsman for 50 years and founded his own workshop in 2011: the same year as The Great East Japan Earthquake. After earning a Master’s Degree and working for a food company in Tokyo, Mr. Tayama’s son Takahiro decided to walk in his father’s footsteps and join him.
The traditional craftsmanship and spirit of the Nanbu area will be passed down from father to son.
This is their thought and hope …
Iwate Prefecture: Tayama Tetsubin Kobo (Tayama Iron Kettle Workshop) ｜ 2015.06.22
Visiting a craftsman fascinated with Nanbu Tekki
Takizawa City is in the middle of Iwate Prefecture, adjacent to Morioka City. The surrounding nature like Mount Iwate loftily soaring in northwest has been depicted in poems by Takuboku Ishikawa and Kenji Miyazawa, as has the Kitakami River winding to the east. In this beautiful land began the history of Nanbu Tekki, back in the 17th Century.
The Nanbu feudal domain in Morioka retained iron pot craftsmen and founders from the whole of Japan, including Kyoto. In addition, by utilizing and manipulating the exceptional iron-sand and soil from this land, the Nanbu Tekki industry has greatly developed. Nanbu Tekki has been used and loved by many people for its outstanding quality and has even become the standard for convenience of use. Moreover, it is not only within Japan that Nanbu Tekki is greatly desired, these days its increasingly being sought after overseas as well.