Dialogue - Field -

An incident that made me keenly aware of the existence of color

Sato's motivation for making things began when he was in junior high and high school and became interested in fashion, remaking old clothes. After graduating from high school, he went on to study fashion at a vocational school in Tokyo. He was drawn to the weight of time that things contain, and began to dismantle mainly European vintage clothing.


While studying, he visited a friend living in England and came across some indigo-dyed clothing in a clothing store in London, which became a life-changing experience.


Sato : That indigo blue was the first color that made me strongly aware of the existence of color. I can't really put it into words, but I felt like I was enveloped in a sense of security that I didn't know where it was coming from.

The richness of having fewer things

"ARTS&SCIENCE" is a brand that makes indigo clothes dyed with natural dyes. After graduating, he joined "ARTS&SCIENCE" to learn about manufacturing. He moved to the leather department. He made prototypes, put them to work, proposed them to the director, and started making things with the craftsmen. He says that there was a period when he was studying various things to supplement his experience while working at the company.


After working there for two years, she started her own brand of bags and wallets, all made by sewing. After a series of events, she suffered from sudden deafness at one point.


Sato : Looking back, I think I couldn't bear the fact that I was making things to make a living. When I got sick, I was asked by my previous employer to stop making things and switch to focusing only on work. In order to clear everything, I also stopped using social media at that time. One day, a friend took me camping and we had a bonfire in the forest, and I realized that I was relaxing at that time. I wondered why I hadn't spent this kind of time before. Until then, I had lived a life with a lot of things, so I realized how rich it is to have fewer things. There was a time when I looked down on myself in comparison to other things, and it was a difficult time for me to feel weak, but it was an important time.

He says that his craftsmanship has improved by focusing on craftsmanship during work hours and spending his days in nature, such as in the mountains or the sea, on his days off. He continues to find a balance that heals him by meditating and relaxing in nature, and by facing the roots of the things he loves. One day, he was encouraged by someone he met to quit his job and restart his craft.


Sato : "I want to have anything that you make. I want you to put what you make out into the world." I started meeting people who felt the same way about my things and wanted them, and that supported me and made me decide to make things again.

Inspirational travel

After retiring, she traveled with a friend to Thailand, India, and Laos. In Thailand and India, she spent time relaxing at temples, and in Laos, she experienced the daily life of tribes who weave fabric for their own use and dye it using local plants.


Looking back on the trip, he says it was an inspiring experience, as he met people who influenced his creations and came up with things he wanted to make every day.


Sato : One night in Laos, I was reading a story about stars written by a friend, and I felt like I wanted to embroider the stars spreading out before me. As I moved the needle forward with that thought in mind, it became an embroidery that looked like a gathering of stars. It was an incident that made me feel joy in giving shape to events and thoughts. Because "people" are part of nature, there is much to gain from nature, both on trips and in daily life. I listen to the voice that naturally arises in me to create the shape of anything, and go with the flow. Now, whenever I touch leather or growing plants, the ideas I have accumulated up until now come out of my mind, and I think, "This is what I want to do," so I exhibit my work in an exhibition rather than accepting orders.

From Tokyo to Nagano

The name "Nohara" comes from Sato's wife's name, and he also likes the image that it evokes.

"Creating things is a way of healing for me," he says. In the midst of his daily crafting, he met someone in the Satoyama area of ​​Kanagawa Prefecture who taught him about the lives of plants, and he became immersed in plant dyeing.


Sato : Plant dyeing is free and there are few rules that say you have to do it this way. Plants do not reflect their actual colors as they appear, but the components of the plants act as a medium to impart color to the fabric. The plant changes life and the color remains. In ancient legends, it was said that receiving colors from plants and wearing them was a way to protect oneself from evil spirits, and I became interested in such lore hidden within the beauty of the plant, and I became more and more interested in plant dyeing and natural fabrics.


He will be moving from his current base in Tokyo to Nagano Prefecture because he wants to be able to practice plant dyeing more easily.


Sato : Even in Tokyo, if you look closely, you can see plants popping out of the concrete with great force, dandelions blooming vigorously, and there is a lot of nature even in the city. When I go to Nagano, the amount of information calms down, so I want to cherish the flow of time in my daily activities a little more.