Tadao Okamoto
Born in 1942. Father of Keiji, President. As the eldest son of the Okamoto family, he has led Okamoto Orimono Co.
In 2011, he was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Silver Rays for his contribution to Nishijin textiles. Formerly a traditional craftsman.
I am the oldest son of the family that owns Nishijin Okamoto. From a young age, I watched my parents working, and it was not long before I decided that I wanted to join the family business and help them. I studied spinning and weaving in high school, where I learned a wide range of techniques, and gained a network of vendors that is still valuable today. After graduating high school, I entered the family business and dedicated myself to hand-weaving.
Nishijin Okamoto mainly produces Kinran silks for shrines and temples. When I joined the company, many of our orders were for Buddhist stoles and textiles that were lost in the war, and the demand was worlds apart from today. We had a lot of craftsmen too, and there was so much energy every day. We were so busy, so the mentality was “just weave. If you have time to think of other things, you have time to weave.”
It was important to do our jobs just as the wholesalers had ordered them, with the right measurements and the right patterns. If you were thinking about each detail and making adjustments, that was a sign that you were still a novice. When your body moved instinctively, you could call yourself a fully-fledged weaver. When I was young, I struggled to make progress. I couldn’t get my technique right and I was frustrated with myself.
I always strive to make the best textiles I can. Even when it’s a joint effort with another company, we get the complicated, important parts because we have the skills to handle them. Nishijin brocade is made by a series of small processes, and we all have to work together to create the product. The craftsmen are not personally credited in this line of work, but there’s a sense of pride when you see the finished product being used somewhere.
My father stayed in the business until he was 92, so I want to work as long as I can. I have a job, I enjoy the occasional holiday, and the work isn’t stressful. Nishijin brocade has evolved, but these days there’s the pleasure of working together with my son and his wife on new projects. I have no idea how they’ll turn out, but I hope they’ll use their knowledge and techniques to get people around them involved and make something new together.
(Interviewed on November 13, 2023 / Text by Sakiyo Morimoto)
