Paris Shoe Shine Travelogue: First Half
Taking Japanese shoe polishing to the world. This time, Hasegawa Yuya headed to the city of lights, Paris. He demonstrated his supreme techniques through demonstrations at Maison & Objet, one of the world's largest exhibitions, and a shoe polishing event at local denim brand Super Stich. After interacting with local craftsmen, he became convinced of Japan's unique "theory of shoe polishing evolution." We bring you a report on his enthusiastic activities in Paris.
Today, I, Hasegawa, will be doing something a little unusual and reporting on my overseas activities. Yes, that's right. This time, I was in the "City of Flowers," Paris, where I got serious about shoes.
Going back to last month, on January 16th, I spent nine days there with only one goal: to spread the word about Japanese shoe polishing to the world. As part of the activities of "SHOESHINE GRANDPRIX," an event I am the founder of, I set off for Paris carrying a full set of shoe polishing tools. It was half training, half sightseeing... no, it was 70% shoe polishing.
On my first day in Paris, I quickly battled jet lag, dropped my bags at the hotel, and headed to MAISON & OBJET. It's one of Europe's largest exhibitions, bringing together interior design, furniture, accessories, fashion, and more. Its sheer scale makes you wonder, "Wow, can you really see everything here in one day?"
This time, I was in charge of demonstrating shoe polishing at the Lion Shoe Cream booth in the Japan booth. I polished so many shoes over the two days, and the reactions of the French people were so enthusiastic.
Every time I saw people peering at their shoes with expressions that asked, "Why are they so shiny?" and "What's going on?", I realized that Japanese technology has been passed down to them. Japanese shoe polishing is truly impressive.
Afterwards, we moved to Paris and held a shoe shine event at the denim brand "Super Stich." The owner, Arthur, is a nice guy who has trained in denim in Japan and worked at a factory in Okayama, and we felt a sense of familiarity with him as he spoke Japanese from time to time. The store and workshop space was also lovely, and the atmosphere was great, with a mix of nationalities, from local Parisians to Japanese customers.
At this time, Paris Fashion Week had just begun, and many designers and people in the fashion industry visited the store, and the conversations they had while polishing shoes were stimulating. It was a completely different environment from Japan, and I felt like my senses were broadened.
On the way, we also dropped in on a local shoe repair shop. We stopped in right after it opened and spent about 10 minutes exchanging information. The repairman was a young man who had studied design at school. Apparently, there are hardly any "shoe shine shops" in Paris, and it's common for repairs to be completed by polishing the shoes.
After hearing this story, I was deeply impressed that Japan's shoe polishing culture has indeed evolved in its own way, and is, so to speak, a "shoe polishing Galapagos."
So that's it for the first half of my Paris shoe shine travelogue. In the second half, even deeper encounters and realizations await. See you next week. Don't miss it!