Founded in 1947, this is one of Asakusa's pioneering men's-shoe makers. Today the factory is opened up to younger creators just as it stands — offered as a rental workshop and a share factory. Because it is, first and foremost, a shoemaking plant, it is equipped with sewing machines, leather-skiving machines, presses and other gear that individuals can hardly afford on their own; nowadays not only shoemakers but bag and small-goods artisans are gathering here too.
It is a collective of a new kind, drawing together people from a wide range of backgrounds. Shoemakers and small-goods artisans rarely cross paths in the ordinary course of work, but here is a meaningful place where those disciplines meet. New collaborations have already emerged, and fresh making is now beginning from this hub.
Interestingly, members share with each other things their own discipline doesn't have — production steps from outside shoemaking, ways of using tools that aren't common in bag-making — and the workshop has become a place where everyone can sharpen their craft. President Takeda's strong personal wish to "raise up the shoemakers and shoe designers of Asakusa" also opens doors: workshop members are given chances to take part in exhibitions and live demonstrations.
Asakusa is a leading centre of Japanese shoemaking. At its peak the Tokyo Shoemakers Cooperative had more than three hundred member companies. But as production shifted overseas — above all to China — the number of Japanese shoemakers fell sharply. Membership is now less than half what it was, and the suppliers of materials and leather have shrunk alongside the makers themselves. Against that backdrop Takeda Seika's share factory works to revive Asakusa's manufacturing tradition: by lending its space and equipment to individuals and small firms, it supports anyone who wants to make shoes, in service of the idea of "Asakusa, the shoemaking town".
President Takeda has served as chairperson and director of the shoe cooperative and of several other industry bodies, and works every day for the development of Asakusa. Most people picture Asakusa as a sightseeing district, but Sumida and Taito wards are also a town of leather and shoes — and remain one of Japan's major shoemaking centres. He puts considerable effort into making that side of Asakusa more widely known.
