Delivering the Shogun’s Beloved Toothpicks to the Modern Age
An Artisan Craft with Over 300 Years of History
by Nobi Oda
Toothpicks are familiar tools at dining tables around the world, and in the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo there is a shop with over 300 years of history producing toothpicks alone. The shop is called Saruya. In particular, it stocks a large selection of toothpicks made from lindera umbellata, a shrub of the laurel species. Apart from being used in high end Japanese confectionery stores and sushi restaurants, there is also demand for their products as souvenirs and gifts. We interviewed Mr. Ryota Yamamoto, the 9th generation owner of Saruya, where they continue to produce, by hand, the same toothpicks much-loved since the Edo period.
Surviving as the only toothpick speciality store in the modern age
Back when Tokyo was called Edo, the Nihonbashi neighbourhood was the center of activity. Nihonbashi is the first station on the Tokaido Highway (of the 53 stations on the Tokaido Highway, which connected Edo to Kyoto. These inn towns are also well-known as the subject matter of Ukiyo-E paintings.), which even now remains as the ‘point of origin’ at which all Japan’s highways cross.
Nowadays, in the same Nihonbashi area redevelopment is advancing. In the Muromachi area in particular, new clusters of office buildings have just been erected, and with restaurants, halls and cinemas also emerging, the streets have become busier. Just a little bit away from that hustle and bustle on a back-street lies Saruya.
Inside the small shop, there are a wide variety of toothpicks on display. Aside from being used to clean the gaps between your teeth, in Japan toothpicks are also used when cooking and to skewer prepared foods in place. Furthermore, they are also used as an implement for eating Japanese-style confectionery (in this case, they are used as a fork would be).
The 9th generation owner of the business, Mr. Ryota Yamamoto, told us “Our two flagship products are our ‘regular toothpick’ and ‘confectionery pick’. The regular toothpick is small and designed for cleaning between the teeth, while the confectionery pick is larger and used to skwerer and cut Japanese confectionery. Apart from our low-cost goods section, all our products are made by hand from lindera umbellata.”
The history of Saruya goes back to the Edo period, when toothpicks were used like the modern-day toothbrush. Mr Yamamoto informed us that “according to one account, the popularity of lindera umbellata toothpicks began with Iemitsu Tokugawa’s (1623–1651, a ruler during Japan’s Edo period) liking for them, and it is said that once there were over 200 shops with the name ‘Saruya’ “.
Founded in 1704 in the Koami neighborhood of Nihonbashi, Mr. Yamamoto’s store is one of these Saruyas. However, in the past 300 years of history most of the shops have disappeared, so that today only one remains.
How did Mr. Yamamoto’s shop manage to survive? While there are number of possible reasons, the innovation that took place in his Saruya can certainly be cited as a contributing factor.
“In the Meiji period, the 5th generation Saruya owner, Shichiroubee (for successive generations the owners of Saruya all adopted the name Shichiroubee) hit upon the idea to make toothpick boxes that look like miniature treasure chests. The idea was that generation after generation, the head of Saruya would hand-write ‘treasure chest’ on the paulownia boxes.” This gave them added value as good-luck charms, and they became popular gifts.
Furthermore, in the Taishō period the sixth generation owner had the idea of making toothpicks that come with names or “tsujiura” fortunes written on them (fortune-tellers make tsujira based on overheard conversations of passers-by while standing at crossroads in the evening). In this period, there was a custom in the Hokuriku region of handing out senbei crackers with a fortune inside -*-. While in the case of senbei the fortunes is contained inside, toothpicks are wrapped in a piece of paper with a ‘love fortune’ poem written on it.
-*This variety of senbei crackers was introduced to America by Japanese nationals in San Francisco. After WWII, Chinese restaurants in America and Canada mimicked them, giving birth to the fortune cookie. As such, fortune cookies are actually Japanese and not Chinese in origin.-
Thus, it is certain that by adding additional appeal to toothpicks these 2 innovators are 1 of the reasons Mr. Yamamoto’s shop has survived as the only remaining Saruya.
Handmade from lindera umbellata : an obsession
The present-day Saruya sells its products wholesale to department and variety stores, and also runs an online shop. At first they were purchased by restaurants to distribute to customers at New-Years, but are now also use on a day-to-day basis in sushi restaurants and Japanese confectionery stores. Their products are also popular amongst tourists as souvenirs.
“In the past, our foreign customers mainly consisted of people from America and Europe who love Japanese culture. However, recently we were featured in a Korean guidebook of Japan which lead to an increase in our Korean customer base.”
Saruya has 2 points of obsession when it comes to their products, one of which is making them from lindera umbellata. There are a variety of materials used to make toothpicks, such as salix gilgiana, rhododendron quinquefolium, lindera umbellata and betula platyphylla, but of these lindera umbellata is the most suitable, and is used for high-end goods.
Deciduous trees and shrubs of the laurel family release a refreshing scent when broken. The scent comes from the bark, which is why lindera umbellata toothpicks always incorporate some bark. Lindera umbellata also has the right degree of flexibility and can stand a lot of use without splintering or snapping. “I think it is easiest to understand if you use one, but lindera umbellata toothpicks feel significantly nicer than others — that’s why so many people become devotees after just one use.”
Perhaps that is why Saruya’s toothpicks are even used in well-established Japanese confectionery shops and high-end sushi restaurants in Ginza that hold Michelin Stars.
Their other obsession is with making their products by hand. Saruya orders its products from factories in Osaka and Chiba where artisans carve each toothpick one-by-one. In the case of the ‘regular toothpicks’ that are small and intricate, one craftsman can produce 500 a day. For the ‘confectionery toothpicks’ the number is about 2000. “Our current craftsmen are reaching retirement age and so are training new workers to continue their craft. I believe that is our shop’s duty to stop the craft from dying out.”
Saruya lindera umbellata toothpicks products
A desire to increase the fame of this 300 year-old brand
The present owner of Saruya, Mr. Ryota Yamamoto, was born in 1981. After graduating from the Economics department of his university and working in an employment agency for 5 years, he returned to his family’s business. In 2013 he inherited the management of the business from his father, the 8th generation Saruyaowner Mr. Kazuo Yamamoto, and the shop was moved from its original premises in Koamicho to Muromachi.
At present, Mr. Yamamoto feels that his priorities are maintaining the quality of Saruya’s products and getting the brand-name more widely-known. “Toothpicks are, by their nature, products that sell at a steady rate. Sales aren’t influenced to heavily by the current economic climate. In March of this year Japan’s V.A.T. rate was raised from 5% to 8%, but even this didn’t have a big impact on sales”
However, there have been instances where our shop was featured on T.V. programs or elsewhere, and our sales increased like wildfire. When the rakugo story teller Ichimon Hayashiya mentioned that he uses our toothpicks on a prime time T.V. show, our sales went through the roof. There was a flood of online orders from around the country that continued for 2 and a half months.
Mr. Yamamoto realised that these dramatic increases in orders were due to the fact that the brand wasn’t very well-known in the first place. “It’s important to sell at a steady rate, not in bursts. But in order for that to happen our shop and products need to become more widely-known. Up until now we hadn’t really put effort into that sort of thing, so from now on I want to put energy into promoting our shop, step-by-step.” He also has the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in sight. “By then, I need to create and display explanations of our products that can be easily understood by non-Japanese speakers.
Looking to the future, Mr. Yamamoto is also devoting energy to products other than toothpicks. “I would love to develop into a company that sells not only toothpicks, but a variety of products made from lindera umbellata. Its merits aren’t limited to its scent and it is said that is has numerous applications. As for our toothpicks, our sales are very uneven as demand increases dramatically in November, December and January for New Year’s gifts. I’d like to work on making our sales more steady.
First of all, I am looking at aroma goods. We already sell aromatherapy oil extracted from lindera umbellata, but I would also like to make bath powder.”
Clearly, he has the blood of innovators flowing through his veins.
(photo: Daisuke Hayata translation Rebecca Bourke)
Originally published at ignition.co
