It all started with a meal Misawa had at a certain ryotei restaurant. The cuisine prepared by a top-class Japanese chef was free from any eccentricity or excessive ornamentation, and was dedicated to making the best use of the ingredients with a sense of reverence for nature.
“Muku" is a shoe made from only one piece of sole leather tanned for one year using traditional methods, and water. When the sole leather (Oak bark) is dipped in water, the water absorbs astringent substances that have been exuded from the leather. This liquid is used as a solution to dye the leather, and by "dyeing" it while adjusting the balance, a unique color and scenery with a rich and expressive taste is created. For the uppers, the 5-millimeter thick leather is skived to 1.2-millimeters with a knife, and the usual shoemaking process is used to create a unique pair of shoes.
“Magatama" is a work that complements "Muku" and is also made from shoe soles. What is the curve that makes a shoe a shoe and determines its beauty? Starting from this question, the artist layered up the lines in search of the answer, and what emerged was a "Magatama." Since ancient times, the Magatama has been known as one of the three sacred objects that symbolize the imperial throne, as well as a protective ornament, and as a magical object. Surprisingly, Misawa saw that the shape of the "Magatama" matched the purely curvaceous beauty of the shoe, expressed directly in leather.
The center of the curve was fixed to a wooden form based on a precise blueprint, and the leather was applied to each side of the shoe one layer after another; the process was repeated while taking great care not to destroy the shape. Thus, the leather "Magatama" was completed, undulating smoothly and gracefully, not only in one plane but also in three dimensions.
This combination eloquently illustrates how Misawa's overwhelming technical skills, acquired through his pursuit of the art of shoes that combines functional beauty, can create a first-class craftwork from a simple material, a single piece of leather that is hard and is considered useful only for shoe soles.
