[Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture] Knitters and buyers of “Kesennuma Knitting”, which is spreading due to reconstruction support

Kesennuma in Miyagi Prefecture was severely damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake, but the circle of recovery is spreading through Kesennuma Knitting. Originally, the area had a thriving fishing industry, but now many knitters have gathered for Kesennuma Knitting, which has become a popular and specialty product.

We would like to introduce you to the charm of "Kesennuma knitting".

What is “Kesennuma Knitting”?

Although the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred in 2011, "Kesennuma Knitting" began in 2012 with the thoughts of a woman still living in temporary housing.

Kesennuma Knitting was started after the earthquake with the desire to create work that workers can be proud of. The impetus was the Hobonichikan Itoi Shimbun project led by Shigesato Itoi, which later led to the creation of a company that makes hand-knitted sweaters and cardigans.

There were four knitters at the time, and it is said that when the company first started, the knitters gathered together to practice knitting and inspect products at knitting sessions. Today, the company has grown to include more than 60 knitters.

Kesennuma has traditionally had a thriving fishing industry and many fishermen, and there is also a tradition of men engaged in deep-sea fishing who knit to enjoy their time on board. It can be said that there is actually a connection between fishing towns and sweaters, as it has become known as the ``fisherman's sweater.''

Kesennuma knits are knitted by hand by one person from start to finish.

The charm of "Kesennuma Knitting" is that it has a truly hand-knitted feel, and the knitting is done by one person from beginning to end. As proof of this, each piece of knitwear has a tag with an illustration of the knitter's face, name, number, etc.

In other words, it is a hand-knitted knit that is unique. It can be said that knitters also feel a sense of responsibility and joy when the things they knit reach people.

Kesennuma Knit's knitters gather like this!

Many of Kesennuma Knit's knitters have fishermen in their families, but there are a variety of people working together. Each knitter is introduced on the Kesennuma Knitting website, so it might be fun to take a look.

Each piece has a story about how they started knitting, and it's good to know about the knitters before purchasing.

For example, a woman who lived in an area where many houses were washed away during the Great East Japan Earthquake said that the sweater she had knitted as a hobby remained unwashed, so she shared the sweater to keep warm. is. It was cold at the time, so some knitters were glad that someone was wearing them, and said, ``Today, I'm knitting a sweater to keep someone warm.''

In addition, a man who grew up on a beautiful island with abundant nature started knitting and became a knitter as time passed after the earthquake.He wanted a hobby. Since then he has become passionate about knitting and is now a professional knitter. He says, ``I like that the more you knit it, the more it takes shape.'' Items knitted by men are always popular because they are beautiful and delicate.

Even the expensive sweaters have fans because they are carefully knitted one by one!

In addition, the knits produced by Kesennuma Knitting are not cheap, as each piece is carefully knitted by Kesennuma's knitters one by one. The more time it takes to knit carefully without worrying about productivity, the more expensive it will be. You could also call it an expensive hand-knitted sweater.

Full custom orders are also possible, but a fully custom cardigan can cost as much as 140,000 yen. Still, the product's warm feel is so popular that there are still cases of waits of up to a year and a half.

The appeal of Kesennuma Knitting is that people who are passionate about knitting sweaters and cardigans can feel warmth while ordering a sweater.

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