Shoeshiner's Journey part18 Mr, Tomohiko Koumae (THE FACTORY by Brift H)

This is a series of "Shoeshiner's Quest". There are many wonderful shoeshiners in the world! In this 18th installment, we are pleased to introduce our first shoe repair craftsman, Tomohiko Yukimae, manager of THE FACTORY by Brift H. What is Kozen's ambition, which is rooted in his life as a shoe repairer that started at a famous shoe repair store?

How did you become a shoe repairer?

I originally had little interest in leather shoes and had never worn them. I played basketball, so I liked sneakers, especially bashes, and I bought a lot of them. Especially NIKE. I was a serious basketball player until the third grade of junior high school, but I failed the high school entrance exam and entered a private high school that was so strong that it was ranked in the top 16 or so in the nation in basketball.

I almost didn't go to high school at all, and I felt that if I missed one more day, I would be out of school for the next three years. One day, on the way home from work, my father heard on the radio that there was a orthopedic shoe school in Kobe and told me about it. I went to the school because they were holding an open campus, and I decided to enroll because many of their graduates were employed by Asics and other companies, and I thought I could advance into the sports shoe field.

The curriculum was to study footwear and shoes for two years, and there was a three-month training program outside the school, so I went to ASICS's Sports Engineering Laboratory, which at the time made shoes for top athletes such as Ichiro and Naoko Takahashi. There I met Mr. Mimura, who is known as a god in his field, and I chose this place for my training because I wanted to meet him.

I thought that even if I graduated from school and got a job, I would probably end up working on a factory line, and that's when my heart broke and my path was closed. When I was about to graduate, thinking about what to do without looking for a job, a classmate told me about a famous shoe repair store in Tokyo. I immediately called and went to Tokyo the day after the graduation ceremony to have an interview. I started working on the second day after graduation (laughs). My brother was already living in Tokyo at the time, so I moved in there and started my life as a shoe repairman.

To be honest, I have been doing shoe repair since then without having time to think about it. I had a class at a vocational school where we had to repair shoes worn by patients with bad feet, and I was impressed by how happy they were to be able to wear their favorite shoes again.

The shoe repair shop I entered was the most prestigious in Japan, and there were many great senior workers there. I was assigned to the ladies' shoe department, where I was trained in ladies' shoe repair. The factory manager and my seniors taught me well, but although I was confident because I had touched the finisher (a machine used to repair shoes) at school, I found it quite difficult when it came to work. The condition of the shoes changes depending on who wears them, so it is not a monotonous repetitive process, but rather a case-by-case basis. That trained me quite well.

I knew how shoes are made and the structure of shoes from school, but what I found interesting about shoe repair work was that, for example, the same model of leather shoes can be worn in different ways by different wearers, and the degree of pain can be different, even between left and right shoes. Also, if I see that the shoes have been repaired before, I feel that the person wants to take good care of them and wear them for a long time. It was interesting to be able to see or feel the person through their shoes even though I had never met them. It was also very rewarding to be able to be a part of that.

Do you have anything in particular that you keep in mind when repairing shoes?

I try not to show my originality. The biggest difference between shoe repair and shoemaking is that there is a finished product first. I was taught a long time ago that the ego of the repairer is not necessary when repairing a finished shoe that has been worn out.

So when I was a newcomer, I was put in charge of breaking down all soles, and I learned the specifications of each brand during the breaking down process. I learned the height of the heel, the shape of the buckles, the specifications of the decorative nails, and so on. Especially when a new pair of shoes came in, it was a good chance to see the original condition, so I made sure to look at them and memorize them. Nowadays, you can look things up on the Internet, but 20 years ago, there was no such thing, so I was desperate.

I also made it a point to look carefully at the repair history. For example, if the heel height of these shoes was supposed to be 21mm, but I saw that it was 17mm, it may be that the heel was lowered on purpose. If we return the shoes to the original height, the comfort of the shoes may change, so we pay close attention to such things. We can ask the customer many questions face-to-face, but we cannot ask directly at the factory, so this is an area where experience is necessary.

Are there any shoes or customers that made a deep impression on you?

It was a long time ago, but I was in charge of a pair of Chrome Hearts engineer boots for a famous Kabuki actor, and a silver charm attached to the cuff of the boots was lost during the work. I eventually found it and got away with it, but the fear I felt at that time still traumatizes me to this day (laughs).

I was the manager of a women's shoe repair store at Ginza Mitsukoshi at the time, and I received a complaint from a female customer who was not satisfied with the workmanship of her Jimmy Choo shoes. Another staff member repaired the shoes, but while I was dealing with the customer, I told her, "I am confident in my skills, so please let me repair the shoes again. After the repair, the customer liked the work and became a regular customer.

For a long time, I had been repairing shoes in factories and other backstage locations without asserting myself, but after this experience, I realized that it is important to be confident in my skills and to make proper proposals to customers. After that experience, I became more confident in myself. However, I have never thought that I am good at repairing shoes (laughs). (laugh) When I first joined the company, they were the most incredible group of repairmen in Japan, and I remember wondering how they were able to fix things so quickly and with such high quality. The passion was also quite great, and the impact I received at that time was quite large. I sometimes receive compliments from people around me, but I still feel like a trainee with no end in sight.

Do you have any goals?

I can't think about the future because of my personality, but the recent sneaker boom and customization movement is a world that doesn't exist for leather shoes, so I'm hoping to create such a movement for leather shoes as well, although I don't know the specifics yet.

Last year, I tried a project called "Remake Sense," which is currently on hiatus, but it was a fresh experience for me to realize that I can express myself in this way as well. I think it would be interesting if I could do something like that using my repair skills. I would like to do something that will change the concept of repair. There is practical customization, but I don't think anyone is doing the kind of work that creates art pieces.

At Brift H Aoyama, we offer a service called "Counter Repair," which allows customers to see the process of all soles being repaired right in front of them, and at the end of the repair, we frame the removed worn soles and present them to them as gifts. I would like to create value that has never existed before. I think I may have been a bit frustrated by the fact that I didn't want to express my originality, as I was saying earlier (laughs).

(Laughs.) What do you have to say about online shoe repair?

I think it is a very innovative service that allows customers to have their shoes repaired from the comfort of their own home, so I would like everyone to experience it first hand. Since I can't see the customer's face directly, I try to be more imaginative and think about what kind of person is wearing the shoes and how they feel!

The other day, a customer wrote on a post-it, "Please repair my favorite shoes. I'm always more imaginative and consider what kind of people wear my shoes and how they feel about them. Please don't hesitate to write us your requests and suggestions, so that we can show our true potential as a craftsman.

I know this is a strange question, but do you have a favorite repair process?

The other day, a customer asked me, "Do you have a favorite process? I was asked by a customer the other day, "Do you have a favorite process?" And what came to mind was a process called "silver stripping," in which the surface is scraped to a nubuck-like finish. I also like and am good at replacing leather heels. It is the most frequently requested repair work, and it is easy to see that the heel has been repaired when you look at it, which is the simplest and most pleasing thing to do.

It has been more than four years since Yukimae joined Brift H, but when we talked to him again about how he became a shoe repairer, there were many unexpected things that made this an enjoyable interview. I am very interested in the fact that he is now looking for a way to create originality in his work, even though he was swept away by the rough and tumble of "shoe repair" when he graduated. We hope that you will take advantage of our online shoe repair service and experience our shoe repair services.