Okehama, an 88-year-old craftsman who made sauna bath tubs from 120-year-old Kishu cedar trees.

The Kumanoko Sauna at SEN.RETREAT TAKAHARA has a large Kishu cedar bath tub for taking a water bath after the sauna. The tubs are made by Okehama, a tub shop in Nonaka, Nakaheji-cho, Tanabe City.
The craftsman, Hamaji Matsumoto, who makes each tub by hand, is 88 years old. Although he once quit his job as a tub maker, he started his workshop again in his 60s and continues to receive requests from restaurants and private customers. We asked him about his passion and commitment to making tubs, as well as the secret of remaining active in the field throughout his life.

A 1-metre diameter tub is made from 120-year-old Kishu cedar trees.

SEN.RETREAT’s water bath tubs are made from high-quality Kishu cedar grown in the mountains of Kumano.
The tub is 1 m in diameter x 60 cm deep and is huge enough to hold two adults. The cedar used as timber is about 120 years old. The wood used for the tub is about 120 years old, and the company says, ‘Older trees have finer grain and can expand and contract, making them perfect for making large tubs’.

Recently, forests have become less well cared for and the number of older, high-quality trees is decreasing, but they were able to secure rare wood for SEN.RETREAT.
It took about 10 days to produce. The wood was made by combining more than a dozen planks that had been shaved with a plane so that there were no gaps between them, and fitting them into an outer frame called a hanger.

Sushi tubs, miso barrels and pickle barrels: ……Handles all kinds of vats.

Matsumoto-san became a tub craftsman at the age of 18, not long after the end of the war.
He became a live-in apprentice at a barge workshop, where he used cedar and cypress grown in the mountains of Kumano to make various types of vats for miso, sushi, soy sauce and other uses. Riding on the tailwind of the post-war period of rapid economic growth, he received an incessant flow of orders.
However, in the 1960s, demand for wooden tubs plummeted due to the spread of cheap plastic. The workshop where he worked closed down and the craftsmen fell apart. They then worked in sawmills for about 20 years and took a break from making tubs.

The turning point came when, after retiring at the age of 60, a neighbour asked him to repair a tub. After a long time, he worked with his hands and repaired the tubs, and the client was delighted with the workmanship.
With this opportunity, he decided to start again on the path of a tub craftsman, which had once been cut short. To make it easier for customers to stop by, he set up Okehama alongside Route 311 (about 2 km from SEN.RETREAT CHIKATSUYU, also along Route 311).

Although demand for tubs has slumped with the times, their value is now being re-evaluated. Wooden tubs absorb moisture and bring out the natural flavour of the material. This is a feature unique to wood that cannot be found in plastic.
The reputation of Mr Matsumoto’s tub making is slowly spreading by word of mouth, and people are still coming to him constantly for his tubs.

Customers include restaurants, hotels, temples and shrines, and private producers of miso and pickles. Some orders are modern, such as wine coolers and beer mugs, while some of the vats have 200-year-old engravings on them. The room in the house where the products are displayed is filled with the fresh scent of cedar.

I am happy when the people who use my tubs are happy.

Mr Matsumoto has been recognised as a master craftsman in Wakayama Prefecture, and his solid skills are highly regarded.
Now that he has reached the age of majority, he says he devotes himself to his work in his outdoor workshop every day, even in hot and cold weather.

When we asked him about the rewards of his work, he replied with a big smile.
When I ask him what he finds rewarding about his work, he replies with a big smile: ‘It’s a great feeling when I hear things like “thanks to the tubs we can eat delicious rice” or “thanks to the ease of use they’re so helpful”. Recently, I was happy when I received a thank-you letter from a customer who had made a tub to put white rice in, and I hope SEN.RETREAT customers can also have a pleasant bath in it.’