Respectful and honest craftsmanship . Workers at the Edouin jeans factory.

Gojome Town, where Akita Hose is located, is known for its traditional morning market that has continued for 500 years. Held every month on the days that fall on the 2nd, 5th, 7th, and 0, the market attracts a large number of visitors with a wide variety of goods ranging from daily necessities to vegetables, wild vegetables, mushrooms, and other delicacies from the mountains. The city also has a clear stream running through it, and rice cultivation using the clean water is thriving. In the suburbs, you can see peaceful scenery of rice paddies.

Near Akita Hose is the Fukurokuju Brewery, a long-established sake brewery that uses rich water to make delicious sake and shochu. In fact, three years ago, Edoin and the Fukurokuju Brewery collaborated to revitalize the local community. They created a selvedge denim apron with the logo of the popular junmai sake "ICHIHAKUSUISEI" dyed on it. In this way, Edoin and Akita Hose are firmly rooted in the community of Gojome.

Akita Hose" has a factory in the center of such a town of Gojome. The former men's wear sewing factory has been reborn as a jeans cutting and sewing factory. It is one of the factories with the longest history among the EDOIN factories, and handles the flagship models that represent the brand. Here, too, the people involved in manufacturing are mainly locals who were born and raised in the area. Some of them have been working here for two generations, father and son.

Yuka Igarashi, the factory manager of Akita Hose, is also a member of the staff who has been involved in the production of Edoin jeans for two generations, father and son.

My parents live near the factory, and my mother worked as a seamstress for 20 years. I remember she bought me a pair of "Edwin" jeans when I was a kid. I started to love jeans when I was in high school and wore them a lot. I had a special attraction to jeans that changed in texture as I wore them, and looked cool even after they faded.

Mr. Igarashi started working for Akita Hose nine years ago when his mother retired, and one year ago he was selected as the factory manager. He manages a staff of 60 people with a soft demeanor and an uncompromising attitude toward quality.

I started by using CAD to make cutting patterns. It helped me later to understand what parts are used in jeans. Even though I am the factory manager, there are staff members who are proficient in each process of cutting and sewing, so I am still in the position of being taught. With the help of the people around me, I hope to make the factory more exciting for everyone.

Mr. Igarashi says that quality is the most important factor in making jeans.

I tell my staff to make jeans that they themselves would like. If I am not even slightly satisfied with something, there is no way the customer will like it. We all strive to make better products, always from the customer's point of view.

The daily production target at Akita Hose is approximately 1,300 pieces. Since this many pieces must be produced smoothly and with as few defects as possible, we are not able to relax even for a single moment during the operation. However, Mr. Igarashi says that the hard work makes it all the more rewarding.

We receive orders for hundreds to thousands of pieces of each model. When production of an order is completed and we hear the customer say, "This is it! That gives me a great sense of accomplishment. That gives me the motivation to work on the next order.

Mr. Igarashi is passionate about making jeans. He owns about 20 pairs of Edouin jeans.

I always wear Edouin jeans when I work. I naturally become attached to them when I see everything from the creation of samples of new models to their shipping as products. So when I see them in the stores, I always end up picking them up. I always check the factory number on the product tag.

Akita's abundant nature and delicious food and sake are its charms," says Igarashi. Jeans will also be known as a new specialty of Akita in the future.

Kazuhito Kaneko has been working at Akita Hose for 30 years. He is a veteran staff member who has devoted himself to the cutting process.

I had a little part-time job at this factory when I was in high school. At that time, I was in charge of carrying cut fabrics. After that, I went out of the prefecture once to work at another job, then made a U-turn and got a job at Akita Hose. It was just the year the factory expanded and a new building was constructed."

Mr. Kaneko says he was impressed by the shiny new building that had just been completed. Today, computers and machines have automated the cutting process, but back then, everything was cut by hand.

At first I couldn't cut well at all, so I practiced a lot. With today's cutting machines, the fabric is cut by folding it 30 times, but when I was cutting by hand, I had to fold it 40 or 50 times more. Even now, I sometimes cut by hand when I need to cut out missing parts. The skills I acquired in the past come in handy.

Just because the cutting process has been automated does not mean that it can be left to the machine.

We have to fine-tune the way we cut different fabrics," he said. For example, some winter fabrics are lined and have two or three layers. Then it cannot be cut in the same way as regular denim fabric. Also, some fabrics, such as stretch fabrics, shrink after being cut. If the pattern deviates even by a millimeter or two, the subsequent process will not be able to proceed. Therefore, when a new fabric arrives at the factory, we make every effort to minimize mistakes by fine-tuning the machine to achieve the optimal setting. We are able to do this because of the cutting know-how we have accumulated over the years at the factory.

Mr. Kaneko likes the International Basic series, the most standard, simple, and easy to wear jeans produced by Akita Hawse. He would like to make a pair of jeans by himself someday.

I sometimes help out with sewing when we are short on labor, and it is fun to do something I have never done before. Eventually, I would like to learn sewing skills and wear jeans that I cut and sew myself.

Staff members like Mr. Kaneko, who are eager to learn new techniques, continue to support Akita Hose's manufacturing.

Jeans M.C.D." has staff of all ages, from veterans to young workers. This time, we interviewed some of the young craftsmen who will support the future of jeans production. They are Ken Suzuki (left photo) and Yutaka Koskegawa (right photo), who have worked at the company for 14 years and 11 years, respectively, and Fumiko Otomo (center right photo), who has worked at the company for 12 years and is in charge of shaving and other processes, and Ayaka Kamada (right photo), who is in charge of finishing and inspecting the final products. All four were born and raised in Akita.

I originally wanted to work in manufacturing, but I was strongly attracted to the process of processing jeans and decided to join the company. I originally liked jeans, so I was interested in the work of creating their tasteful look," said Kosukegawa.

I had known about Edouin for a long time through Brad Pitt's commercials, but I didn't know that the factory was actually located in Akita. Later, when I learned that a world-renowned brand's products were being made in my hometown of Akita, I became interested in working here," said Otomo.

Everyone seemed to have originally decided to join the company because they were interested in jeans.

Mr. Suzuki is in charge of the sample processing process. Jeans are washed using a mixing machine for samples, and repeated adjustments are made so that the color fades as ordered.

We try various methods to achieve the ideal look, such as shaving once they are washed and dried. Sometimes I even try on the jeans myself. It is very rewarding when a pair of jeans using the processing method I have devised becomes a product.

Mr. Kamada, the youngest of the four, is in charge of preparing the jeans after processing and getting them ready to be shipped as products.

I check for defects by applying steam to dry, wrinkled jeans and ironing them out, cutting the remaining threads. I am always concentrating on making sure that nothing is missed in order to deliver jeans of reliable quality to our customers.

Although the four are very serious when at work, during the interview they all had smiles on their faces, creating a congenial atmosphere. Although they work in different departments, they see each other every day at the factory, so they know each other well.

Each process is individual work, but all the processes are connected, so I have to think about the previous process as well as the process after it. If I make a mistake or take too much time in my own process, it will affect the entire process, so I cannot afford to lose focus.

I am blessed with senior staff who are always ready to help me with anything. If I have something I don't understand or am unsure about, I immediately ask my seniors. The atmosphere is very open, so it is very easy to work here.

When I first joined the company, Mr. Suzuki taught me how to shave. Sometimes we all go out for a drink together in the center of the city. But we never talk about work at that time (laughs).

Mr. Kosukegawa is in charge of the process to reproduce the color fading of samples processed on the mixing machine for testing in the production run. Even when set to the same conditions, there can be a blurring of colors between the test and production machines.

We repeat the test over and over again without compromising even the slightest difference in color so that we can faithfully reproduce color fading in the production process. The sense of accomplishment we get when we succeed in a difficult process or a process we are trying for the first time is exceptional."

Mr. Otomo is usually in charge of the shaving process, but he sometimes takes charge of the finishing process depending on the situation. He attaches flashers and hang tags to jeans and inspects them at the same time.

I am aware that I am a professional in the manufacturing field, and I try not to lose my concentration even during long hours of work. I also try to check every detail from the customer's point of view.

Mr. Suzuki instructing junior staff. By passing on his knowledge and experience, he is able to develop a new workforce.

After drying is complete, the jeans are placed in a machine called a pant topper, which applies steam to stretch out wrinkles. Mr. Kamada performs both this process and finishing in a single day.

Mr. Kosukegawa carefully checks the washed jeans. He pays attention to every detail to make sure that belt loops and other parts are not damaged.

Mr. Otomo attaches the tags with a serious expression on his face. I get excited when I see my jeans in stores or see people wearing them on the street!

As a manufacturer, I come into contact with EDOIN jeans every day, and I hear that each of you loves several pairs of jeans. We asked them what they find attractive about them.

There are so many variations, so you can find jeans that suit your tastes, and people of all ages can wear them." (Mr. Kosukegawa)

Even in the same series, the details have been changed to match the times, so it never looks old. Sometimes I modify my own jeans and wear them with a different atmosphere (laughs).

Four young craftsmen with pride in their work and love for jeans. We are sure that staff members like them will enliven the Japanese jeans scene and Akita's craftsmanship in the future.