Interview with Keisuke Nakano,
10th generation heir to the business

Keisuke Nakano inherited management of a historic rosary company.His father passed away when Mr. Nakano was in high school, and he managed the business with his mother and grandmother.A few years passed after he graduated from university, his mother, who had been a pillar of the family, fell ill.This led to Mr. Nakano focusing on rosary production in earnest.

My family has been involved in handmade Buddhist beads (called "juzu") for nearly 270 years. I'm the 10th generation heir to the business. I'd say we are one of the only companies with this long a history in making juzu beads. Incidentally, while some people in Japan call them "juzu" and others call them "nenju," the meaning is the same. The number of beads used is generally 108, which corresponds to the Buddhist idea of the 108 kleshas. Kyoto is famous throughout Japan for production of various Buddhist implements. In terms of beads alone, it accounts for 90% of Japan's total production. In other words, rosaries made in Kyoto are emblematic of Japan as a whole as a national craft good. Buddhist beads made in Kyoto are called "Kyoto nenju." These are high-quality beads that must meet a certain standard of quality.

Juzu in Japan today are used not only as a Buddhist ritual implement. Young people put them on their arms as a bracelet that also serves as a protective charm. These rosaries were originally used by Buddhist monks to count sutras by placing a fingernail between each bead to increment the count. Naturally, Buddhist monks still today use these types of beads when counting sutras while they chant. To briefly explain juzu beads, they come in materials like stone, wood, tree seeds, glass, acrylic, and so forth. Many people tend to think of quartz beads as the standard, but unique Japanese wooden beads are in fact very popular with our customers from overseas. Many travelers from overseas purchase rings made from cherry wood. As for the wood used in beads, we use a variety of woods that include cherry, linden, linden seeds, and in some rare cases cedar. However, cedar trees are not often used because the fibers of the wood are straight, so it is difficult to carve them into a round shape. In recent years, we have been exploring projects like using wooden pillars from temples to create zelkova beads, adapting beads to the denomination of that temple. We also repurpose zelkova trees that have been uprooted in earthquakes to create beads.

To give some background about myself, my father passed away when I was in high school, with my mother and grandmother handling the bead production after that time. I went to a university focusing on economics, so I did not study Buddhist implements or anything of that nature in particular. Of course, going back to my youth, I did help make beads during my summer vacations and the like. I wasn't actively interested in joining the family business after graduating, but nevertheless I did inherit it and worked on bead production. My mother was always there to help me, so I didn't feel like I was really responsible for the company, treating it more like a part-time job. A few years later, my mother fell in and had to be hospitalized for three months. I would get calls from customers, but I didn't have the answers for them. I didn't know the first thing about the job. I would take those questions back to my mother in the hospital and have them explained to me until I finally internalized them. It was around that time that I began saying to myself, "This won't do! I have to start thinking seriously about juzu beads!"

The beads we produce are made carefully by hand by artisans. The more you use them, the more you will appreciate their quality. We are seeing more and more people using them not as Buddhist rosaries, but as a fashion accessory. It's my hope that people get a chance to see and feel these beads in person and appreciate their true meaning as a Buddhist implement, and take an interest in purchasing a pair. One project we recently did was making a collar for cats with rosary beads. The idea is that it stands out if the cat runs away from home and you need to find it. The world of juzu beads is evolving in new and exciting ways. Our goal is to continue developing beads tailored to today's day and age, while at the same time safeguarding the longstanding traditions.