18｜The History of Glass: Kimoto Glass's Challenges and Glass Manufacturing (Part 1)

Hello! I assume that those of you reading this blog are currently enjoying Hokkaido's nature, food, and sake/wine. After returning from Hokkaido, I'll be embarking on a round-the-world trip, starting with Southeast Asia at the end of July, and then from mid-August, I'll be going from NY to South America and Europe. Please look forward to those reports as well.

Now, I've been writing about the history of glass manufacturing in the world and Japan. In the 1950s, glass manufacturing shifted from manual production to automation, enabling a dramatic increase in production volume and consistent quality. This led to mass consumption, with glass becoming widely used in ordinary households and also favored as gifts for weddings and other celebrations. Not only glass but also cars, home appliances, and the beer/beverage markets moved towards mass production and consumption. To promote sales, advertisements were placed and aired not only on newspapers and radio but also on television, which started broadcasting at the time. As a sales promotion tool, campaigns and sweepstakes began to use large quantities of glasses. Beer glasses and sake glasses used in restaurants were distributed in large quantities, either free of charge or for next to nothing, by major beer, sake, and beverage manufacturers as promotional items. The glass market grew both in terms of quantity and value.

On the other hand, with mass production by major manufacturers and automation, the unit selling price dropped sharply. The emergence of supermarkets led to the rapid expansion of a uniform market where the same products could be sold in large quantities, causing significant changes in the market environment. After the 1970s, it is very unfortunate that many existing handmade glass factories, glass artisans, and wholesalers, who could not adapt to these environmental changes, significantly decreased in number due to bankruptcy, closure, or consolidation.

Seiichi Kimoto, the current president of Kimoto Glass Co., Ltd., and I were both born in 1956 (Showa 31). It's a kind of fate that we were born at a time when mass production began and the industry underwent a major transformation (laughs).

Therefore, the theme from now on will be to look back at the history of Kimoto Glass, the surrounding environmental changes, Kimoto Glass's transformations/challenges for survival, and the manufacturers, factories, and Edo Kiriko artisans who are our partners.