From Abashiri to the World one step at a time
The History and Future of the Ryuhyo Glass Museum
In this interview, Noboru Gunji, the head of the studio, and Chieko Gunji, the general manager, talk about what inspired them to open the Ryuhyo Glass Museum and their thoughts on future initiatives. (Recorded on February 2021)
The book that started the journey with glassmaking
– Noboru, what made you interested in glass?
When I was a child, my parents ran a retail store that sold toys and children’s clothes, and I thought I was to take over the store in the future. However, when I was in my third year of college, my father told me that he was closing the store and that I would have to figure out my own path. Up until that point, I had not attended many classes at the university and had not done any job hunting. I had been too absorbed in my American football team so I was suddenly forced to think about my future. “What could I do?” When I seriously thought about it, what came to mind was a career in manufacturing. Ever since I was a child, I had relatives who were fishermen and flower farmers so I had a longing to work with something that was hands-on. I was also into primitive activities such as making knives by pounding and crushing nails. Around that time, my father recommended to me a book called “Cheval’s Ideal Palace.”
My father is an avid reader and every so often he would recommend a book that he found interesting or thought would be a good fit for me. This book is the true story of Cheval, a French letter carrier who tripped over a stone one day and started to collect stones he found on his way to deliver mail. He then spent more than thirty years building a palace inspired by some foreign building on a postcard that he saw in the mail. The story was so shocking to me that it became a turning point. I thought, “If one was to continue to make something for over thirty years, they would most certainly encounter such an interesting and one-of-a-kind experience like no other.” After that, I diligently researched the manufacturing business and visited pottery kilns. One day, I went to a glassmaking studio in Otaru and was completely fascinated by the sight of molten hot glass moving organically and being shaped by craftsmen while it hardened.
When I thought about my future, another thing that came to mind was the scenery of Abashiri, my beloved hometown. I felt that my dream to set up a studio and create things in Abashiri would come true through glass making. I also saw a link between the ice, snow and lake water and beautiful glass work. When I consulted with people at the Otaru studio, they recommended that I go to a glassmaking school to learn the techniques in-depth. That is when I decided to take a break from college and go to school in Tokyo.
Chieko: Noboru and I were classmates at the university, but everyone was talking about what he was doing instead of coming to class. He was a bit of a unique presence. I was also amused in his choice to go to glassmaking school because it was very unusual.
Feeling uncomfortable with glassmaking using large amounts of fuel
– At that glassmaking school, you became to feel this big contradiction, right?
Noboru: I enjoyed learning new technology at the beginning of my work and during the first year. However, after the second year, I felt contradicted and uncomfortable consuming large amounts of fuel to make beautiful glasswork. It was because I watched a young girl’s speech on the Internet. It shocked me and has changed my whole view of the world ever since. The video was a speech given by 12-year-old Severn Suzuki, born the same year as me. She addressed world leaders at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Environmental Summit) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In response to issues such as the depletion of the ozone layer and the extinction of wild animals, she urged us to stop destroying things we do not know how to fix. She also questioned how it was that we, who had everything, could be so greedy after she mentioned that she met a homeless child in Brazil who told her, “If I were rich, I would give food, clothing, medicine, a place to live, kindness, and love to every homeless child.” And to the adults in charge of the world and be passed on to the next generation, she concluded with strong words, saying, “You always tell us that you love us. If this is true, please prove it through your actions.”
I had long felt that the drift ice I saw every year in Abashiri was decreasing, so I was slightly aware of global warming being a problem. And after watching Severn Suzuki’s speech, my awareness became a conviction. From that moment on, I could not continue creating because watching my friends joyfully create glasswork was extremely difficult.
From that point on, the road to resolving my feelings of this contradiction began, and it is where the current philosophy of the Ryuhyo Glass Museum was originated. First, I started studying kilns to see if there was a way to reduce fuel consumption. I read engineering books on my own, went to workshops that were particular to making kilns and kept learning on how kilns worked. I also read books recommended to me. Instead of going to school, I visited workshops. I even bought a kerosene fan heater, dismantled it and made a burner for melting glass. At the vocational school, we had a year-end graduation project. Instead of creating any glass work, I made a model of a thermally efficient melting furnace along with a panel presentation to go along with it. The teacher insisted until the end that I present glass work; however, I pushed my idea through and made it my graduation project. Although I didn’t get a good evaluation from the school, the artists who visited were interested in my project. The people who actually ran workshops had the same feeling of contradiction all along. Until then, they thought it was a giveaway in making glass so they were actually interested in my proposal for a well efficient melting furnace. I was then convinced that pursing this issue was necessary, and I decided to continue my journey to resolve this contradiction.
Chieko: Noboru met key people everywhere he went, as he did when he got connected to his vocational school from the glass studio in Otaru.
Noboru: That’s right. The two years I spent at the vocational school were a particularly peculiar period. With my unresolved feeling looming on me, I would ask my teachers about the efficiency of kilns. But they would not tell me because it was not their specialty. But one of my teachers told me about a studio that specialized in kiln fuel efficiency so I decided to make a visit. At that workshop, they introduced me to specialized publications so I started to spend a lot of time in bookstores. There I was reading books on fluid mechanics and combustion engineering and wondered if I could use them in a glassmaking kiln. I was lucky in the sense to have great connections with a lot of people and a lot of information and at the perfect timing which made my purpose take form.
Encountering locally produced recycled glass
Noboru: After graduation, I decided to further study raw materials. I found a job at a large Ryukyu Glass factory in Okinawa. Ryukyu Glass was first made by recycling cola bottles discharged by the US military bases in Okinawa. Recycled glass bottles leave fine bubbles, which is usually not favored as an industrial product; however, Ryukyu Glass makes good use of these bubbles in its design which was something I learned a lot from. Okinawans who are not familiar with snow, expressed these bubbles as forms from the ocean, such as tidal waves. But as a native of Hokkaido, I thought, “This is snow! This is ice!” When it came time to open my own workshop, I already had a stock of ideas to express the bubbles as snow or ice.
In the meantime, I continued my research on recycled glass. Some workshops use recycled window panes and empty bottles. I heard that the composition of empty bottles varies depending on the manufacturer which results in an excessive amount of work to remove the labels as well as to actually collect and sort the bottles. And since bottles have a high melting point, they also use a considerable amount of fuel. On the other hand, I found out that the materials of fluorescent bulbs were homogeneous and had a low melting point, similar to the composition of blown glass. Thinking that there must be somewhere in the country where fluorescent lamps could be processed, I asked my father to help me in the search. Through various contacts, he found Nomura Kohsan Co., Ltd.’s Itomuka Plant located in Rubeshibe-cho, Kitami City, which is a neighboring town of Abashiri. I immediately negotiated with them and was able to receive a supply of raw materials. A year later, I left the factory in Okinawa and decided to open the Ryuhyo Glass Museum in Abashiri.
When I was working at the factory in Okinawa, I had the opportunity to teach glassmaking for three months at one of the directly managed factories based in Vietnam. At that time in Vietnam, there was a lot of energy among young people striving to aim higher. The Vietnamese are typically dexterous because they live on manual labor in the absence of goods. They also are extremely eager in earning a higher wage and to be able to live a better life which makes them quick learners. It was a culture shock for me because I had been taught that the Japanese were the dexterous ones. I asked myself, “While the Vietnamese people already have the technology to make such beautiful things, does it make any sense for us to continue doing so also in Japan?” So, the fact that I could actually make environmentally friendly glass using locally supplied raw materials was a big convincing point for me to move forward. It also was in line with my concern to do something about the drift ice which to me is one of the barometers of the environment. So that in all was my motivation for me to open a studio in Abashiri.
Chieko: I think it’s amazing how Noboru chose his destiny to live as a craftsman while he was at the factory in Okinawa. He was born in a merchant’s house. So, he knew even if he graduated from glassmaking school that if he wasn’t able to produce quality products that customers wanted, he wouldn’t be able to survive. At the time when it became possible to search for information on the Internet, he searched for a workshop where there were many craftsmen and where he could learn their techniques. He then found the factory in Okinawa and Iittala in Finland.
At first, the factory in Itoman City, Okinawa didn’t want to deal with him. But since Itoman and Abashiri were friendship cities, he tried to establish a connection with them through their city hall. They refused to let him in because they didn’t allow people from outside of the prefecture. But he persisted and the plant manager told him to show his skills at winding glass. The plant manager gave in and said, “Well, ok. That’s fine enough.” He worked hard for six years to acquire the skills needed there even though the job was tough. I don’t think he could have acquired the same experience if he had gone to a small private workshop. By the way, he went to the Finnish Embassy and sent an email to the Iittala Nuutajärvi factory, but he never got a reply.
Noboru: Maybe I didn’t get through to them because of my poor English skills (lol).
The ability to support recycling and environmental education
– Chieko, when did you first become interested in environmental issues?
Chieko: When I was in elementary school, I first heard about the importance of recycling and what would happen to the world if we didn’t recycle. I also learned about it from newspapers and the general news. When I heard that global warming would lead to the disappearance of islands and about the overflowing landfills, I knew that something had to be done. That’s when I became interested in environmental issues. I believe it is meaningful for each and every one of us to take action on this global issue. And as I do so now, I am consistently in search for actions that I can take.
Noboru: I have always had a strong sense of justice. So even if everyone might let go of certain things, I was the type of person that would consider the consequences and would always be vocal about it.
Chieko: I don’t consider myself to have a strong sense of justice, but Noboru often says that I do. There was a time I wanted to become a school teacher because I thought that education was important when it came to socio-environmental issues and to be able to change society’s mindset; however, I chose a different path. Then, when Noboru told me his philosophy of the Ryuhyo Glass Museum and what he wanted to do, I thought to myself, “This is it!” So, I started preparing my move to Abashiri. Looking back on the past 10 years since the museum opened, I am fascinated by the fact that I am able to be involved in environmental education and recycling through activities with domestic and overseas visitors as well as students on school trips. I myself am not that interested in actual glassmaking, but I think I can keep supporting him with these issues. Another reason why I decided a life at the Ryuhyo Glass Museum with Noboru is the wonderful environment of Abashiri. The first time I visited Abashiri was in May of the year it opened. I was mesmerized by the sparkling sea, lakes and rivers, which I had never seen before despite being from Hokkaido. Since it was such a clear day, I could see the Shiretoko Mountains all the way to the tip. It was more beautiful than the Alps that I had seen before while in Europe. I remember that day vividly.
The struggles in getting feedback from department stores in the metropolitan area
– What was the reaction of the people around you when you opened the Ryuhyo Glass Museum in 2010?
Noboru: In the first two to three years of our business, we were often invited to participate in events at department stores in the Tokyo metropolitan area. I was often asked, “If you are making glass in Hokkaido, why not in Otaru? And why in Abashiri?” When I explained that I felt a strong sense of fate because of the proximity between my studio in Abashiri and the recycled fluorescent lamp processing plant, I didn’t get the response I was expecting. The general public was not interested in environmental issues and recycling at that time, so instead, I got responses such as “Why isn’t the price cheaper since the products are made from recycled materials？” and “Aren’t recycled materials inferior?”
Chieko: At first, we thought it would be a good PR opportunity to have exhibitions in big cities, and, indeed, our products certainly sold. However, we felt it was too early to get a satisfying response to our main philosophy while exhibiting. So, we changed course and decided instead to communicate directly to customers who came to our workshop in Abashiri. As we did so, we began to feel that our message was getting across because many of our visitors could experience first-hand the scenery of Abashiri and feel attuned to our story. The response from foreign visitors were also great. That is what kept me going, and so I was able to take the not-so-great experience in Tokyo with a grain of heart.
Gradually gaining notoriety with the boost of the SDGs movement
Chieko: I tried to be patient in waiting for people who would sympathize with our work. I steadily kept sending out information about the daily activities of our studio through social networking services. As I did so, I began to receive calls from companies who wanted to collaborate. One of them was the upcycling project that we have been working on for the mail order company Felissimo since 2015. From there, our work spread to Tokyu Hands’ Shibuya and Shinjuku stores where the products were sold for a limited time only. Also, our glass was used for the guest rooms at the TRUNK (HOTEL) in Shibuya where the concept of “Living with a Social Purpose” was adopted. Also, as of 2020, Alef Co., Ltd., an environmentally conscious and progressive company that aims to create a sustainable, recycling-oriented society, is using 1,200 drift glass pendant lights in seventy of their Bikkuri-Donkey restaurants.
Our business concept of intertwining “using products” as well as “selling products” has been well established at our Abashiri workshop. During the past year or two, due to the influence of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted at the UN Summit in 2015, we have had more and more opportunities to be featured in the media and being able to attract attention. I am happy to think that time has finally come for our message to be conveyed.
Using educational trips as an opportunity to promote interest in recycling
Noboru: Since the fourth year of the museum’s opening, the number of visitors who use the museum for educational tours and corporate training has increased. In addition to the glassmaking experience, I also have a good chunk of time to talk about the museum’s environmental activities and facts about glass. The oohs and aahs from the children and the encouragement from the adults are very rewarding. When I tell them, “We are doing this to keep the drift ice in Abashiri alive,” they seem to grasp the urgent reality with a lasting impression. The glass from the Itomuka Plant is not only used as drift ice glass, but is also recycled as glass wool for building materials and as aggregate for cement. When I tell them that scallop shells or old batteries can be recycled and be used to color glass, they get excited since it is unexpected. I hope through our glassmaking experience they will also become interested in recycling.
Chieko: I deal with people every day, hoping to leave them with something that will make them feel like it was worth their trip. I think it only takes a little something to change people’s minds. I believe that elementary school students who come here on educational trips would adopt their newly received information and be able to easily make changes. It would be wonderful if they could go home and tell their families about what they learned here. Also, there are many cases where an educational trip became one’s aspiration in becoming glass craftsmen. It would be great if even one of our visitors would be involved in handicrafts and manufacturing in the future.
Students from the local commerce high school are also allowed to participate in classes on product development and sales at the Ryuhyo Glass Museum. I hope that the experience of planning and selling their ideas will make the students feel a joy of accomplishment through the difficulties and then in turn will become people who boldly challenge themselves.
Here and now, doing what we can, little by little
– It seems like the times are finally catching up with you, but what are your future plans?
Chieko: On the extreme end of the spectrum, I think we could just shut down our workshop entirely. Considering the global environment, don’t you think it would be better not to engage in such an energy-intensive glass production? However, glass is an excellent material that can be melted down and recycled over and over again. Eventually, I think that fluorescent lamps will be a thing of the past. So, before that happens, we want to promote the idea that our own glass products could be collected to be recycled once it becomes not of any use to the customers. I would like people who think, “I don’t use it anymore. But I can’t buy a new one because I just cannot get rid of it,” to recycle our glass products without hesitation. I hope that people will feel free to recycle our glass products. And when the demand for even that disappears, we should turn our attention to something other than glass.
Noboru: We believe that it is necessary that there exists an environment where consumers can choose between glass products made from imported materials and glass products made from environmentally friendly recycled materials. We are providing such a place according to that proposition.
I do want to continue to make things. Materials can be collected from all over the world, but it is more interesting to focus on locally acquired materials. It creates a more tangible and realistic connection with one’s surroundings and relationships. I think it is inspiring to find things in unwanted waste that people usually do not pay attention to.
Chieko: My own thoughts on initiatives we should take from here and now on were in alignment with that of Noboru’s. Most of the electricity used in Japan is for heating and cooling, with the summer peaking in July and August and the winter peaking in January and February. The melting furnaces (kilns) that melt the glass run twenty-four hours a day at around 1,200 degrees Celsius. When it’s cold, the heat from the kiln can be recycled for heating; however, when in hot weather, the heat from the kiln is not being reused and only raises the room temperature which also puts a strain on ourselves. So, this year, we are working towards our goal of not running the kiln in July and August as to not emit any heat. We are also planning to change our power company and shift to renewable energy.
Noboru: We would like to cooperate with neighboring towns to make more use of local resources for our glassmaking. So far, Teshikaga-cho and the Ryuhyo Glass Museum have been developing amber glass using mineral deposits from the hot spring, Kawayu Onsen, and jasper green colored glass using sediment from the local cold springs. “Battery Brown” which is coloring derived from the manganese of batteries, was invented by the Itomuka Plant when they were confronted with the enquiry of being able to reuse batteries. It would be awesome if there were a lot more people who would be amused by the fact that such colors can be created using waste.
Another thing that is difficult to achieve is the removal of plastic from packaging materials. Glass products need cushioning material to prevent them from breaking when taken home or being shipped so we are looking for environmentally friendly alternatives. There are still many things we need to work on.
Chieko: We will continue to work on what we can do to help the environment, but we would like to push for more and continue working together even if it is a little overwhelming.
Noboru: In the past few years, more and more people have become interested in environmental issues, and there are more opportunities to connect with people around the world through social networking services. I hope that people will be inspired by the products and ideas of the Ryuhyo Glass Museum and to take action such as choosing products that are recycled and environmentally friendly.
